Hi Gregg,
Thanks for the insights into some of the ways of staying out of service a
century and a half ago. I guess it is a long standing problem, and Julius
Caesar probably even had few who claimed they were 'just visiting Gaul' --
'Sum touristo en Gaulio'
Randy Cabell
----- Original Message -----
From: "Gregg Kimball" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, July 07, 2003 9:59 AM
Subject: Re: Service in the Civil War
> Several ethnic units, including Company K of the 1st Virginia Regiment
> (a German unit known as the the Virginia Rifles), disbanded in the field
> in 1862, ostensibly because the Confederate Congress declared that
> non-domiciled aliens didn't have to fight. There was controversy over
> this interpretation, however, and some of the officers were arrested as
> deserters. I believe that they were soon released and some then served
> in home guard units. If you look at the Compiled Service Records of
> many Germans from Richmond you will find affidavits and documents
> attesting that the soldier is only temporarily living here, owns no
> property, etc.--i.e. is "non-domiciled." Some Irish men got similar
> documents from British officials.
>
> For instance, Bernhard Bergmeyer of the Virginia Rifles asserted his
> non-domiciled status by swearing under oath that he "is a native of
> Prussia and came to America about five and a half years ago, to visit
> the Country, and seek employment." Bergmeyer claimed he intended to
> return to "his Native Country," and had never "voted, has no property,
> never took any steps towards being naturalized, or in any manner
> attempted to exercise the rights of citizenship in this Country, and has
> never reenlisted or received Bounty." The Consul of the Free City of
> Bremen in Richmond supported Bergmeyer's affidavit stating that
> Bergmeyer "has never taken the oath of Allegiance to the United States
> of America or the Confederate States of America or to any other foreign
> nation."
>
> Gregg Kimball
>
> Gregg D. Kimball
> Director of Publications
> and Educational Services
> Library of Virginia
> 804/692-3722
> [log in to unmask]
> Support the Library of Virginia
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Randy Cabell [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Friday, July 04, 2003 1:44 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Service in the Civil War
>
>
> We have just returned from a short vacation in upstate NY, and read an
> article about some NY regiment whose enlistments ran out so the whole
> regiment returned and never went back to fight again.
>
> Did anything like this total unit muster-out happen in the South,
> particularly Virginia? I have seen at least one instance of somebody
> being 'honorably discharged' after the battle of Fredericksburg, but no
> reason was given. My impression has been that whatever term one signed
> up for in the Confederacy, the term ended up being the entire war.
>
> Randy Cabell
>
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