Johnny Reb and Billy Yank is a novel first published in 1905 by Alexander Hunter, a Confederate soldier who served in the 17th Virginia Infantry and the 4th Virginia Cavalry from 1861 to 1865. [1] [2] The novel is noted for encapsulating most of the major events of the American Civil War, due to Hunter's involvement in the war.
The contents of the "novel" are pulled from Hunter's own diaries which he kept during the war. He explains his reasons for publishing his accounts in the preface to the novel-
The public have been surfeited with war literature. There is hardly a prominent officer North or South who has not rushed into print at every available opportunity; yet no officer high in rank dared write the exact truth, for the reason he has the feelings, the self-love and the reputations of those who served under him to consider.
A private in the ranks, who has learned something of the art of war through though experience in two branches of the service, should be able to write understandingly of that internecine conflict which rocked America like an earthquake.
At least he can afford to tell the truth as to what he saw, heard and thought without fear or favor. And above all, a private in the ranks, having no grievance, can be fair and just.
In those days "Johnny Reb" and Billy Yank" were good comrades when off duty. They had a profound respect for each other, and as Bulwer says, "It is astonishing how much we like a man after fighting him."
The novel is then divided into two parts, the first part chronicling Hunter's service in the infantry up until the Battle of Chancellorsville, and the second part depicting his service in the Cavalry until the end of the war.
Although Hunter is not credited with popularizing the term Johnny Reb he does dedicate the novel to "that tattered son of fortune and the nursling of many a dark and stormy hour, this book is affectionately dedicated by the AUTHOR"
A private is a soldier, usually with the lowest rank in many armies. Soldiers with the rank of Private may be conscripts or they may be professional (career) soldiers.
Military ranks are a system of hierarchical relationships, within armed forces, police, intelligence agencies or other institutions organized along military lines. The military rank system defines dominance, authority, and responsibility in a military hierarchy. It incorporates the principles of exercising power and authority into the military chain of command—the succession of commanders superior to subordinates through which command is exercised. The military chain of command constructs an important component for organized collective action.
Johnny Reb is the national personification of the common soldier of the Confederacy. During the American Civil War and afterwards, Johnny Reb and his Union counterpart Billy Yank were used in speech and literature to symbolize the common soldiers who fought in the Civil War in the 1860s. The symbolic image of Johnny Reb in Southern culture has been represented in its novels, poems, art, public statuary, photography, and written history. According to the historian Bell I. Wiley, who wrote about the common soldiers of the Northern and the Southern armies, the name appears to have its origins in the habit of Union soldiers calling out, "Hello, Johnny" or "Howdy, Reb" to Confederate soldiers on the other side of the picket line.
Jäger is a German military term referring to specific light infantry units.
Buffalo Soldiers were United States Army regiments which were composed primarily of African American soldiers formed during the 19th century to serve on the frontier. On September 21, 1866, the 10th Cavalry Regiment was formed at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The nickname "Buffalo Soldiers" was given to the regiment by Native Americans who fought against them in the American Indian Wars, and the term eventually became synonymous with all of the African American U.S. Army regiments established in 1866, including the 9th Cavalry Regiment, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 24th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Regiment and 38th Infantry Regiment.
The chart below shows the current enlisted rank insignia of the United States Army, with seniority, and pay grade, increasing from right to left. The enlisted ranks of corporal (E-4) and higher are considered non-commissioned officers (NCOs). The rank of specialist is also in pay grade E-4, but does not hold non-commissioned officer status; it is common that a soldier may never hold the rank of corporal, and instead be promoted from specialist to sergeant, attaining junior NCO status at that time.
John Buford, Jr. was a United States Army cavalry officer. He fought for the Union as a brigadier general during the American Civil War. Buford is best known for having played a major role in the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg on July 1, 1863, by identifying, taking, and holding the "high ground" while in command of a division.
Gefreiter is a German, Swiss and Austrian military rank that has existed since the 16th century. It is usually the second rank or grade to which an enlisted soldier, airman or sailor could be promoted.
Billy Yank or Billy Yankee is the personification of the United States soldier during the American Civil War. The latter part of the name is derived from Yankee, previously a term for New Englanders, and possibly deriving from a term for Dutch settlers of New Netherland before that, extended by American Southerners to refer to Americans from above the Mason-Dixon Line. Although little evidence exists to suggest that the name was used widely during the Civil War, unlike its rebel counterpart Johnny Reb, early 20th century political cartoonists introduced 'Billy Yank' to symbolize U.S. combatants in the American Civil War of the 1860s.
Johnny Reb or Johnny Rebel is a slang term for Confederate soldiers in the American Civil War.
Rank insignia in the French Army are worn on the sleeve or on shoulder marks of uniforms, and range up to the highest rank of Marshal of France, a state honour denoted with a seven-star insignia that was last conferred posthumously on Marie Pierre Koenig in 1984.
Johnny Reb and Billy Yank was a Sunday comic strip drawn by Frank Giacoia from November 18, 1956, to May 24, 1959. It was one of the last full page Sunday strips. The last full page appeared on September 22, 1957. On May 18, 1958, the title changed to Johnny Reb. Some Sundays were ghosted by other artists, including Jack Kirby and Joe Kubert.
Galvanized Yankees was a term from the American Civil War denoting former Confederate prisoners of war who swore allegiance to the United States and joined the Union Army. Approximately 5,600 former Confederate soldiers enlisted in the "United States Volunteers", organized into six regiments of infantry between January 1864 and November 1866. Of those, more than 250 had begun their service as Union soldiers, were captured in battle, then enlisted in prison to join a regiment of the Confederate States Army. They surrendered to Union forces in December 1864 and were held by the United States as deserters, but were saved from prosecution by being enlisted in the 5th and 6th U.S. Volunteers. An additional 800 former Confederates served in volunteer regiments raised by the states, forming ten companies. Four of those companies saw combat in the Western Theater against the Confederate Army, two served on the western frontier, and one became an independent company of U.S. Volunteers, serving in Minnesota.
The military uniforms of the Union Army in the American Civil War were widely varied and, due to limitations on supply of wool and other materials, based on availability and cost of materials. The ideal uniform was prescribed as a dark blue coat with lighter pants, with a black hat. Officer's ranks were denoted with increasing levels of golden decoration. Specific jobs, companies, and units had markedly different styles at times, often following European customs such as that of the Zouaves. Officers uniforms tended to be highly customized and would stray from Army standard. Ironically, several main pieces of gear had been created by order of Confederate president Jefferson Davis before the war, when he was United States Secretary of War.
Each branch of the Confederate States armed forces had their own service dress and fatigue uniforms and regulations regarding them during the American Civil War, which lasted from April 12, 1861, until May 1865.
Louis Henry Carpenter was a United States Army brigadier general and a recipient of the Medal of Honor for his actions in the American Indian Wars.
Samuel Henry Starr was a career United States Army officer, regimental commander and prisoner of war. A collection of his letters provide a rare view of military life, the War with Mexico, Indian conflicts, the Civil War, his fall from grace, recovery and post Civil War service. Despite his rough demeanor he was a religious man and reflective of the times he served.
Nicholas Merritt Nolan was a United States Army major. An Irish immigrant, he began his military career in New York on December 9, 1852 with the 4th Artillery, and subsequently served in New York's 2nd Dragoons. He enlisted as a private and rose through the ranks becoming a first sergeant. He was commissioned an officer in late 1862 in the Regular Army, while serving with the 6th U.S. Cavalry Regiment during the American Civil War. He participated in 16 campaigns with the 6th and most of its battles. He was slightly wounded at the Battle of Fairfield and seriously wounded at the Battle of Dinwiddie Court House. He was brevetted twice and noted at least twice for gallantry during combat. He was slightly wounded when captured at the end of March 1865, and was later paroled. After the Civil War, he served with the 10th U.S. Cavalry, known as the Buffalo Soldiers, for 14 years. Nolan is also noted for his pluses and minuses during the Buffalo Soldier tragedy of 1877 that made headlines in the Eastern United States. He was the commanding officer of Henry O. Flipper in 1878, the first African American to graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point. He commanded several frontier forts before his untimely death in 1883.
William Henry Powell was an American soldier who fought for the Union in the American Civil War. He was a leader in the iron and nail business before the war, and his leadership abilities proved useful in the military. Powell began as a captain, and quickly ascended to higher roles in the cavalry, including commanding a regiment, a brigade, and then a division. Powell was awarded his country's highest award for bravery during combat, the Medal of Honor, for heroism at Sinking Creek, Virginia, when, as leader of a group of 22 men, he captured an enemy camp and took over 100 prisoners. This was accomplished without the loss of any of his men on November 26, 1862. He was honored with the award on July 22, 1890.
Alexander Hunter was an American soldier for the Confederate States Army, civil servant, and writer best known for the novels Johnny Reb and Billy Yank and The Women of the Debatable Land.