Galvanized Yankees - Origin of Term

Origin of Term

The National Park Service, in a bulletin published in 1992 for visitors to the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, gives as the origin of the expression "Galvanized Yankee" as:

The term "galvanized" is most commonly associated with metal when it is coated with zinc to protect it from corrosion. In the process the surface color of the metal is altered, but underneath the coating the steel is unchanged. During the Civil War, in both Northern and Southern prison camps, soldiers sometimes decided to "galvanize," or change sides, to save themselves from the horrors of prison life. Like the metal, these galvanized soldiers in many cases were still "Good old Rebels," or "Billy Yanks," underneath their adopted uniforms.

The expression "galvanized Yankees" sprang up as a term of deprecation among Confederate prisoners for those who chose to enlist. At the same time, the use of "white-washed Rebels" as a reference came into being among Federal state regiments stationed on the frontier at the time the 1st U.S.V.I. arrived. Dee Brown cited documentation from March and April 1865 indicating that the term was first used to characterize captured Federals who turned Confederate. The general use of "galvanized Yankees" originated in a story in the Springfield Republican (Springfield, Massachusetts) on May 25, 1865, by Samuel Bowles, who wrote:

Among the present limited number of troops on the Plain are two regiments of infantry, all from the rebel army. They have cheerfully re-enlisted into the federal service. They are known in the army as "white-washed rebs," or as they call themselves, "galvanized Yankees."