Tens of thousands of British fought in US Civil War

[AndyDT]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1330735/Thousands-British-volunteers-gave-lives-Americas-civil-war.html

[rumborak]

Lots of nationalities fought in the civil war. 200,000 Germans served in the Union Army at that point for example.

rumborak

[El Barto]

That was a good read, and I hadn't considered foreign nationals' involvement in the war. 

[William Wallace]

A lot of British fought in the American war for independence, I read somewhere.

[AndyDT]

Lots of nationalities fought in the civil war. 200,000 Germans served in the Union Army at that point for example.

rumborak

The article talks about people emigrating to fight the war AIUI; Germans who volunteered or drafted were already there. Three million British people were already emigrated in the US according to the article and that's why, the article says, tens of thousands more went from Britain to fight on either side.

[AndyDT]

https://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/amanda+foreman/a+world+on+fire/7710191/

In "A World on Fire" Amanda Foreman brings her unique style of epic biography to the American Civil War. During the titanic struggle between North and South, both sides demanded Britain's support. British volunteers fought on both sides; British guns and bullets littered the battlefields. The South depended on British-built cruisers to make up its navy, and British blockade runners to supply its armies. This book portrays the extraordinary web of relationships between the two countries through the lives of over a hundred participants - soldiers, mercenaries, politicians, spies, journalists, diplomats, doctors and nurses who, at home or abroad, recorded their experience of the war. It traces the often desperate efforts of men and women to survive, to preserve the ideals and ways of living they believed were right, and even, sometimes, to find love in the worst of circumstances. "A World On Fire" is history told in the round, combining the human intensity of battle with the manoeuvrings of fraught diplomacy. We see the letters of soldiers fighting thousands of miles from their homeland; the passionate dispatches from diplomats and journalists; and the diaries of the brave women who laboured in some cases to save a single life, and in others to protect an entire way of life. This is a new and dramatic account of the first modern war and of Britain's part in it, for good or ill.

[yeshaberto]

did not know that

[rumborak]

Lots of nationalities fought in the civil war. 200,000 Germans served in the Union Army at that point for example.

rumborak

The article talks about people emigrating to fight the war AIUI; Germans who volunteered or drafted were already there. Three million British people were already emigrated in the US according to the article and that's why, the article says, tens of thousands more went from Britain to fight on either side.

I understand that, but whether somebody was already there or went there seems a bit of a stretched separation. There were fully-German regiments that even received orders in German:

https://cincinnati.com/blogs/ourhistory/2010/10/15/german-civil-war-soldiers/

The 9th Ohio Regiment, trained locally at Camp Harrison and Camp Dennison, fought so efficiently and ferociously during its three years in the Civil War that the Confederates called them the “Dutch Devils,” and the “Bloody Dutch.” The word, Dutch, was the Anglicized form of Deutsch, meaning German.

rumborak

[AndyDT]

Considering they travelled 3000 miles, it underlines to me the bonds that existed still, 80 years or so after the revolution.

[rumborak]

Sure, Andy.

Let's talk when you actually set foot on this continent.

rumborak

[soundgarden]

Andy, what is the interest you have among the English nations?  I understand we all have our common histories and heritages and what not, but I don't get why you are always making threads about this topic.  What is the point in arguing for American/English (for example) common bonds?  No one really ever brings up a debate on the topic...

And as an American of East Indian descent, I can say that neither people really give a damn about our bonds with the old mother country.  We Americans see the British as odd cousins, rather than historic brethren, really...

EDIT..and frankly, if you are going to continue with these threads, you have to include the French. British history and culture is tied more to the French than any other nation. Notre LANGUE est PLUS que cinquante(50) PER CENT Francais PAR EXAMPLE  The relationship between the British and French is far deeper, historic, and complex than that of the British with any other English colony.

[rumborak]

lol, clearly you don't know Andy. Andy hates Europe, so he would never admit to any ties to France.

rumborak

[Adami]

lol, clearly you don't know Andy. Andy hates Europe, so he would never admit to any ties to France.

rumborak

To be fair, neither would I.

I mean, if one of your cousins was a hollywood celeb, and another was a drunken hillbilly, which would you try to be closer to?

[AndyDT]

Andy, what is the interest you have among the English nations?  I understand we all have our common histories and heritages and what not, but I don't get why you are always making threads about this topic.  What is the point in arguing for American/English (for example) common bonds?  No one really ever brings up a debate on the topic...

And as an American of East Indian descent, I can say that neither people really give a damn about our bonds with the old mother country.  We Americans see the British as odd cousins, rather than historic brethren, really...

EDIT..and frankly, if you are going to continue with these threads, you have to include the French. British history and culture is tied more to the French than any other nation. Notre LANGUE est PLUS que cinquante(50) PER CENT Francais PAR EXAMPLE  The relationship between the British and French is far deeper, historic, and complex than that of the British with any other English colony.

I think most people agree that the US and Britain have a much closer culture than with France.

[rumborak]

On some level yes, on some not. The UK is also distinctively European to Americans and if you asked them on the street "Which tie do you consider stronger? UK-USA, or UK-Europe?", I am pretty sure the vast majority would say UK-Europe.

rumborak

[William Wallace]

lol, clearly you don't know Andy. Andy hates Europe, so he would never admit to any ties to France.

rumborak

To be fair, neither would I.

I mean, if one of your cousins was a hollywood celeb, and another was a drunken hillbilly, which would you try to be closer to?

That's awesome, but what about France is hillbilly-ish?

[soundgarden]

Andy, what is the interest you have among the English nations?  I understand we all have our common histories and heritages and what not, but I don't get why you are always making threads about this topic.  What is the point in arguing for American/English (for example) common bonds?  No one really ever brings up a debate on the topic...

And as an American of East Indian descent, I can say that neither people really give a damn about our bonds with the old mother country.  We Americans see the British as odd cousins, rather than historic brethren, really...

EDIT..and frankly, if you are going to continue with these threads, you have to include the French. British history and culture is tied more to the French than any other nation. Notre LANGUE est PLUS que cinquante(50) PER CENT Francais PAR EXAMPLE  The relationship between the British and French is far deeper, historic, and complex than that of the British with any other English colony.

I think most people agree that the US and Britain have a much closer culture than with France.

Yes, but those two similar cultures, both of which you praise and hold in such high esteem would not be the same without the French. 

With all due respect, I think its delusional to yourself, and insulting to England's twin, and America's oldest ally to hold in such high esteem India while England and France have far more in common.  We are labeled as Westerner's for a reason...

And Rumborak is right, we easily would lump the UK with the rest of the Europeans.  I would say the country we indeed have the closest comradity and understanding with is, well Canada (though they are the subject of many jokes), I would say Americans would easily choose Canadians as our closer brethren.

edit...and HOLD ON..you never been the US??  Did I read that right?