Revisiting: "That These Dead Shall Not Have Died in Vain"

For the final entry of July, I'd like to open a discussion that has been a long time coming and revisit an article that I wrote for the Genesee Country Village & Museum in 2017, titled: That These Dead Shall Not Have Died in Vain.

Civilian refugees fleeing the town,
Mumford Reenactment, 2017
Photograph by Deborah Scott
(Used with permission)

In my last blog post, Battles, Bonnets & the Ball, I recounted all of the highlights of another grand Civil War weekend, the annual Mumford event; however, one important experience went unmentioned.  This particularly memorable moment, though quite familiar and almost a daily occurrence (both in my "real" life and when interpreting in historical costume), left me thinking and ready to break my silence on what may be a long, controversial topic (at least on this blog).

Sewing during the Mumford Reenactment, 2018
Photograph courtesy of Judy J.

The situation happened like this:  A gentleman visitor entered the millinery shop where I was assisting the proprietress with her interpretation and sewing in company.  He exchanged the usual pleasantries with all of us in the room, than directly asked me what I figured was whether or not I had participated in the event previously.  The answer was "yes," of course, this was my fifth year as an employee, and I grew up attending the annual reenactment.  That's when the conversation became uncomfortable.  Apparently, I misunderstood the nature of his first and then subsequent inquiries, which amounted to an adamant belief that neither my ancestors, nor I, would or should have been there - referring to both the Civil War and its reenactment.

Based on all of the new, incredible research available today, that statement is unknowing and simply untrue.  Several further exchanges were made, and any attempts to divert the conversation were unsuccessful.  In the past, my standard, go-to response has been to acknowledge the visitor's unique understandings, and say something about honoring American history by interpreting it, even if the historical circumstances and specific, geographical locations may not have always allowed.  In this case though, it was entirely appropriate to justify my participation by mentioning the many contributions of the Chinese to both sides of the Civil War and in civilian life.  Unfortunately, these were dismissed as this gentleman visitor was set in his understandings that the Chinese would have only worked on the railroads.  (I'd like to point out here that there was never any mention or knowing of my particular ethnicity, which does happen to be Chinese.)

Corporal Joseph Pierce
14th Connecticut Infantry, Company F
Image in public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

While I am used to fielding comments - which range from the simply curious like "where are you from?" or "where were you born?" to pointed, racially-charged comments about "my people" not being historically accurate or represented, and me, because of my ethnicity, not being welcome in living history - the conversation that day caught me off guard.  I felt guilty for being a little flustered, singled out in a room full of other costumed interpreters and reenactors, and I admit to being a bit out of practice (having moved to the interpretation office for the past few seasons, rather than out in the village in costume every day).

There is good in this though, and it came in the form of a blog post last year and the chance to respond to a great unknowing with some research.  After several seasons of similar, uncomfortable interactions, especially prominent during the Mumford or any reenactment, I was questioning my place in living history and whether "my people," specifically the Chinese, were present during the American Civil War.  Much to my surprise, the amount of information that I uncovered in an initial search floored me.  Since then, the discovery has given me such validation and a mission to make sure "that these dead shall not have died in vain," and that their contributions may be better known.  Words still cannot describe how much it meant to see that article go live back then - and I wholeheartedly thank Deanna Berkemeier and GCV&M for the opportunity - and its message continues to be relevant now. 


So, to my gentleman visitor from the past weekend, I'm not upset.  Rather, I'm reminded of a "great task remaining before us" - to continue researching (I've discovered so much more since the original article), educating and making our living history today as diverse as it was back then.  And, I'd like another chance to answer your questions about "my people" and my presence at that event with this:

Article published July 14, 2017

on the Genesee Country Village & Museum Blog

The following excerpt is from my section, "The Chinese in the Civil War," and discusses a number of known Union and Confederate soldiers:

"To the surprise of most Americans today, 58 Chinese men, out of a total of 200 identified as living on the East Coast at the start of the war, voluntarily enlisted in both the Union and Confederate armies to fight for the same causes as their black and white compatriots.  Many hoped for legitimacy and citizenship in exchange for loyalty and service to a country they considered their own.  Accounts of valiant efforts in many major battles as well as service records exist, showing that three Chinese soldiers were even promoted to corporals in all white units.  This included both Corporal Joseph Pierce of the 14th Connecticut regiment, who fought at Antietam and Gettysburg during Pickett’s Charge, and Corporal John Tommy of the 70th New York regiment, Co. D, who also fought at Gettysburg and lost all four limbs in the crossfire.  

Clipping from The Adams Sentinel, page 5
June 30, 1863 Gettysburg, PA 

"Eager for liberation, some of the Chinese enslaved through the Pacific slave trade, much like their African American counterparts, hungered for a better life and enlisted in the Union army.  Thomas Sylvanus, or Ah Yee Way, escaped from slavery in Baltimore, fought at Gettysburg and survived a nine-month incarceration at Andersonville, the notorious Confederate prison camp.  Woo Hong Neok, one of the few Chinese granted citizenship before the war, also identified with the Union cause.  He enlisted with the 50th Pennsylvania Infantry, Co. I, stating that he 'volunteered on June 29, 1863 in spite of the advice of my Lancaster friends against it, for I had felt that the North was right in opposing slavery.  My friends thought I should not join the militia and risk my life in war, for my own people and family were in China and I had neither property nor family in America whose defense might serve as an excuse for my volunteering' (Shirk).   

"At the same time, at least five Chinese Americans have been identified by name as sympathizers of the Confederate cause.  Most famously, cousins Christopher and Stephen Bunker, the sons of prosperous slave-owning farmers in North Carolina, fought to protect their family’s interests, as well as Henry William Kwan of the 12th Virginia Battalion of Light Artillery, Co. B.  There are even records of Chinese enlisted with the Avegno Zouaves Company I of the 14th Louisiana Infantry (Kwok).   

"Other important roles included an unidentified number of Chinese sailors, stewards and cooks serving in the Union navy during the blockades of Southern ports.  Several names include Thomas Smith, a sailor listed onboard the USS Potomac, John Akomb, a steward on a gunboat, and William Hand, the first Asian American to enlist in the US Navy in 1863.  Unfortunately, historians will never know an exact number of the Chinese in the American Civil War, but their collective contributions to the war efforts were unarguably 'far above our poor power to add or detract'" (Lincoln).  

- "The Chinese in the Civil War,"
from "That These Dead Shall Not Have Died in Vain,"
Genesee Country Village & Museum Blog

Today I honor both my Chinese and American heritages among
the historical interpreters at the Genesee Country Village & Museum
(Photograph courtesy of Marisa C.)

Works Cited

• Kwok, Gordon. "Association to Commemorate the Chinese Serving in the American Civil War." Association to Commemorate the Chinese Serving in the American Civil War, 18 Jan. 2009, sites.google.com/site/accsacw/. Accessed 31 July 2018. 
• Lincoln, Abraham. "The Gettysburg Address." 19 Nov. 1863. Abraham Lincoln Online, 2017, www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/gettysburg.htm. Accessed 31 July 2018. Address.
• Shirk, Willis L., Jr. "Woo Hong Neok: A Chinese American Soldier in the Civil War." Civil War Pennsylvania 150, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 16 July 2015, pacivilwar150.com/ThroughPeople/Soldiers/WooHongNeok.html. Accessed 31 July 2018.

In addition to the "electronic monument," the Association to Commemorate the Chinese Serving in the American Civil War, the following is another fantastic, comprehensive resource:  The Blue, the Gray and the Chinese: American Civil War Participants of Chinese Descent.