The American Civil War was a defining moment in the course of 19^th century history. It was a conflict most powers of the day had a vested interest in due to lucrative trade links and the migration of substantial numbers of people who became an important pool of new recruits. One third of men who fought in the Civil War were born outside the United States. Records show around 300.000 came from the British dominions, 200.000 Germany, 50.000 Canada and just over 75.000 from countries such as Italy, France, Spain and Russia. Battlefield losses broke hearts across the world and the Civil War was an international tragedy.

Demographically, 71% of America's population lived in the 'North' - 22 million people of which 4 million were males of military age. By contrast 29% of the population lived in the 'South' - 9 million people, 3.5 million of whom were slaves, leaving a pool of 1.4 million males of military age. In terms of economic resources, 81% of capital, 85% of industry and 72% of railway mileage was located in the North. Not surprisingly, a majority of immigrants chose to live in the industrial North as opposed to the agrarian South.

CSS Shenandoah hauled out for repairs in Melbourne1865

The Confederacy was out gunned, out spent and out numbered by their northern foe which resulted in it looking beyond its shores for financial aid, supplies and soldiers. Vessels of the Confederate States Navy sailed around South America, Europe and the Pacific, taking on recruits wherever possible. The Confederacy also retained recruitment agents in countries including Australia although, due to laws forbidding foreign powers recruiting, they were often cloaked as employment agencies. The most direct attempt to recruit Australians to fight in the Civil War took place when the 1160 ton Confederate cruiser 'Shenandoah', sailed into Victoria on the 25th of January 1865 for supplies and repairs. When she sailed from Australian waters she carried 42 local men. This resulted in protests from the Lincoln Government and punitive damages for provisioning a rebel vessel.

The exact number of Australians who fought in the United States isn't known, Australia was a 73 year old colony of England at the time, with a population of just over a million men, woman and children. It received 50.000 new settlers each year. Nationality is a cloudy issue. Residents considered themselves ethnically Scottish, Irish, Welsh, Cornish or English, under the national banner of Great Britain, until well after Australia became an independent state at Britain's behest in 1901. As such, many Australians who fought in the conflict would have identified themselves as British on enlistment forms, especially those who were born in the UK and had emigrated to Australia. The figure is likely to be hundreds.

Ethnicity played a part in sides taken. The Anglo-Saxon/Welsh Australian predominantly embraced Lincoln and the democratic Union against the tyranny of a regime founded on the enslaved fellow men. Whereas many Scottish/Irish Australians were lured to the Southern cause by recruiters/propagandists who tapped into the forced estrangement from cherished homelands due to land clearances and ethnic oppression. The recruiters depicted Unionists as imperialist trying to annex their homeland in the same way England had taken theirs. Most who set sail never returned. The few who did make it back were broken by the experience and told their families that the moment they set eyes on Negro slaves they realized their mistake.

Australians were prepared to fight for the ideals upon which the Civil War was being fought, in the same way future generations would be attracted to Spain in the 1930's to help the local fight against fascism during its Civil War. This Spanish cause also lured people from across the globe.

Prior to the outbreak of war there was extensive trade and cultural interaction between Australia and America, especially in the mining sector. In the 20 years preceding hostilities investors, engineers, surveyors, miners and prospectors moved freely between California and Australia on the crest of each new gold or copper discovery. Records show Americans were at the Ballarat, Avoca, Forbes and Young goldfields when Civil War erupted. They returned to their families to fight for their country, many accompanied by friends they had made. Not only European Australians served in Union ranks. Historians Terry Foenander and Barry Crompton discovered Australian Aborigines and New Zealand Maoris also served, designated as Negroes. Most were mariners whose skills were sorely needed by the US Navy. Although for legal reasons they enlisted in the continental United States, it is likely they were recruited in the South Pacific by Union recruiters on board American whalers and warships that they came into regular contact with.

RICHARD CROFT:
enlisted in Boston on the 31^st of May 1862. Records state he was born in New Zealand and describe him as having black eyes, woolly hair and mulatto complexion.

JOHN JACKSON:
enlisted at Hyannis, Massachusetts, on the 25^th of February 1862. Records state he was born in Australia and describe him as having black eyes, black hair and Negro complexion. A seaman on the 'USS Ohio' he died in combat on the 24^th of March 1862.

JOHN MORRIS:
enlisted on the 28^th of November 1864 at age 26 and records show he was born in New Zealand and describe him as a Negro.

CHARLES LYMON:
enlisted on the 9^th of August 1864 at age 25 and records show he was born in New Zealand and describe him as having black eyes and hair with copper complexion.

MICHAEL KENDY:
enlisted on the 10^th of June 1864 at New Bedford age 21 and records show he was born in Australia describing him as having black eyes, woolly hair and Negro complexion.

ALBERT MCDERMOTT:
enlisted on the 20^th of October 1863 in New York aged 23 and records show he was born in Australia, describing him as having black eyes, fuzzy hair and a yellow mulatto complexion.

WILLIAM PARANGE:
enlisted on the 15^th of September 1862 in Boston, Massachusetts, aged 38 and records show he was born in the Bay of Isles, New Zealand, and describe him as having dark hair, eyes and skin color.

ANTONIO MILES:
enlisted in the Union Navy at age 23 and records list him as a 'native' of Australia and describe him as a mulatto.