After reading last night’s post on John Tommy (alt. link) my good friend, mercenary Sinologue Brendan O’Kane has alerted me to this article on other Civil War participants who were born in China. The article suggests as many as 50 Chinese soldiers participated in the war, but records are sketchy and it may be hard to know more than a few minor details about most of them. Some Chinese used American (or Americanized) names, making the job of researchers difficult. Is a Lee a 李 or is he a cousin of Robert E.? Brendan notes that many of the Chinese soldiers appear to have been adopted by Americans participating in the 19th century China trade.
I say adopted, but this could cover a multitude of arrangements.
For example, one young man, known as Joseph Pierce, was “sold” by his Chinese family to Connecticut ship captain Amos Peck sometime in the late 1840s or early 1850s. Joseph was raised by Peck’s mother until 1862 when he enlisted in the 14th Connecticut Infantry and subsequently saw action at the Battle of Antietam.
Perhaps the most interesting — and certainly the most detailed account — is of Edward Day Cohota. In 1845, he and