Finnish Sailors and Soldiers in the American Civil War

Finnish Sailors and Soldiers in the American Civil War

The involvement of Finns in the American Civil War (1861–1865) has received very little attention. The American Civil War, as we know, was the result of disagreements involving the issue of slavery between the northern and southern states of the Union. While the South favoured slavery, the North was against it. Literature which deals with the involvement of Finnish soldiers and sailors is limited to one major contribution (Ilmonen, 1919). In his book on Finnish-American history, a number of individuals -- particularly sailors -- are noted, who fought on the side of the Northern Union.

In this brief article, I present some findings of individuals who participated on both sides of the Civil War. A list of soldiers and sailors is also presented from data collected from Ilmonen (1919), from archival sources obtained from the U.S. National Archives in Washington DC as well as from the Sailor’s Snug Harbour facility which was the home for many retired Finnish sailors following the Civil War.

According to Ilmonen, the participation rate of the Finns was significant and greater than expected given the small Finnish population that lived in America at the time. Ilmonen estimates that some 1000 Finns lived in the United States during the 1860s, and of this number perhaps as many as one hundred Finns fought in the Northern Army and Navy (Ilmonen, 1919:158).

The largest proportion of Finns -- at least in the North -- joined the Navy. Only a few individuals were found in the Army. From primary sources dealing with the Confederacy, it appears that more Finns were part of the Army and Cavalry in the south.

Part of the reason for a lack of study on Finnish military involvement in the Civil War is the result of very poor records kept on the various enlisted personnel. Records are so poor in fact, that amongst the Confederate forces, no mention is made of the place of birth for the soldiers who were mustered into service in the Confederate South. Other scholars interested in this topic concur with this dilemma (Haggman, 1997; Olin, 1997). This has hindered the research in establishing ties to Finland, although a number of names are presented in this article which may undoubtedly have Finnish roots regardless of the spelling which may have been altered during the enlisting of each soldier.

An extensive 16-volume collection of participants in the Confederate Forces was published in 1995 (Hewett, 1995). Examination of this collection produced about a dozen names of possible Finnish soldiers, even though the spelling may be erroneous. Names such as Lambie and Mattil were originally believed to be of possible Finnish origin, but cross-referencing these names with the little data available for the Confederate Forces indicated that Lambie (who reached the rank of 1st Lieutenant in Virginia) was of Irish birth (Military Service Records - Virginia). According to other information, the Lambie name originates from Scotland (Lambie, 1998). The surname Mattil in turn most likely was of German origin (Mathiel) which was changed during the 1800s (Mattil, 1998).

A collection of names from the Union (Northern) Forces has been established previously by Ilmonen, and thus the soldiers in the Southern Forces is entirely new to the reader. The available literature generally points that more Finnish immigrants resided in the northern states, and thus more Finns were fighting in the Northern armies and navies than in the Confederate South. However, there were sizeable Finnish populations in coastal cities such as New Orleans, Louisiana during the 1860s, where up to 200 Finns resided (Kero, 1997:130).

The presence of these early Finns may have been a source for some Finns in the Confederacy as proposed by the discovered data. Present research into the American Civil War and the Finnish involvement is being conducted by scholars such as K-G Olin of Jacobstad, Finland and Dr. Haggman of Helsingborg, Sweden (Olin, 1997; Haggman, 1997). Additional confirmation and service and pension records are being sought by the author for the numerous Union sailors listed by Ilmonen