Italians and the American Civil War

[Massimo F.]

I hope it's the right section for this. I've never thought that Italian volunteers fought on both sides during the American Civil war. Does anyone knows of any book about it?
I've found an interesting article here :
http://us-civil-war.suite101.com/art...ican_civil_war

[DennyB]

I have studied the American Civil War for decades and must say I have never seen this mentioned that I can recall.

[Admiraal]

I heard about American civil war unit(s) made up from Dutch people, is that true?

[DennyB]

Rick, I cannot say for sure. I have heard of units made up of Germans "I fights mit Siegel!" but as you may know, Germans were often referred to as "Dutch" in years gone past in America. I think this was because people would confuse "Deutsche" with "Dutch".
In the area of Southern Illinois where I grew up there were many people of English/Irish/Scot ancestory and a few Germans. A common nickname for someone of German ancestory would be "Dutch".
Denny