Back then Germans were called “Dutch” by most people in this country.......That’s because they called themselves ‘Duetch’ derived from Deutchland, or Germany. We still call the inhabitants of Berks Co. Dutchies, although we know better. Pennsiwania is strange.
Even stranger is that the German Catholics of Nazareth-Bethlehem area of Pennsylvania call themselves Pennsylvania Dutch even though the latter are really German Protestants of a different culture. I asked around about that and basically the German Catholics sort of wanted to glom onto the more well known and colorful Pennsylvania Dutch ID.
BTW, that interview with the Confederate veterans was interesting to me because it took place just up the road from me in Lake Worth, Florida.