One of my great grandfathers was fresh off the boat from Europe in Illinois, his family having escaped to dodge the draft into one of Europe's endless wars.
Soon enough, he and his brother volunteered, he for a Quincy, Ill. regiment and served until the end -- when he was wounded near Mobile, the wound not so serious but the infection nearly killed him.
When it was all over the two brothers married two pretty young Texas girls... and moved to Kansas.
.........great story, my great grandpa served in the “Texas Sixth” which was a go to unit for Lee. I love telling my daughter who just had a little boy that “none of us would be in this room today if some Yankee soldier had been a better shot and killed Grandpa”.
It’s amazing how many today are directly linked to Civil War action but don’t know it.