I wonder what the gain was for a Scotsman to fight in the American Civil War? I can understand them fighting against the hated Sassanachs in the Revolutionary war, but the civil war?
Scots are fiercely independent (and stubborn) people. It’s not that surprising that many would side with states favoring “local control” over centralized authority. After all, Scotland had been an independent country for centuries before being folded into the UK. Many Scots chafed against this imposition of a higher authority and presumably those most upset about Scotland’s loss of independence may have emigrated to the U.S., i.e., “land of the free and home of the brave.”
Fame and fortune. Read the story.
Same old Sassanachs in the Souf’ although they’ve recently begun styling themselves as authentically Scottish, but they ain’t!
“I wonder what the gain was for a Scotsman to fight in the American Civil War?”
I think there was a certain percentage of Scots in the nineteent century that simply could not resist the temptation to join into a bonny fight, regardless of where. There were Scots that fought on both sides during the ACW. As I recall, there was even a Union regiment made up of Scots immigrants who had kilts as part of their uniform.
They just like to fight. They’re good at it too.