Chinese in The Confederate Army
Two or three men from China and two Americans of partial Chinese descent were Confederate soldiers. Author Ruthanne Lum McCunn identifies the two men born in North Carolina as Christopher Wren Bunker and Stephen Decatur Bunker. They were the sons of the slaveholding "Siamese" (actually Chinese) conjoined twins, Chang and Eng Bunker, and their white American wives. These men fought for the Confederacy voluntarily.
One other Chinese soldier was conscripted, and subsequently deserted, and another was underage and appears to have had little choice but to enter the Confederate service. While their stories appear to be genuine, neither of them is found on a Confederate roster or muster roll. John Fouenty, recently freed from a labor contract in Cuba, was on his way home to China when he was conscripted by the CSA in Savannah, Georgia. He deserted when near Union lines and continued his journey home. Marshall Tsao, or Cao Zishi (also identified as having taken the name Charles K. Marshall), an underage student and servant, accompanied his master, Dr. David C. Kelley, into service with the Tennessee cavalry. He survived, became a Methodist minister, returned to China and had later medical training. However, rosters of Tennessee cavalry units in the Confederate Army do not contain the name of Charles K. Marshall or any of the Chinese variations of his name so his role with the army, if any, other than as a servant of or assistant to Kelley, is unclear.
Although McCunn states "only five are known to have fought for the Confederacy," she does not identify (or clearly identify) the fifth. A possible fifth Chinese Confederate soldier other than Thomas Sylvanus who is mentioned in the previous footnote, William H. Kwan, Company B, 12th Virginia Battalion of Light Artillery, has been listed in two sources as Chinese but without any information that would show his ethnicity or background or service record. One of the sources even has a question mark after the identification of Chinese (and lists his unit as 15th Virginia Battalion of Light Artillery).
Another possible Chinese born Confederate, Charles Chon, was said to have been buried at a Confederate cemetery near Nashville, Tennessee. Chon apparently enlisted in the Southern military while living in Texas, although it has been disputed as to whether or not he joined the cavalry or infantry. No accounts of his service during the war have yet been uncovered.
Diaries of a Florida soldier and a Louisiana soldier have been cited as containing assertions that at least one Chinese soldier was in each of these Confederate soldiers' companies, but the diaries give no names or other details about them. A researcher identified 18 "Chinese-sounding" names on Confederate Army rosters but she cited no information that confirms the ethnicity or country of origin of any of them or anything about their background or service.
Read more about this topic: Confederate States Army
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