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Once They Wore the Gray
In order to escape horrifying conditions, Sergeant Gil Metairie and his fellow Confederate prisoners become "Galvanized Yankees" and join the Union Army to battle Indians out West where they are confronted by the distrust of the Union troops, forcing Metrairie and his men to fight even harder for their survival. Reprint.
256 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2001
12 people are currently reading
16 people want to read
About the author
Johnny D. Boggs
106 books83 followersJohnny D. Boggs is a Spur- and Wrangler Award-winning author of the American West and frontier. Born in 1962, Boggs grew up on a farm near Timmonsville, South Carolina, around the old stamping grounds of Revolutionary War hero Francis Marion (chronicled in his frontier novel The Despoilers). He knew he wanted to be a writer at an early age. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico with his wife, Lisa Smith; son, Jack Smith Boggs; and basset hound, June.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 1, 2024
Review to follow.
March 31, 2020
A JDB. US Calvary Western Action Adventure (OTWG)
JDB. has penned a US Calvary western action adventure titled, "Once They Wore Gray" which begins with the primary character leaving a Northern prison camp, in the last year and a half, to join the US Calvary on the western frontier in Kansas. They are sworn in, for one year, and must remain. However, some deserted, but our main character stayed and engaged in battle against Missouri Raiders and the different Indian tribes. It was a new type of warfare for both of the combined forces into one. This is an excellent read for the genre.....DEHS
JDB. has penned a US Calvary western action adventure titled, "Once They Wore Gray" which begins with the primary character leaving a Northern prison camp, in the last year and a half, to join the US Calvary on the western frontier in Kansas. They are sworn in, for one year, and must remain. However, some deserted, but our main character stayed and engaged in battle against Missouri Raiders and the different Indian tribes. It was a new type of warfare for both of the combined forces into one. This is an excellent read for the genre.....DEHS
February 7, 2023
Nicely researched and well written, this book should make a reader want to see more from author Boggs.
It's quite a story, based on history, and a very sad history at that.
After the Yankees instigated the War, sometimes called "Lincoln's War" or "The War of Northern Aggression," both factually correct, but the best, most accurate, but more nearly objective term is "War Against Southern Independence," they discovered that by pulling all their military forces into the Southeast to pillage, burn, rape, and kill, they allowed the "Indians," the aboriginal peoples, to do the same to the residents of the West.
As the War progressed, and Confederate soldiers were captured, some of them were offered a parole of sorts: They could join the U.S. forces to fight but only against the "Indians," not against their fellow Southerners.
Most people used to know about the hell-hole known as Andersonville, the prisoner of war camp in Georgia where so many of the invaders were held. And so many died. (Confederate authorities begged the invading Yankees for a prisoner swap, knowing they couldn't feed, clothe, or care for the thousands. Northern authorities, not caring how many of their own people died, just said no. They saw some tactical and/or strategic advantage, even in letting their own thousands perish. But, of course, blamed the commandant of the prison and hanged him.)
But most people don't know how equally murderous the Yankee prisons were, and that Confederate prisoners also died by the thousands, often from intentional starvation and mistreatment.
Northern prisons were so terrible, so deadly, many of the Southerners decided it was preferable to risk their lives fighting the "Indians" than to risk them staying in the prisons.
That's where "Once They Wore the Gray" begins.
Author Boggs knows both his history and how to tell a dramatic fictive story.
I have no hesitation in recommending "Once They Wore the Gray," and I'm pretty sure I'll re-read it some day.
It's quite a story, based on history, and a very sad history at that.
After the Yankees instigated the War, sometimes called "Lincoln's War" or "The War of Northern Aggression," both factually correct, but the best, most accurate, but more nearly objective term is "War Against Southern Independence," they discovered that by pulling all their military forces into the Southeast to pillage, burn, rape, and kill, they allowed the "Indians," the aboriginal peoples, to do the same to the residents of the West.
As the War progressed, and Confederate soldiers were captured, some of them were offered a parole of sorts: They could join the U.S. forces to fight but only against the "Indians," not against their fellow Southerners.
Most people used to know about the hell-hole known as Andersonville, the prisoner of war camp in Georgia where so many of the invaders were held. And so many died. (Confederate authorities begged the invading Yankees for a prisoner swap, knowing they couldn't feed, clothe, or care for the thousands. Northern authorities, not caring how many of their own people died, just said no. They saw some tactical and/or strategic advantage, even in letting their own thousands perish. But, of course, blamed the commandant of the prison and hanged him.)
But most people don't know how equally murderous the Yankee prisons were, and that Confederate prisoners also died by the thousands, often from intentional starvation and mistreatment.
Northern prisons were so terrible, so deadly, many of the Southerners decided it was preferable to risk their lives fighting the "Indians" than to risk them staying in the prisons.
That's where "Once They Wore the Gray" begins.
Author Boggs knows both his history and how to tell a dramatic fictive story.
I have no hesitation in recommending "Once They Wore the Gray," and I'm pretty sure I'll re-read it some day.
April 15, 2012
This book was pretty good! It centered mainly on Sergeant Gil Metaire and his experience as a galvanized soldier serving in the west. Galvanized soldiers were Rebel soldiers who had been captured and given a choice between going to a yankee prison or signing up for a year's service in the Union army with a promise to be sent out west to fight the indians. Given the conditions of the war prison's it isn't suprising that after being in one for some time Gil Metaire choice to sign up.
Gil goes from being a respected rebel soldier to a union soldier that was still treated as a prisoner and with distrust from the union soldiers that he served with. Throw in a romance with the commanders daughter to fill out the story. The book focused more on his military days and battles with indians than the romance, the romance felt more like filler just to flesh out the story a bit. It didn't detract from the story but didn't really add anything meaningful to it.
Gil goes from being a respected rebel soldier to a union soldier that was still treated as a prisoner and with distrust from the union soldiers that he served with. Throw in a romance with the commanders daughter to fill out the story. The book focused more on his military days and battles with indians than the romance, the romance felt more like filler just to flesh out the story a bit. It didn't detract from the story but didn't really add anything meaningful to it.
June 19, 2015
I think it was probably typical for a Western. Lots of violence. Took place in Kansas which I liked. I think the topic of galvanized Yankees was interesting and I may read more about that later, but this book didn't spend that much time exploring the topic. Not an emotional book.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews