There were Rebel soldiers who immigrated to Brazil, Mexico, and
South America after the war.
$
--- In [email protected], "Andr� Kenji de Sousa"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> http://www.confederados.com.br/history.htm
>
> CONFEDERATE DESCENDANTS IN BRAZIL
>
>
>
> Since the end of the War Between the States, much had been written
and
> said by all those who wish to find the truth behind America's
> bloodiest and most disheartening war. Few realize that this War
took
> more lives than all of America's other wars together. The War
Between
> the States took more than 600,000 lives and ruined the Southern
> economy. The scars would take decades to heal. The immigration of
> Southerners to Brazil following the War is an interesting and
curious
> event connected with the War. This immigration was a direct result
of
> the outcome of the War.
>
> This wave of immigration, which may have included up to 9,000
people,
> has left in Brazil a community of descendants of Southern
immigrants.
> They are identified as the "Confederados". The descendants are all
> over the country, but the largest community, and by far de most
> important is located in the State of São Paulo. This community,
> founded by the Southerners, has grown into the town of Americana.
> Americana and its older mother city, Vila Santa Bárbara (today
Santa
> Bárbara D'Oeste), a few miles apart, are the gravity center of the
> community of Southern descendants in Brazil. Since 1954, the
> Fraternity of American Descendants has held headquarters there.
>
> The descendants gather at the Campo Cemetery every quarter session
of
> the year, on its second Sunday, for a religious service, a
discussion
> of topics related to Fraternity, and a traditional lunch. Each
family
> brings dishes, desserts, drinks and all present enjoy Brazilian and
> Southern favorites in a communal style. The old-timers chat in the
> familiar Southern drawl, while children run and play, speaking
> Portuguese and very little English.
>
> The Campo Cemetery is located on the countryside, surrounded by
sugar
> cane fields. It is 10 miles from Americana and Santa Bárbara
D´Oeste.
> These two cities are 100 miles from São Paulo, Brazil's largest
city
> and capital of São Paulo State.
>
> "Soldier rest! Thy warfare o´er
> Sleep the sleep that knows no breaking
> Days of toil or nights of waking"
> This is the inscription found on the tombstone of Confederate
Veteran
> Napoleon Bonaparte McAlpine, who rests together with a number of
other
> Confederate Veterans and Confederado leaders in the Campo Cemetery.
>
> Of these, the most prominent and the real founder of the
Confederate
> colony was Colonel William Hutchinson Norris, a native of
Oglethorpe,
> Ga. He moved to Alabama and later served as a Senator, after living
> for several years in Dallas, Texas. Colonel Norris was a lawyer
and is
> mentioned in the book "Reminiscences of Public Men of Alabama".
>
> When the carpetbaggers swarmed into the South at the close of War,
> Colonel Norris gathered and made his way to Brazil. Emperor Dom
Pedro
> II welcomed the Southerners in person there, thanks to contacts
> Colonel Norris had with the Masons and to Brazil's need of
> agricultural skills of the Southern planters, especially in cotton
> farming. Contrary to some biased accounts, the Southerners did not
> immigrate to Brazil in a futile attempt to perpetuate slavery. When
> the immigrants arrived, the slave system in Brazil was in decline
and
> slavery was peacefully abolished in 1888.
>
> Colonel Norris, a veteran of the Mexican War, was in his sixties
when
> the War Between the States raged. His sons, Reece, Frank, Robert
and
> Clay, all served. Robert Norris served in the 15th Alabama Infantry
> under Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, in the Army of Northern
Virginia.
> After 57 engagements, only 247 of the 1250 in the regiment were
left.
> Robert was wounded several times and in 1864 was captured and sent
to
> a Union prison, Fort Delaware.
>
> There are many other Confederados of whom we have military
> information, thanks to the Sons of Confederate Veterans. There were
> Lucien and George Barnsley, of the 5th Georgia Infantry, from Rome,
> Floyd County, Ga. (This unit was known as the Rome Light Guards).
> Lucien was a captain. George was a medical officer (See listing for
> additional information).
>
> The immigrants bought land in the State of São Paulo at 22 cents an
> acre, and in the States of Pará, Espírito Santo, Bahia, Rio de
Janeiro
> and Santa Catarina; some went to Santarém, Pará State, the Vale do
Rio
> Doce region as well as to Iguape and most to Vila Santa Bárbara.
The
> community that grew up around Vila Santa Bárbara was the most
> important and would grow into Americana, now an important textile
> center.
>
> The Campo Cemetery, later to become the spiritual center of the
> Confederate colony in Brazil, was founded because of laws that
> restricted the burial of Non-Catholics in the Catholic Cemetery
> grounds, after Beatrice Oliver died in 1868. The Southerners
decided
> to follow the Southern tradition and dedicated God's Acre as a
burial
> place for their dead. The old Oliver farm was in a convenient place
> and its highest spot was not adequate for cultivation. It became
the
> unofficial cemetery of the community, and in 1955, the Fraternity
of
> American Descendants was founded, in part to maintain the cemetery.
> After many years, Sonny Pyles donated the plot legally to the
> Fraternity. During the first years in Brazil, the Southerners
avoided
> mingling with other Brazilians, for cultural reasons. However, as
the
> colony evolved and immigrants from many parts of world arrived,
they
> turned into real Brazilian and married Italians, Poles, Germans,
Dutch
> and, believe it or not, Russians!
>
> The Russian immigrants are an interesting part of Brazilian
history. A
> Russian community was founded only five miles from Americana named
New
> Odessa. During the Cold War, the Brazilians marveled at the lack of
> friction between the two groups, unaware of the fact that the
> Confederados were not Yankees and that the Russian immigrants were
not
> Red Russians!
>
> Today the Campo Cemetery is the testament of the most successful
> Southern colony founded after the War Between the States. Some of
> those who immigrated to Brazil returned to the United States in
later
> years. Those who remained assimilated into Brazilian society. Very
few
> of the people who live today in Americana trace their ancestry to
the
> Southern immigrants. The descendants of the 400 or 500 families
that
> stayed in Brazil are scattered throughout the country, many living
in
> large cities. Despite this, the Confederados have managed to found
and
> maintain an Immigration Museum in Santa Bárbara D'Oeste and the
> Fraternity is doing very well, with a vibrant Board of Directors
and
> an affluent membership. Today, the Confederate descendants consider
> themselves Brazilians, speak the language and have adopted local
> customs and manners.
>
> However, one cannot go to a Fraternity meeting and avoid the
strange
> feeling that somewhere, somehow, there is a part that always seems
to
> be missing... The Southern heart so deeply wounded in the
battlefields
> of the War.
>
> --
> André
>
> http://www.andrekenji.com.br
> Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/andken/
>
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