The Louisiana in the Civil War Message Board

Finding Croatians in the Confederate Army

The search for Croatians in the Confederate Army can be difficult. While many Croatian surnames end in "ic" or "ich" there are surnames like Frankopan, Zrinski, Tomislav, Tesla, that do not. Odd spellings are also a problem- My own Croatian surname has been a source of confusion when it comes to spellings and pronunciations...Since Croatia was a part of Austria in the 1860's checking in immigration lists can also be misleading.

Croatians from along the Dalmatian Coast settled along the Gulf of Mexico and other places. I recall seeing the gravestone of a Croatian at Mission Dolores in San Francisco that was written in Croatian, inscribed with his birth as "Ragusa"-The former name for Dubrovnik, Croatia. I can not remember the exact date of death but am certain the date of death was in the 1700's. I can also recall visiting in Louisiana and seeing one of my own family surnames seemingly everywhere in the town along with many other Croatian surnames. Without doing further research it would be hard to tell when the families arrived, but I strongly think they were in this town in the 1860's so a forming a Croatian company in this area is not unreasonable to assume. Maybe there were other companies?

Sincerely,
William Bozic
Lifemember of the Sons of Confederate Veterans
and looking for Croatian Confederates

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Finding Croatians in the Confederate Army