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Re: Oath of Allegiance
In Response To: Re: Oath of Allegiance ()

Dennis wrote: >>>My great-grandfather, Patrick Hogan, called the oath the "yellow pill" if I read one of his handwritten letters correctly. He was a member of a Confederate officer POW group.<<<

I would love to have a photocopy of the letter in which he uses the term "yellow pill." I am going through our Fort Delaware archives looking for as much material on this subject as possible in order to do an article for a future issue of Fort Delaware Notes.

Common terms among the loyal Confederates for taking the Oath were "swallowing the yellow dog" and "swallowing the yellow pup." Nobody I ask wants to hazard a guess as to why a "yellow dog" conveyed such a negative image other than it may come from animal breeding and a "yellow dog" tended to mean a mixed breed. But then there are Yellow Labs in today's pure bred world. And remember the Walt Disney 1950's era movie about "Old Yeller" who was a stray, mixed breed dog that showed up a Civil War era Texas ranch?

I have also heard the term "swallowing a yellow dog contract" used in the context of modern day business management forcing a labor union group to accept an unfavorable contract. The concept of a "yellow dog contract" certainly seems to be a carryover from the Civil War period.

I live an hour away from our Society archives, so I can't make a quick check. But if Patrick Hogan was a prisoner at Fort Delaware, we would really like to know more about him and get copies of all of the correspondence he might sent or received while at Fort Delaware plus any post-war remembrances he might have written or dictated to others.

Hugh Simmons
Fort Delaware Society

Messages In This Thread

Oath of Allegiance
Oath of Allegiance vs Release on Parole
Terrific Posting, Hugh. Thanks! *NM*
Re: Oath of Allegiance vs Release on Parole
Re: Oath of Allegiance
Re: Oath of Allegiance
Re: Oath of Allegiance
Re: Oath of Allegiance
Re: Oath of Allegiance
Re: Oath of Allegiance