Born abt. Mar 1828, calculated on reported age of 38 upon death, in South Carolina to unknown mother and father, William Thomas Clem, went by many names, William T. Clem, William F. Clem, William Clem, Wm Clem, W T Clem, Thomas Clem, as listed on his only known son's (James William Clem) Alabama Certificate of Death.

William married Emma (Emily) Moore on May 3, 1858, in Talbot County, Georgia. They had one known son and one daughter to this marriage. Parents of both William and Emily are a mystery.

In 1860 they lived in White Plains, Calhoun County, Alabama, Ranges 8 and 9. William was listed as Wm Clem. Also living in the household was Emily Clem, age 18, b abt 1842, in Georgia, and Francis Clem, age 1, b. abt 1859, in Georgia, Also living in the household is an unknown male, Wyatt Walley, age 16, born abt 1844 in Georgia. William was recorded as age 29, born cir 1831, in South Carolina. William is listed to not be able to read nor write. Value of personal estate: $50.

During the Civil War, William fought in Co.B 30th Ala Regt. for the Confederate, He ranked in as Private and out as Farrier, (one who took care of the horses). A Farrier was primarily privates who were paid slightly higher for their particular skill, and slightly outranked a common private. He was entered March 29, 1862 in Talladega, Alabama, Mustered in on February 28, 1862 at Camp Curry, located nearby Jacksonville, Calhoun County, Alabama.

Also of interest, Wyatt Whatley, who was living in the household of William and Emma on the 1860 US Census, While Plains, Calhoun County, is also enlisted in Co. B 30th Ala Regt and both he and William were captured in Atlanta on September 4, 1864.

THE THIRTIETH ALABAMA INFANTRY

The Thirtieth was organized at Talladega in April, 1862, and reported for service at Chattanooga. It was later brigaded under General Tracy with the Twentieth, Twenty-third, Thirty-first and Forty-sixth Alabama regiments. It took part in the fights at Tazewell and Cumberland Gap, and went into Kentucky; then being sent to Mississippi, fought at Port Gibson, May 1, 1863, with severe loss, making a brilliant record there and at Baker's Creek; it was captured when Vicksburg fell, after having suffered untold hardships. When paroled, it recruited and joined the army near Chattanooga. It fought at Rocky Face and at Resaca, and was in the van of the army in the Tennessee campaign of the fall and winter of 1864. At New Hope, May, 1864; Atlanta, July 22nd, and Jonesboro, the regiment lost heavily; but it suffered still more severely at Nashville, whence it formed the rear guard in returning to Duck River.

William appeared on a Register of Payments on Descriptive Lists for Services from March 1, 1863 to August 31, 1863, paying $66 to Jno Macquire on October 17, 1863. (p. 11).

William was hospilitized for two days with Chronic Diarrhea on May 21, 1864 in Ocmulgee Hospital, in Macon, Georgia transferring to Calhoun County, Alabama on May 23, 1865. (p. 14). He appears on a Receipt Roll at Marshall Hospital, in Columbus, Georgia, for the second quarter in 1864, for clothing issued on June 27, 1864. (p. 12).

William was captured on September 4, 1864 in Atlanta, Georgia from Nashville, Tennessee by forces under Maj. Gen. W. T. Sherman, commanding Military Division of the Mississippi and, forwarded to Capt. S. E. Jones, AddÂ´l A.D.C., Louisville. The POW roll shows that he arrived at the Military Prison in Louisville, Kentucky, on October 28, 1864. He was transferred to Camp Douglas in Chicago, Illinois on January 04, 1865. Given the choice between prison or enlistment to the US Army, William applied for an oath of allegiance to the US Government at Camp Douglas, in December of 1864. He was accepted March 29 1865 and Mustered into the 6th United States Vol. Infantry April 1, 1865.

The decision to sign allegiance to the US likely saved William's life. Many men from the 30th Alabama Inf. died in this prison camp. Those soldiers who stayed in the prison camps suffered terribly, many dying from exposure, others from starvation or disease. The decision to take allegiance can certainly not be seen as a cowardly act. The Confederate service that William provided from his enlistment until his capture is certainly a record to make all his ancestors proud. The service he continued in the 6th US just continued his service with bravery.

Galvanized Yankees was a term from the American Civil War used to refer to former Confederate prisoners of war who had sworn allegiance to the Union. Due to doubts about their ultimate loyalty, Galvanized Yankees were generally assigned to garrison forts far from the Civil War battlefields or in action against American Indians in the west.

After signing the allegiance, William was immediately Mustered assigned to the 6th U.S. Volunteer Infantry, Co. H on April 1, 1865. This regiment was ordered to Leavenworth, Kansas in May, 1865, arriving May 11. They moved to Fort Kearney, Nebraska on May 14, then to Julesburg, Colorado. This regiment of "Galvanized Yankees" spent their entire time on the Great Plains fighting Indians. They were on duty in the District of the Plains and Utah until 03 November 1866 when the regiment was mustered out.

Given blue uniforms and sent west to fight Indians, they were known as "Galvanized Yankees". Just like galvanized metal is a rough metal covered with a strong coating, the Galvanized Yankees were true Confederate soldiers covered in their adopted US blue uniforms. President Lincoln and Secretary of War Edwin M. Station resisted the idea of recruiting former Confederates until 1864, when the need for manpower arose. It is stated that after the men were mustered into service, many Union officers remained highly suspicious of the former Confederates. Most changed their minds, however, when they saw the Galvanized Yankees in battle. Many veteran Union officers came to believe that the US. Volunteers were among the best troops they had ever seen.

This allegiance to the US and service as Galvanized Yankees, caused problems for most of these soldiers. For the soldiers who returned home was shunned in the south and acceptance was difficulty not only by their friends, but even by their families. To make things worse they were also neglected by the United States after the war. In order to qualify for a pension for their Federal service, they had to prove they were forced into joining the Confederacy against their will, which was not true for any of the soldiers. Unlike the North, who drafted their soldiers, the Confederate Army was completely volunteer.

Mortally wounded in action, William died March 1, 1866, at Sweetwater Bridge, in Dakota Territory. Union.