By: Clay Hoffman
The “Hawaii Sons of the Civil War” were a group of approximately 119 Native Hawaiians and Hawaii-born men who served bravely in the Civil War. Despite King Kamehameha IV declaring the Kingdom of Hawaii’s neutrality at the outset of the war, many Native Hawaiians and Hawaii-born Americans, both abroad and in the islands, enlisted in the Union and Confederacy. These men included sailors on whaling ships who joined the Union Navy, as well as sailors who were captured by the Confederate Navy. Some of the latter served on the CSS Shenandoah, which is famously known for firing the last shot of the Civil War across the bow of a whaler near the Aleutian Islands.
Among the Hawaii Sons of the Civil War was Prince Romerson, a native of the Big Island of Hawaii, who enlisted in the Union Navy in 1863. It is not known if his first name denoted any royal status. Romerson served aboard the USS Wamsutta and USS Mercedita, both gunboats that supported the Union blockade of Confederate waterways.
Enlistment card for Prince Romerson
Public Domain
After a year in the Navy, he joined the Union Army as a private in Company M of the 5th Regiment Massachusetts Colored Volunteer Cavalry. Promoted to the rank of sergeant on June 1, 1864, he fought with the 5th USCC until the war’s end, seeing action in the Siege of Petersburg and other battles.
In 1867, Romerson enlisted in the 39th U.S. Infantry Regiment at the reduced rank of private. The 39th was later consolidated with the 40th to create the 25th U.S. Infantry, which became one of the regiments of the Buffalo Soldiers. Romerson served in the 25th for three years, fighting in the Indian Wars on the Texas frontier. He died on March 30, 1872, in his early 30s, and was buried at San Antonio National Cemetery.
Native Hawaiians had served in American wars since the War of 1812. At the beginning of the Civil War, there was a rising tide of sympathy among Hawaiians with the Union due to their historic ties to New England, established through missionaries and the whaling industry. Additionally, many people in the islands opposed slavery.
Memorial plaque for Hawaii Sons of the Civil War in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Honolulu
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In recent years, Hawaiian residents and historians, along with descendants of the combatants, have worked to bring attention to the heroics of the Hawaii Sons of the Civil War. On August 26, 2010—the anniversary of the signing of the Neutrality Proclamation—a bronze plaque honoring them was erected at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.
