Billy Yank

Billy Yank as depicted on the cover of the book with the same title

Billy Yank is the personification of the Northern states of the United States, or less generally, the Union during the American Civil War. The latter part of his name is derived from yankee, a slang term for New Englanders. Political cartoonists used Billy Yank and his Confederate counterpart Johnny Reb to symbolize the combatants in the American Civil War of the 1860s.

Billy Yank is usually pictured wearing a regulation Yankee wool uniform that included the fatigue blouse, a light-weight wool coat with an inside pocket and four brass buttons on the front, with a kepi-style forage cap made of wool broadcloth with a rounded, flat top, cotton lining, and leather visor.

Comics

In the DC Comics universe, the "Spirit of America" appeared first in human form as the Minuteman and then Brother Jonathan before splitting in two during the Civil War. After the war, the two halves of its essence (Johnny Reb and Billy Yank) recombined to form Uncle Sam.

See also

• Johnny Reb and Billy Yank

External links

• "Billy Yank and Johnny Reb: On the Road to Atlanta". HistoryNet.com. http://www.historynet.com/billy-yank-and-johnny-reb-on-the-road-to-atlanta.htm. Retrieved January 31, 2011. 
• Susan Provost Beller (2007). Billy Yank and Johnny Reb: Soldiering in the Civil War. Twenty-First Century Books. ISBN 0822568039. http://books.google.com/books?id=8RhFUmanx3AC&printsec=frontcover&dq=billy+yank+and+johnny+reb&source=bl&ots=vSum5S7ArG&sig=bhkpoSSCrbapqVfNhMukzqnFSmY&hl=en&ei=QytHTZHLGYPGlQfK1tEF&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CCkQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved January 31, 2011. 
• Johnny Reb and Billy Yank: Culture and Tactics in the Civil War
• Johnny Reb and Billy Yank
• The Union Soldier