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<img src="https://cdn.kahimyang.com/resources-28/felix-cornelius-balderry.webp" loading="lazy" alt="A historical black-and-white studio portrait of Felix Cornelius Balderry, a man of Filipino descent with short dark hair and a serious expression. He is wearing a dark Union Army infantry uniform featuring a high-collared jacket with brass buttons and a leather belt with a large, oval 'US' buckle." />
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Felix Cornelius Balderry, a Filipino immigrant who served in the 11th Michigan Volunteer Infantry during the American Civil War. This photograph, one of the only known images of Balderry, depicts him in his Union uniform during the period he fought in the Atlanta Campaign .
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Balderry's role in the 11th Michigan Volunteer Infantry during the Atlanta Campaign highlights how the Union Army became a site of opportunity and enfranchisement for individuals positioned at the edges of America's racial and legal order. By bringing together maritime labor history, the wartime evolution of naturalization law, and the tactical realities of the Western Theater, one can reconstruct the life of a man who crossed oceans and political worlds to secure a place - and ultimately a legacy - in the American Midwest.

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Archipelagic Origins and the Global Maritime Labor Market
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The genesis of Felix Cornelius Balderry's narrative lies in the Batanes province, a northern archipelago of the Philippines situated in the Luzon Strait. Born between 1842 and 1845, Balderry emerged from a cultural milieu defined by the Ivatan people, whose seafaring traditions were dictated by the volatile maritime environment of the region. During the mid-nineteenth century, the Philippines remained under Spanish colonial administration, a system that dictated strict social hierarchies but could not fully contain the mobility of its maritime population. The Batanes islands, being geographically isolated from the administrative center in Manila, produced a demographic that was remarkably adept at navigation and shipbuilding, traits that made Ivatan men highly desirable as laborers for foreign merchant vessels. 


At approximately the age of sixteen, Balderry transitioned from a local maritime existence to the expansive network of the global merchant marine. This period of his life coincided with a peak in the "Manilamen" phenomenon, where Filipino sailors became ubiquitous in the international maritime labor market. These sailors were often found on American, British, and Dutch vessels, seeking escape from the restrictive colonial economy of the Philippines and the chance for higher wages in the Atlantic and Pacific trade routes. Balderry's specific entry into this world was facilitated by his enlistment on a vessel commanded by Captain Joseph S. Foster of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonidas_Township,_Michigan" class="news-link-ext" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Leonidas, Michigan</a>.

Felix Balderry's Role in the American Civil War


Discover the story of Felix Cornelius Balderry, a Filipino immigrant who served in the 11th Michigan Infantry during the American Civil War.



Felix Cornelius Balderry: A Filipino Legacy in the American Civil War