In some circumstances Pang is considered a Chinese surname but there were Caucasians with that surname. During the Civil War, it’s not clear how many people surnamed Pang were Chinese.
Here is information about Charley Pang a confederate solider.
Confederate Private
1st Regiment, Louisiana Infantry, Company G
Prisoner of War
Post-war status unknown
Records of Louisiana Confederate Soldiers and Louisiana Confederate Commands
Volume III
Andrew B. Booth
New Orleans, Louisiana, 1920
page 64: Pang, Charley, Pvt. Co. G. 1st La. Inf. En. —. Federal Rolls of Prisoners of War, Captured near Chickamauga, Ga., Sept. 20. 1863. Forwd to Military Prison, Louisville, Ky., from Nashville. Tenn., Sept. 30, 1863. Transfd. to Camp Douglas, Chicago, Ill., Oct. 2, 1863.
Pang’s entry was transcribed at Association to commemorate the Chinese serving in the American Civil War.
Pang is in the National Park Service database.
Pang has an entry in The Roster of Confederate Soldiers, 1861–1865: Oadneal, Alfred N. to Rand, William H. (1996).
The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, Louisiana), September 5, 1883, had this court notice: “Second Recorder’s Court. Emma Brown, Pauline Harris, Mary Williams, Mathilda Pace and Charley Pang were fined $5 each for fighting.”
So far, no document or article identifying Charley Pang as Chinese has been found.
He was not the only Pang in the Louisiana infantry. There was Leon Pang. Here are two records at Ancestry.com.
Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Record
Name: Leon Pang
Enlistment Date: September 11, 1861
Enlistment Place: Camp Moore
Rank: Private
Military Unit: Thirteenth Infantry, Mu - R
U.S. Civil War Soldiers, 1861–1865
Name: Leon Pang
Side: Confederate
Regiment State/Origin: Louisiana
Regiment: 13th Regiment, Louisiana Infantry
Company: F
Rank In: Private
Rank Out: Private
He had an entry in Records of Louisiana Confederate Soldiers and Louisiana Confederate Commands, page 64: “Pang, Leon, Pvt. Co. F. 13th La. Inf. En. Camp Moore, La., Sept. 11, 1861. Roll June 30 to Oct. 31, 1863. Deserted, missing after passing Camp Dick Robertson. Rolls Nov., 1863, to Dec., 1864. Present. Roll to Feb. 28, 1965, Absent, captured near Nashville, Dec. 16, 1864.”
It’s not clear if Charley and Leon were related. They have not been found in the 1860 U.S. Federal Census.
Here are the records of four more Pangs.
Civil War Draft Registrations Record
Name: Pater Pang
Birth Year: abt 1819
Place of Birth: Virginia
Age on July 1, 1863: 44
Race: Black
Marital status: Unmarried (Single)
Residence: Knight, California
Congressional District: Northern
Class: 1
Name: John T Pang
Birth Year: abt 1826
Place of Birth: Pennsylvania
Age on July 1, 1863: 37
Race: White
Residence: Gilmore, Greene, Pennsylvania
Congressional District: 24th
Class: 2
Name: Ira Pang
Birth Year: abt 1832
Place of Birth: New York
Age on July 1, 1863: 31
Race: White
Marital status: Married
Residence: Sterling, Macomb, Michigan
Congressional District: 5th
Class: 1
New York, Civil War Muster Roll Abstract
Name: Alexander Pang
Age: 24
Birth Year: abt 1838
Birth Place: Rensselaer, New York
Enlistment Year: 1862
Enlistment Location: Penn Yan
Muster Year: 1862
Separation Details: Discharged
Separation Date: February 1863
There is no evidence of anyone surnamed Pang who was Chinese and served during the Civil War.
(Next post: The Gettysburg College Journal of the Civil War Era)
