 While fondly referred to as " Dixie " or the Dixie Mission , the true name of the mission was the United States Army Observation Group to Yan 'an . One war scholar attributes the name to the number of Southerners amongst the mission 's personnel . John Davies declared in his memoir , Dragon by the Tail ' , ' that the mission was called ' Dixie ' , as a reference to its location within " rebel " CPC held territory , by himself and his peers , a glib comparison to the territory of the Confederate States of America . 
