Black Union Soldiers in the Civil WarThis book refutes the historical slander that blacks did not fight for their emancipation from slavery. At first harshly rejected in their attempts to enlist in the Union army, blacks were eventually accepted into the service--often through the efforts of individual generals who, frustrated with bureaucratic inaction in the face of dwindling forces, overrode orders from the secretary of war and the president himself. By the end of the war, black soldiers had numbered over 187,000 and served in 167 regiments. Seventeen were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, the nation's highest award for valor. Theirs was a remarkable achievement whose full story is here told for the first time. |
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Page 20
... engagements continued to take place throughout 1861 and the rest of the war , but as the Union military establishment grew and improved , their losses decreased . Cooper lists 136 " events " or engagements in 1861 , all of which took ...
... engagements continued to take place throughout 1861 and the rest of the war , but as the Union military establishment grew and improved , their losses decreased . Cooper lists 136 " events " or engagements in 1861 , all of which took ...
Page 128
... engagement . One eminent historian , Bell Irvin Wiley , called it " one of several minor engagements in which Negroes played conspicuous roles . " 31 Others as- cribed more importance to it than that , as did the historian who wrote ...
... engagement . One eminent historian , Bell Irvin Wiley , called it " one of several minor engagements in which Negroes played conspicuous roles . " 31 Others as- cribed more importance to it than that , as did the historian who wrote ...
Page 160
... engagements of the Civil War . They helped to reshape the attitude of the Army regarding the use of black troops in combat operations . Assistant Secretary of War Dana so stated , and President Lincoln in his letter to Conkling wrote ...
... engagements of the Civil War . They helped to reshape the attitude of the Army regarding the use of black troops in combat operations . Assistant Secretary of War Dana so stated , and President Lincoln in his letter to Conkling wrote ...
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Common terms and phrases
abolitionist April arms assault attack August authority Banks batteries battle black flag black officers black regiments black soldiers black troops brigade Butler camps Captain captured Cavalry Civil Colored Troops command Company Confederate Congress Corps d'Afrique defense Department duty Dyer's Compendium Emancipation Proclamation enemy engagements enlisted fighting fire Forrest Fort Pillow Fort Wagner fought Free Military School fugitive slaves garrison Governor guns Heavy Artillery Hereafter cited Hunter Ibid Island issued June Kansas Colored killed Lieutenant Lincoln Major Market Heights Massachusetts McPherson ment military Milliken's Bend Mississippi Morris Island mustered Negro Troops Official Records Petersburg Port Hudson President prisoners raised rebellion rebels recruiting and organizing Secretary of War Secretary Stanton Sergeant Skirmish slavery South Carolina surrender Tennessee Thomas U.S. Colored U.S. Colored Troops U.S.C. Infantry Ullmann Union Army Union forces United States Colored USC Infantry Virginia Volunteers Wagner white officers William wounded wrote