Black Troops, White Commanders and Freedmen during the Civil War

Black Troops, White Commanders and Freedmen during the Civil War
Author: Howard Westwood
Publisher: SIU Press
Total Pages: 212
Release: 2008-09-09
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9780809328819

Recounting the experiences of black soldiers in the Civil War In the ten probing essays collected in this volume, Howard C. Westwood recounts the often bitter experiences of black men who were admitted to military service and the wrenching problems associated with the shifting status of African Americans during the Civil War. Black Troops, White Commanders and Freedmen during the Civil War covers topics ranging from the roles played by Lincoln and Grant in beginning black soldiery to the sensitive issues that arose when black soldiers (and their white officers) were captured by the Confederates. The essays relate the exploits of black heroes such as Robert Smalls, who single-handedly captured a Confederate steamer, as well as the experiences of the ignoble Reverend Fountain Brown, who became the first person charged with violating the Emancipation Proclamation. Although many thousands were enlisted as soldiers, blacks were barred from becoming commissioned officers and for a long time they were paid far less than their white counterparts. These and other blatant forms of discrimination understandably provoked discontent among black troops which, in turn, sparked friction with their white commanders. Westwood's fascinating account of the artillery company from Rhode Island amply demonstrates how frustrations among black soldiers came to be seen as "mutiny" by some white officers.

The White Man's Fight

The White Man's Fight
Author: Michael A. Eggleston
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2012-03-28
Genre: History
ISBN: 1468566814

"The American negroes are the only people in the history of the world. . . . that ever became free without any effort on their own." W. E. Woodward stated this in his biography of General Ulysses S. Grant. Nothing could be farther from the truth as will be seen in this history which will show that the African Americans fighting in the Civil War may have been the deciding factor in determining the outcome.

Forged in Battle

Forged in Battle
Author: Joseph T. Glatthaar
Publisher: LSU Press
Total Pages: 404
Release: 2000-03-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780807125601

Sixteen months after the start of the American Civil War, the Federal government, having vastly underestimated the length and manpower demands of the war, began to recruit black soldiers. This revolutionary policy gave 180,000 free blacks and former slaves the opportunity to prove themselves on the battlefield as part of the United States Colored Troops. By the end of the war, 37,000 in their ranks had given their lives for the cause of freedom. In Forged in Battle, originally published in 1990, award-winning historian Joseph T. Glatthaar re-creates the events that gave these troops and their 7,000 white officers justifiable pride in their contributions to the Union victory and hope of equality in the years to come. Unfortunately, as Glatthaar poignantly demonstrates, memory of the United States Colored Troops' heroic sacrifices soon faded behind the prejudice that would plague the armed forces for another century.

Freedom's Soldiers

Freedom's Soldiers
Author: Ira Berlin
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 212
Release: 1998-03-13
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780521634496

Freedom's Soldiers tells the story of the 200,000 black men who fought in the Civil War, in their own words and those of eyewitnesses.

Freedom for Themselves

Freedom for Themselves
Author: Richard M. Reid
Publisher: UNC Press Books
Total Pages: 441
Release: 2012-02-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 080783727X

More than 5,000 North Carolina slaves escaped from their white owners to serve in the Union army during the Civil War. In Freedom for Themselves Richard Reid explores the stories of black soldiers from four regiments raised in North Carolina. Constructing a multidimensional portrait of the soldiers and their families, he provides a new understanding of the spectrum of black experience during and aftger the war.

Paying Freedom's Price

Paying Freedom's Price
Author: Paul David Escott
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 183
Release: 2016-10-28
Genre: History
ISBN: 1442255757

Paying Freedom's Price provides a comprehensive yet brief and readable history of the role of African Americans—both slave and free—from the decade leading up to the Civil War until its immediate aftermath. Rather than focusing on black military service, the white-led abolitionist movement, or Lincoln’s emergence as the great emancipator, Escott concentrates on the black military and civilian experience in the North as well as the South. He argues that African Americans—slaves, free Blacks, civilians, soldiers, men, and women— played a crucial role in transforming the sectional conflict into a war for black freedom. The book is organized chronologically as well as thematically. The chronological organization will help readers understand how the Civil War evolved from a war to preserve the Union to a war that sought to abolish slavery, but not racial inequality. Within this chronological framework, Escott provides a thematic structure, tracing the causes of the war and African American efforts to include abolition, black military service, and racial equality in the wartime agenda. Including a timeline, selected primary sources, and an extensive bibliographic essay, Escott’s book will be provide a superb starting point for students and general readers who want to explore in greater depth this important aspect of the Civil War and African American history.

Soldiering for Freedom

Soldiering for Freedom
Author: Bob Luke
Publisher: JHU Press
Total Pages: 144
Release: 2014-06-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 1421413604

The story of an enormous step forward in both the struggle for black freedom and the defeat of the Confederacy: turning former enslaved men into Union soldiers. After President Lincoln issued the final Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863, Confederate slaves who could reach Union lines often made that perilous journey. A great many of the young and middle-aged among them, along with other black men in the free and border slave states, joined the Union army. These U.S. Colored Troops (USCT), as the War Department designated most black units, materially helped to win the Civil War—performing a variety of duties, fighting in some significant engagements, and proving to the Confederates that Northern manpower had practically no limits. Soldiering for Freedom explains how Lincoln’s administration came to recognize the advantages of arming free blacks and former slaves and how doing so changed the purpose of the war. Bob Luke and John David Smith narrate and analyze how former slaves and free blacks found their way to recruiting centers and made the decision to muster in. As Union military forces recruited, trained, and equipped ex-slave and free black soldiers in the last two years of the Civil War, white civilian and military authorities often regarded the African American soldiers with contempt. They relegated the men of the USCT to second-class treatment compared to white volunteers. The authors show how the white commanders deployed the black troops, and how the courage of the African American soldiers gave hope for their full citizenship after the war. Including twelve evocative historical engravings and photographs, this engaging and meticulously researched book provides a fresh perspective on a fascinating topic. Appropriate for history students, scholars of African American history, or military history buffs, this compelling and informative account will provide answers to many intriguing questions about the U.S. Colored Troops, Union military strategy, and race relations during and after the tumultuous Civil War.

The Rocky Road Over Emancipation to the First Black Regiments: The Emancipation of Black Soldiers in the American Civil War

The Rocky Road Over Emancipation to the First Black Regiments: The Emancipation of Black Soldiers in the American Civil War
Author: Anne-Marie Schmidt
Publisher: Anchor Academic Publishing (aap_verlag)
Total Pages: 65
Release: 2015-03
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 3954893754

Why did American policy delay black emancipation and official enlistment until 1863, and what were the blacks’ motives for enlisting at all? This study investigates black soldiers’ participation in the American Civil War and the struggles on their way to equality. By coming in thousands, fugitive slaves forced policy to finally tackle the hushed-up issue of slavery. First I will investigate the political background, starting with introducing the three main parties in the emancipation debate, and continuing with the political steps toward official enlistment and the reactions of society to these developments. Secondly, I will focus on the black soldiers’ motives, including influences that had shaped them and obstacles which prevented emancipation in practice, and finally I will explore the war’s results for the black population. Even though it is not expected that the movie Glory, which is frequently quoted, conveys an accurate and historically verified picture of the Fifty-Fourth Massachusetts, it gives a possible perspective of the blacks toward the war. This study focuses only on black soldiers and not on black participation in the war in general.

Black Soldiers in Blue

Black Soldiers in Blue
Author: John David Smith
Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Press
Total Pages: 478
Release: 2005-10-12
Genre: History
ISBN: 0807875996

Inspired and informed by the latest research in African American, military, and social history, the fourteen original essays in this book tell the stories of the African American soldiers who fought for the Union cause. An introductory essay surveys the history of the U.S. Colored Troops (USCT) from emancipation to the end of the Civil War. Seven essays focus on the role of the USCT in combat, chronicling the contributions of African Americans who fought at Port Hudson, Milliken's Bend, Olustee, Fort Pillow, Petersburg, Saltville, and Nashville. Other essays explore the recruitment of black troops in the Mississippi Valley; the U.S. Colored Cavalry; the military leadership of Colonels Thomas Higginson, James Montgomery, and Robert Shaw; African American chaplain Henry McNeal Turner; the black troops who occupied postwar Charleston; and the experiences of USCT veterans in postwar North Carolina. Collectively, these essays probe the broad military, political, and social significance of black soldiers' armed service, enriching our understanding of the Civil War and African American life during and after the conflict. The contributors are Anne J. Bailey, Arthur W. Bergeron Jr., John Cimprich, Lawrence Lee Hewitt, Richard Lowe, Thomas D. Mays, Michael T. Meier, Edwin S. Redkey, Richard Reid, William Glenn Robertson, John David Smith, Noah Andre Trudeau, Keith Wilson, and Robert J. Zalimas Jr.

African Americans During the Civil War

African Americans During the Civil War
Author: Deborah H. DeFord
Publisher: Infobase Publishing
Total Pages: 113
Release: 2006
Genre: African American soldiers
ISBN: 1438106505

African Americans living in the time period directly preceding the Civil War were influenced by the constant tension between the North and the South. The aftereffects of the Civil War greatly affected African-American life as well. This work explores this intriguing time in American history.