Men of Color, to Arms!

Men of Color, to Arms!
Author: James R. Fuller
Publisher: iUniverse
Total Pages: 254
Release: 2001
Genre: History
ISBN: 0595158269

"Forward! Double-Quick!" and away we all rushed toward the fort... capturing two brass field pieces, one of which the rebels left loaded." A true account of Vermont men of color in battle during the Civil War. A barely known fact is that the tiny state of Vermont provided over one hundred and fifty African American soldiers to fight for the Union and by doing so, free millions of their own race. This is their story. Derived from historical archives and through their own words, discover the soldiers who answered the call, "Men of Color, To Arms!"

Men of Color to Arms!

Men of Color to Arms!
Author: Elizabeth D Leonard
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2012-06-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 0803240716

Originally published: New York: W.W. Norton & Co., c2010.

Frederick Douglass’ Civil War

Frederick Douglass’ Civil War
Author: David W. Blight
Publisher: LSU Press
Total Pages: 302
Release: 1991-07-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780807117248

In this sensitive intellectual biography David W. Blight undertakes the first systematic analysis of the impact of the Civil War on Frederick Douglass' life and thought, offering new insights into the meaning of the war in American history and in the Afro-American experience. Frederick Douglass' Civil War follows Douglass' intellectual and personal growth from the political crises of the 1850s through secession, war, black enlistment, emancipation, and Reconstruction. This book provides an engrossing story of Douglass' development of a social identity in relation to transforming events, and demonstrates that he saw the Civil War as the Second American Revolution, and himself as one of the founders of a new nation. Through Douglass' life, his voice, and his interpretations we see the Civil War era and its memory in a new light.

Men of Color to Arms!: Black Soldiers, Indian Wars, and the Quest for Equality

Men of Color to Arms!: Black Soldiers, Indian Wars, and the Quest for Equality
Author: Elizabeth D. Leonard
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Total Pages: 336
Release: 2010-08-23
Genre: History
ISBN: 0393079155

The story of the black soldiers who helped save the Union, conquer the West, and build the nation. In 1863, at the height of the Civil War, Frederick Douglass promised African Americans that serving in the military offered a sure path to freedom. Once a black man became a soldier, Douglass declared, “there is no power on earth or under the earth which can deny that he has earned the right to citizenship in the United States.” More than 180,000 black men heeded his call to defend the Union—only to find the path to equality would not be so straightforward. In this sharply drawn history, Professor Elizabeth D. Leonard reveals the aspirations and achievements as well as the setbacks and disappointments of African American soldiers. Drawing on eye-opening firsthand accounts, she restores black soldiers to their place in the arc of American history, from the Civil War and its promise of freedom until the dawn of the 20th century and the full retrenchment of Jim Crow. Along the way, Leonard offers a nuanced account of black soldiers’ involvement in the Indian Wars, their attempts to desegregate West Point and gain proper recognition for their service, and their experience of Reconstruction nationally, as blacks worked to secure their place in an ever-changing nation. With abundant primary research, enlivened by memorable characters and vivid descriptions of army life, Men of Color to Arms! is an illuminating portrait of a group of men whose contributions to American history need to be further recognized.

African American Faces of the Civil War

African American Faces of the Civil War
Author: Ronald S. Coddington
Publisher: JHU Press
Total Pages: 384
Release: 2012-08-20
Genre: History
ISBN: 142140625X

A renowned collector of Civil War photographs and a prodigious researcher, Ronald S. Coddington combines compelling archival images with biographical stories that reveal the human side of the war. This third volume in his series on Civil War soldiers contains previously unpublished photographs of African American Civil War participants—many of whom fought to secure their freedom. During the Civil War, 200,000 African American men enlisted in the Union army or navy. Some of them were free men and some escaped from slavery; others were released by sympathetic owners to serve the war effort. African American Faces of the Civil War tells the story of the Civil War through the images of men of color who served in roles that ranged from servants and laborers to enlisted men and junior officers. Coddington discovers these portraits— cartes de visite, ambrotypes, and tintypes—in museums, archives, and private collections. He has pieced together each individual’s life and fate based upon personal documents, military records, and pension files. These stories tell of ordinary men who became fighters, of the prejudice they faced, and of the challenges they endured. African American Faces of the Civil War makes an important contribution to a comparatively understudied aspect of the war and provides a fascinating look into lives that helped shape America.

Lincoln and the U.S. Colored Troops

Lincoln and the U.S. Colored Troops
Author: John David Smith
Publisher: SIU Press
Total Pages: 171
Release: 2013-11-04
Genre: History
ISBN: 0809332914

When Abraham Lincoln issued his final Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, he not only freed the slaves in the Confederate states but also invited freed slaves and free persons of color to join the U.S. Army as part of the U.S. Colored Troops (USCT), the first systematic, large-scale effort by the U.S. government to arm African Americans to aid in the nation’s defense. By the end of the war in 1865, nearly 180,000 black soldiers had fought for the Union. Lincoln’s role in the arming of African Americans remains a central but unfortunately obscure part of one of the most compelling periods in American history. In Lincoln and the U.S. Colored Troops John David Smith offers a concise, enlightening exploration of the development of Lincoln’s military emancipation project, its implementation, and the recruitment and deployment of black troops. Though scholars have written much on emancipation and the USCT, Smith’s work frames the evolution of Lincoln’s ideas on emancipation and arming blacks within congressional actions, explaining how, when, and why the president seemed to be so halting in his progression to military emancipation. After tracing Lincoln’s evolution from opposing to supporting emancipation as a necessary war measure and to championing the recruitment of black troops for the Union Army, Smith details the creation, mobilization, and diverse military service of the USCT. He assesses the hardships under which the men of the USCT served, including the multiple forms of discrimination from so-called friends and foes alike, and examines the broad meaning of Lincoln’s military emancipation project and its place in African American historical memory.