The story of Milliken’s Bend is at its core, a story of Black resistance. And not just on one day, June 7, 1863, when a small brigade of newly enlisted Black Union soldiers fought fiercely against a Confederate attack. The … Continue reading →
The logbook of the gunboat Choctaw records the names of some of the men wounded at Milliken’s Bend. Lt. Commander F. W. Ramsay reported that Lt. Jonathan W. Ayers of Company K, 9th Louisiana, was wounded and “picked up in … Continue reading →
I recently discovered on the National Archives website a small set of extremely detailed maps of the area of Milliken’s Bend and the Mississippi River. These are invaluable for learning more about the precise locations of Milliken’s Bend, and the … Continue reading →
John Gordon’s complete pension file – now available online! Nearly 300 pages!
Continue reading →Juneteenth may be celebrated later this month, but two years before June 19, 1865, when slaves in Galveston learned of their freedom – Black men in Union blue claimed and won their freedom on the banks of the Mississippi River … Continue reading →