According to the National Park Service’s Soldiers and Sailors System, there were twenty enlisted men named George Washington in the 5th U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery. These all would have been black men, the vast majority, former slaves. The 5th U.S. … Continue reading →
Researching early regiments of the U.S. Colored Troops (USCT) can sometimes be difficult. Unit names may have changed several times throughout their service. The earliest regiments, organized between the fall of 1862 and the creation of the Bureau of Colored … Continue reading →
Special guest post today at National Archives blog, “Rediscovering Black History” about the Chaos of Emancipation in northeast Louisiana, 1863. Much thanks to Tina Ligon and others for making this possible!
Continue reading →A recent post included a brief anecdote about a former slave – now a Union soldier – taking his former master prisoner at Milliken’s Bend. This story was widely repeated (after all, it made sensational journalism) – but it was … Continue reading →
Many men from Illinois had a hand in the Milliken’s Bend story, and this seems like a timely subject, in anticipation of the upcoming Decatur Civil War Symposium. In April 1863, Adjutant General Lorenzo Thomas traveled along the Mississippi River, … Continue reading →