Slavery - Emancipation, Abolition & African American Civil War Participation, United States Army, African Americans - Military History, United States - Ethnic & Race Relations, General & Miscellaneous African American History, Civil War and Reconstruction
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Overview
Sixteen months after the start of the American Civil War, the Federal government, having vastly underestimated the length and manpower demands of the conflict, began to recruit black solders. 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, award-winning historian Joseph T. Glatthaar dramatically 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.The definitive work on one of the least explored aspects of Civil War history--the 180,000 enlisted African-Americans who fought for the Union. "One of the most revealing contributions to the literature of the Civil War . . . fascinating."--New York Times.
Book Details
Published
July 25, 1991
Publisher
New York, N.Y., U.S.A. : Meridian, c1990
Pages
384
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9780452010680