61: The Louisiana Native Guard, the 54th Massachusetts & On: Black Soldiers in the Civil War

“It is hard to believe that Southern soldiers—and Texans at that—have been whipped by a mongrel crew of white and black Yankees … there must be some mistake.”

This is the story of Black Soldiers in the Civil War.

Black patriots are ready to fight from day one. The Lincoln Administration and Congress, however, are not ready to have them. They fear losing the support of the border states and the Democrats. But as the war drags on, they change their tune. Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation, and black regiments are incorporated in the US Army in early 1863. Eventually, as many as 200,000 black soldiers will fight in hundreds of engagements across every theater of the Civil War.

But trailblazers often cut hard paths. As a skeptical nation wonders, “will they fight?” the black creoles of the Louisiana Native Guard and the black troops of the 54th Massachusetts answer that question in the most forceful way possible: with their own blood and lives.

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