Soldiering for Freedom: How the Union Army Recruited, Trained, and Deployed the U.S. Colored Troops

After President Lincoln issued the final Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863, Confederate slaves who could reach Union lines often made that perilous journey. A great many of the young and middle—aged among them, along with other black men in the free and border slave states, joined the Union army. These U.S. Colored Troops ...