Black troops, white commanders, and freedmen during the Civil War

The important roles played by blacks in the Civil War have only recently drawn the scholarly attention they so richly merit. Now Howard C. Westwood’s articles on this topic have been collected together with an original essay written especially for this volume.

Westwood’s work covers topics ranging from the roles played by Lincoln and Grant in beginning black soldiery to the sensitive issues that arose when black soldiers (and their white officers) were captured by the Confederates. The essays relate the exploits of black heroes such as Robert Smalls, who singlehandedly captured a Confederate steamer, as well as the experiences of the ignoble Reverend Fountain Brown, who became the first person charged with violating the Emancipation Proclamation.