African American Faces of the Civil War: An AlbumDiscover the men of color who fought for their freedom during the Civil War through profiles illustrated with original wartime photographs. A renowned collector of Civil War photographs and a prodigious researcher, Ronald S. Coddington combines compelling archival images with biographical stories that reveal the human side of the war. This third volume in his series on Civil War soldiers contains previously unpublished photographs of African American Civil War participants?many of whom fought to secure their freedom. During the Civil War, 200,000African American men enlisted in the Union army or navy. Some of them were free men and some escaped from slavery; others were released by sympathetic owners to serve the war effort. African American Faces of the Civil War tells the story of the Civil War through the images of men of color who served in roles that ranged from servants and laborers to enlisted men and junior officers. Coddington discovers these portraits?cartes de visite, ambrotypes, and tintypes?in museums, archives, and private collections. He has pieced together each individual’s life and fate based upon personal documents, military records, and pension files. These stories tell of ordinary men who became fighters, of the prejudice they faced, and of the challenges they endured. African American Faces of the Civil War makes an important contribution to a comparatively understudied aspect of the war and provides a fascinating look into lives that helped shape America. “It does nothing to diminish the depth and precision of Coddington’s research to say that each compelling vignette prompts the reader to hurriedly flip to the next one.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) |
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108th U.S. Colored 1860 Slave Schedules Abbott African American Anderson Ruffin Abbott Anglo-African April Artillery Battle became born Boston Buffalo Soldiers Burnside camp Camp William Penn Capt captain Carney Carte de visite Cavalry Chandler Charles Christian Recorder Philadelphia Civil Collection colonel Colored Infantry Carte Colored Troops commander Company F comrades Confederate County Delany died Douglass duty Emancipation Proclamation enlisted federal Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Infantry fight Fort Wagner guard Henry Hines History Ibid Illinois images James John Johnson July Kentucky later lieutenant Lincoln Louisiana March Market Heights married Massachusetts military service record Mississippi months mustered NARS North officers Ohio Pennsylvania pension record Pryor recruits regiment reported returned Rock Island sergeant served Silas soldiers South Carolina Tintype Tintype by unidentified Trotter U.S. Census U.S. Colored Infantry unidentified photographer Union Union army Virginia visite by unidentified Wagner Washington Washington D.C. wife William wound York