Soldiers in the Army of Freedom: The 1st Kansas Colored, the Civil War's First African American Combat Unit (Volume 47) (Campaigns and Commanders Series) - Hardcover

Spurgeon Ph.D, Ian Michael

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0806146184 ISBN 13: 9780806146188

Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press, 2014

Synopsis

It was 1862, the second year of the Civil War, though Kansans and Missourians had been fighting over slavery for almost a decade. For the 250 Union soldiers facing down rebel irregulars on Enoch Toothman’s farm near Butler, Missouri, this was no battle over abstract principles. These were men of the First Kansas Colored Infantry, and they were fighting for their own freedom and that of their families. They belonged to the first black regiment raised in a northern state, and the first black unit to see combat during the Civil War. Soldiers in the Army of Freedom is the first published account of this largely forgotten regiment and, in particular, its contribution to Union victory in the trans-Mississippi theater of the Civil War. As such, it restores the First Kansas Colored Infantry to its rightful place in American history.

Composed primarily of former slaves, the First Kansas Colored saw major combat in Missouri, Indian Territory, and Arkansas. Ian Michael Spurgeon draws upon a wealth of little-known sources—including soldiers’ pension applications—to chart the intersection of race and military service, and to reveal the regiment’s role in countering white prejudices by defying stereotypes. Despite naysayers’ bigoted predictions—and a merciless slaughter at the Battle of Poison Spring—these black soldiers proved themselves as capable as their white counterparts, and so helped shape the evolving attitudes of leading politicians, such as Kansas senator James Henry Lane and President Abraham Lincoln. A long-overdue reconstruction of the regiment’s remarkable combat record, Spurgeon’s book brings to life the men of the First Kansas Colored Infantry in their doubly desperate battle against the Confederate forces and skepticism within Union ranks.

About this title

About the Author

Ian Michael Spurgeon holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of Southern Mississippi. He is currently a historian in the World War II Division of the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office in Washington, D.C. He has written numerous articles on U.S. political, military, and African American history and is the author of Man of Douglas, Man of Lincoln: The Political Odyssey of James Henry Lane.

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0806146184
• ISBN 13: 9780806146188
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 456