Freedom by the Sword: The U.S. Colored Troops, 1862-1867 - Softcover

Dobak, William A.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1616088397 ISBN 13: 9781616088392

Publisher: Skyhorse, 2013

Synopsis

The Civil War changed the United States in many ways—economic, political, and social. Of these changes, none was more important than Emancipation. Besides freeing nearly four million slaves, it brought agricultural wage labor to a reluctant South and gave a vote to black adult males in the former slave states. It also offered former slaves new opportunities in education, property ownership—and military service. From late 1862 to the spring of 1865, as the Civil War raged on, the federal government accepted more than 180,000 black men as soldiers, something it had never done before on such a scale.

Known collectively as the United States Colored Troops and organized in segregated regiments led by white officers, some of these soldiers guarded army posts along major rivers; others fought Confederate raiders to protect Union supply trains, and still others took part in major operations like the Siege of Petersburg and the Battle of Nashville. After the war, many of the black regiments took up posts in the former Confederacy to enforce federal Reconstruction policy. Freedom by the Sword tells the story of these soldiers' recruitment, organization, and service. Thanks to its broad focus on every theater of the war and its concentration on what black soldiers actually contributed to Union victory, this volume stands alone among histories of the U.S. Colored Troops.

About this title

About the Author

William A. Dobak received his PhD in American Studies from the University of Kansas in 1995, and is now an authority on the history of black soldiers in the nineteenth century. An award-winning historian and author, he has worked at the National Archives and the U.S. Center of Military History.

Review

Xpress Reviews: Nonfiction|First Look at New Books, December 23, 2011 -- Library Journal

December 22, 2011 by Bette-Lee Fox
Week ending December 23, 2011

Dobak,William A. Freedom by the Sword: The U.S. Colored Troops, 1862-1867. Ctr. of Military History.  (Army Historical Series). 2011. c.553p. illus. maps, bibliog. index. ISBN 97801608866968.  $69.95.  HIST -- (ISBN pertains to Hardcover format)

"The title of this book comes from the Latin inscription on a medal struck for black Union soldiers: Ferro iis libertas perveniet ("Freedom will be theirs by the sword").  Dobak (retired, U.S. Army Ctr. of Military History; Fort Riley and Its Neighbors) argues that rather than being passive recipients of freedom attained for them by Northern white soldiers, African Americans fought for their own freedom and did so effectively.  In spite of severe prejudice in the North and frequently poor leadership from their own all-white officers, the U.S. Colored Troops served with distinction.  Dobak examines his subject by geographic area and time period rather than in strict narrative form.  This approach makes it harder for readers to see the "big picture" of black accomplishments in the war but effectively shows how --contrary to common opinion -- black soldiers did not merely garrison forts and serve as laborers for white fighting troops.  As indicated by his title, Dobak covers the first months of Reconstruction as well as the war itself."

Edition details

• Publisher: Skyhorse
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1616088397
• ISBN 13: 9781616088392
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 568