"Don Troiani's Black Soldiers in America's Wars: 1754–1865" Topic

for january 2025
144 pages

A lot of figures not seen before. It covers from the French and Indian war thru the Civil War. Text by the great John Rees. This is all based on primary research mostly. Some cherished myths are exposed and lots of new stories revealed. No agenda, not woke, just the cold historical facts whether you like them or not !

Fantastic. Definitely a "must have."

I have a number of books on black soldiers during the AWI. I wonder if there is much new here.

"No agenda, not woke, just the cold historical facts whether you like them or not !"

That sold me!

from the author himself John U. Rees

the fully sourced story of men of African descent who, through 111 years and four wars, served in or were attached to the militaries of five nations and one still-birthed country: Spain, Britain, France, Germany, the United States, and the southern Confederacy. Some, perhaps many, fought for ideals and causes that did not wholly match their own, or in the end betrayed them, but fight they did, with the ferocity and frailty inherent in all human beings. Their story includes faithful service and rebellion, heroism and self-seeking, in other words the behavior evinced by all people when placed in stressful, inequitable, oppressive, or violent circumstances, in this case military service under the "hard hand of war."
Don Troiani and John U. Rees, Black Soldiers in America's Wars, 1754-1865 (Essex, Ct., and Blue Ridge Summit, Pa.: Stackpole Books, 2025)

Contents
Preface: "Many of our Fathers fought and died …"
1. "Brought to this country and sold as a slave": From Africa to the Americas
2. "The thundering of the great guns": French and Indian War (1754-1763)
3. "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness": The War of the American Revolution (1775-1783)
4. "If we mean to be what we ought to be": Inter-War Years Through the War of 1812 (1791-1815)
5. "Our Lives for Liberty": American Civil War Era (1842-1865)

With forty-four artwork captions:
"1757, Massachusetts Provincial Soldier"
"1760, Capture of Detroit, Roger's Rangers"
"1775, Drummer, 29th Regiment of Foot"
"1. 17 June 1775, The Battle of Bunker Hill"
"2. 17 June 1775, The Redoubt (Battle of Bunker Hill)"
"1775-1776, Ethiopian Regiment"
"1777, American Militia Soldier, Northern or Middle States"
"11 September 1777, Battle of Brandywine"
"1777 Saratoga Campaign, 4th New York Regiment"
"1777, 2nd Rhode Island Regiment"
"1777-1778, 3rd Connecticut Regiment"
"1778, 1st Rhode Island Regiment (segregated)"
"1778, 3rd South Carolina Regiment"
"1779, Chasseur Volontaires de Saint-Domingue"
"1780, Black Pioneers"
"1780, 6th Connecticut Regiment"
"1781, Spartanburg militia soldier (South Carolina)"
"1781, Batallón de Morenos Libres de La Habana (Havana Battalion of Free Blacks)"
"1781, Gaskins' Virginia Battalion"
"6 September 1781, Defending Fort Griswold, Connecticut Militia"
"1781-1782, Rhode Island Regiment"
"1781-1782, Drummer, Hessen-Hanau Artillery Company"
"1782, 1st Massachusetts Regiment"
"1782, Charleston, South Carolina, Black Dragoons"
"1812-1815, Seaman, United States Navy"
"1813-1814, 104th Regiment of Foot"
"1814-1816, British Colonial Marines"
"13-14 September 1814, Fort McHenry, Private William Williams, 38th United States Regiment"
"1814-1815, New Orleans Campaign, Major Louis D'Aquin's 2nd (Louisiana) Battalion of Free Men of Color"
"1814-1815, New Orleans Campaign, 1st West Indian Regiment"
"1814-1815, New Orleans Campaign, Drummer Jordan Noble, 7th United States Infantry Regiment"
"1814-1815, New Orleans Campaign, 5th West Indian Regiment"
"1815, 2nd West Indian Regiment"
"1862-1863, 1st South Carolina Regiment (African Descent) (33rd United States Colored Regiment)"
"1863, Drummer, 54th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers"
"20 September 1863, Battle of Chickamauga, Enslaved Servant, 4th Tennessee Cavalry Regiment"
"1863-1864, 10th Regiment United States Colored Troops"
"30 July 1864, Battle of the Crater, Petersburg, Brigadier General Edward Ferrero's Ninth Corps Division of United States Colored Troops"
"1864, 14th Rhode Island Heavy Artillery (8th U.S. Heavy Artillery; 11th U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery)"
"29 September 1864, Third Battle of New Market Heights, 6th Regiment United States Colored Troops"
"1864-1865, Trooper and Bugler, 6th United States Colored Cavalry"
"1864-1865, 4th Regiment United States Colored Troops"
"1864-1865, 31st Regiment United States Colored Troops; Detachment 30th Connecticut (Colored)"