President Andrew Johnson Cabinet and government officials and general ulysses s. Grant watched from this reviewing stand in front of the white house. On May 23rd an estimated 80,000 soldiers of the army of the potomac led by general meade took about six hours to pass before the reviewing stand on may 24th, general William T Sherman led about 65,000 soldiers of the army of the tennessee and the army of georgia on the same route up next on american artifacts a reenactment of the parade that celebrated the end of the civil war. Shoulder oh. My name is dr. Malcolm beach, and im president of the united States Colored troops living history association, and im from North Carolina. Today. Were having a reenactment called the grand review parade. This in fact is a reenactment of the victory parade. It was held at the end of the civil war 150 years ago. Down, Pennsylvania Avenue however at that particular parade the united States Colored troops were not allowed to march in the victory parade. So what were doing today is were correcting that. That oversight. And the us cts will march in Victory Today down, Pennsylvania Avenue. Weve been planting this for about 18 months. And trying to get reach out all across the country to get participants. I think were going to have over 1500 People Today that includes now that soldiers but descendants of some of the soldiers are going to watch today. Bottles that i love your head. One, my name is letha granbury. I am from piperton tennessee. This is a small town about 25 20 to 25 miles east of memphis. Well today i am here honoring my great great grandfather wrote and granbury. He was from tennessee, macon, tennessee. So he enlisted in the us colored troops regiment in 1863. Could you tell us a little bit about your ancestor what you know, okay what i know about him he mustered in in 1863 in lagrange, tennessee, and he mustered out in 1866. He was with the 59th regiment and he was in the battle of bryces crossroad, and he also had expeditions in mississippi. He also helped protect the Country Band Camp in memphis. So he was there for a while and he also had another expedition in. Tupelo he was in tupelo. So he he had quite a few areas that he had gone to and served. Was a cannon shooter. So by the time he had gotten now he did hearing problems, but other than that, you know what he did after the war not after the war listening to my great great. Aunt i ask her what job did he had and she said oh, baby he didnt have a job he wasnt a soldier he folded in the civil war so that was his job, so thats the only thing that i knew about him as far as the census goes it said that he his occupation before mustering in was was a farmer, but other than that after the war, thats all we know. And so youre going to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue. Yes, i am so i will be walking down pennsylvania honoring my great great grandfather. So it will be a great adventure tell us about your organization. What do you do on a regular basis . Well on a regular basis we have members most of the members are reenactor, but we also have teachers the historians other scholars people that are interested in the africanamerican participation in the civil war. So we go to all of the reenactments was appomattox recently. We were at richmond and the martin the Parade March of richmond. Weve been down in North Carolina to bentonville Ford Fisher Forks Road any place where theres a major battle the us color troops participated in we try to make those reenactments. What do you know about the decision 150 years ago not to include the the us color troops. How did that come about . Well, i think i open a line is always that after lincolns assassination. There lesser men in charge. Okay, and there was an opportunity in fact the us called troops were only about 20 miles out outside of the city. And instead of asking them to join the parade which the general wanted them to join the parade. They were sent back to the south. To guard some of the the areas that were surrendered by the confederates. So they were just clearly not allowed to to participate. Hi, my name is james hubbard. And im from philadelphia actually south jersey a place called, willingboro, new jersey. Here today, basically. Representing descendants of my family who fought in the civil war 14 the Army And Wind for the navy. Its about your ancestors. Yes. My answers Ones Name isaac hubbard. Okay, he served in the six regimental. Called an Infantry And K company, they saw action in raleigh, North Carolina and so action in richmond the taking of Richmond And Taking of petersburg the naval relative. Im still researching. I have some information on it, but i dont have enough. I dont know what shipping served on so im looking into that so so how do you find out about your relatives . What happened was i was here. In Washington Dc when my grandson started school and we visited the afroamerican civil War Museum and they told us about the grand review and i went to my cousin and she told me this information. Oh, yeah, you had a couple relatives that served in the civil war say i do and she gave me some of the information i did some of the further research and i thats what i found out in the service. So i was here and i thought it would come down. My familys going to be here. Theyre gonna watch me in the parade. They came down to see me. You know, i kind of its very interesting and this is my first one so im kind of like excited and thralled by it. How did you find your uniform . A gentleman from the theres a organization in philadelphia. Hes a and he was with the fifth or six regiment color regiment. He does reenactments and he had enable uniform because i went online. Try to find one and it was like really hard is really hard, but he had whining said see it. I think it may fit you and hes and it did. Its winter uniform, but if its a little warm, but if its so i i said fine. Ill take it and here thats how i got it. Really . You most of the uniforms i replicates because theyre not 150 years old, you know, its quite a few settlers online where you can order a uniform and you receive it in a matter of but the actual person that you are i guess reenacting for it is whats most important for example, im today. I am a reenactor for Lieutenant Colonel William Reed. Was a commander of the 35th united States Color troops based out of new bern, North Carolina. And in the battle of austie in florida wants to colonel was killed the leukem Lieutenant Colonel took his place and led the 35th regiment in battle. In olustee, florida so Lieutenant Colonel William Reed is who im reenacting today. What what was his life like after the war . Have you done . He suffered some wounds during the battle and he died and it was shortly thereafter, so he didnt really have a life after the battle, but most of the us color troops if you think about it, they were from the south. So when they mustered out of the military they went back home or went to the areas of the south today, but most familiar with and the good part about it is they were able to take their weapons with them so they could provide some level of safety for their community for as long as they could. One one people who dont know anything about the us colored troops what sort of basic things do you think they should know . Well, its its a man of historical fact that president issued the Emancipation Proclamation. As a matter of a military necessity prior to the Emancipation Proclamation the south was winning most of the battles. With the Emancipation Proclamation it allows african americans to fight with the armed forces of the union and over 200,000 of them joined the navy the Infantry Artillery and calvary. And they fought so you have some fresh recruits coming in at 1863. After 1863 clearly the north or the union began to win more battles, and we think that the United States cultures have a major role in in the overall union victory. So, can you tell me your name . And your name is Michael Falco from new York City . Im working on the civil war 150 pinhole project. Ive been traveling since 2011 photographing the Wars Battlefield throughout the country and attending suspentennial reenactments as a 19th Century Photographer photographing those reenactments as if the photographer was in the battle with the soldiers and trying to bring a little bit more imagining to this subject. Why pinhole . I find the pinhole camera. Theres no lens on this camera. And so it creates these really kind of blurry soft focus images that i believe and lend. Some imagining to this period in the pictures that ill be taking for the last four years. They if you look at the pictures you really cant tell what century youre in. And so that was one of the things i wanted to play with in this whole idea that theres the civil War Landscape that exists in this country. Its still alive and well you can visit the battlefields those battlefields are 19th century landscapes in our myths right because theyve been protected for 100 and something years now. And then many of the reenactors that youll meet here today are descendants of the men who fought in this war. And so theres our cultural connection to this period here 21st century americans returning to these battlefields is descendants to commemorate commemorate the service of their greatgreatgrandfathers. And at my first reenactment, i i realized that i needed to become a actor to get the pictures that i needed so i became a reenactor to do this project. And i had sort of my own impressions of what reenacting was i didnt understand it really but after doing it for four years now, i i become quite impressed with these these men and women who do this. Ive done a ton of research for my project, but i realized that im in im quite a novice amongst many of these men out here. I would find that, you know 75 of these reenactors could teach at College Level Course on the american civil war and i think Thats Something that americans dont really realize but its actually many of them take it quite seriously and they have it coursing through their veins this conflict and and so they feel this is sort of like a cathartic experience for them in many ways. And this is a personal project it began back in 2011 with the beginning of the suspentennial. I had worked for a year and a half or so on the project and then launched a blog. That is some writing my experiences along the journey and then of course the photographs that ive been taking and within a couple of days a bit launching i was contacted by the library of congress on the civil war assessment centennial. Could you tell us about this camera . How does it how does that work . Okay, so this is a pinhole camera. The most rudimentary camera you can take a photograph with you put film on the Back Film is loaded into these film holders. Film goes in the back. The only working part on the camera. Is this little i guess well call it a shutter. It just basically blocks the light from coming in and allows the light to come into the camera. So theres no lens. Its just light coming into that pinhole being capt. Onto the film thats the photograph and so this is this technology actually dates back to the Renaissance Period what they called camera obscura. But so this is a camera obscure except they have film in the back to capture what comes through that little pinhole. And so ive been traveling throughout the country photographing this subject exclusively with these cameras and if people are interested in your blog, how do they find it . You would find it at Ww Dot civil war 150 pinhole project. Com you very much. Thank you. Here sean brown, im from baltimore, maryland. You tell us about this these wagons here. These wagons are accurate reproductions of civil War Period ambulances. This is spoils of war. We took these from the confederates down in virginia after the surrendered appomattox. And then this lovely model here is actually one of our original issue federal ambulances. You can see on the Side Weve got stretchers to haul the wounded off the field then we can we can mount up to four stretches into this wagon at a time so we can carry for when the soldiers at the same time. Sometimes even six when its nasty. So is the these types of wagons would have been in . 150 years ago, absolutely, because it you know, the the army doesnt move without supplies and when the battles start raging these are used primarily for getting those poor men that are wounded on the field off the field so we can get it back to medical assistance to our surgeons and our medics. How do you go about rebuilding these pretty . Where do you get the plans between you and me that amish do a great job. Theres plenty of historical references for these because they were they werent just used for this period they would have been used well after that into the plains into the 1890s and things so Theres Plenty of government requisitions and patents and things involved. So its pretty easy to trace the the actual appearance of them. These flip up. So that you that creates an interior where you can lay troops, these are not just here in front and back that you can hang the stretches onto once youve got them occupied with wounded this this board comes up. Tailgate we dont use that for football games. But you can tell obviously the obvious difference between the two is the confederates generally didnt paint their wagons because it was an extra step and unnecessary expense. Theyre being pulled by percherons. These horses these horses were bred to be thick and strong and intimidating. They were bred to carry nights in the combat. So these are some sturdy strong animals. And this is this is tom and thats jerry. And jerrys the owner one. And then weve got the federal team. And then its this one is pearl. Here and this is poly over here. I want to say late 1400 they started breeding because and then they they continued to breed because theyre great for you know agricultural work. Theyre great for pulling a plow so you dont need obviously too to pull plow but their workhorses literally thats where the third president hard to get to acquire this breed here. No, actually the breed is having a great resurgence in North America a lot of great breeders. Theres actually a percher on Society And Dr. Mike is a veterinarian. Hes driving this wagon he actually breeds per joins. But yeah, theyre great animals and Theyll Stand for hours if you need them, but they do get tired of standing around when theyre in the in their leather so they want to get moving must be a lot of trouble to get all this out here today. What makes you go through all that trouble. I love a history loving my country our country and the educational benefits for kids today. That might not understand what this country went through in the 1860s and so by coming out here and sweating in Wool And Hauling trailers through one of the hardest cities in North America to navigate we give that opportunity for maybe the Market Interest and some people that might look a little deeper into the history of this conflict and the results of what we had to go through to save this nation. My name is jim hurd. Im from oneida, New York. Represent the 146th new York State Volunteer Infantry and so tell us about your uniforms. Well, i ended up happening with this. Abandoned in 63 at chancellorsville along with the 17th New York to odds that meant the 146 had three uniforms their colonel girard. He went out finally veteran reserved for the more all sky blue and decided to pick that color. They were always intended to be zoowobs from the very beginning. But yes Colonel Gerard was the common daunted West Point when this regiment was formed and they talked him into taking command to the regiment so they trained the regiment as regular army. They fought alongside the regular army in the fifth corps. So, why are you why are you making the trip here today . Because we want to represent the men that gave so much for our freedom that we have here today. Somebody needs to be out there saying that you know the 146 was there too. They were commemorations of everything else during the civil war. Like i said Appomattox Richmond and a lot of other places well our commemoration here of the end of the war is a grand review parade, and thats what we hope to accomplish. So tell the nation and the world these united States Colored troops participated and gaining their own freedom, the slaves freed themselves. Thats a very important testament to their fortitude and theyre bravery. At this time to so once again, were gonna welcome all of our family, i think the largest family out there. Theres two i know that a very large the Granbury Family from down in, tennessee. With a grand barriers, give us a shout out for now. And of course the Johnson Family Ricardo johnson and his family. Didnt give us a shout out some of you understand some of the boxing out there. Youre the person behind all this arent you . Thats right. I stepped in front of this train sometime ago about six months ago with a guy named david charles and we worked on this for a long time. Im happy to see it come to this its a wonderful day for america. So, whats your whats your assessment of how things went today . Well, you know, theres a lot that goes into these things. You cant make a lot of phone calls and a lot of emails and you really have to write and read and think a lot about it and along the way you build friends and you build connections, and im very pleased that we have a team of people here who still the Union And Freedom in america a great country, which has had a steady a road toward freedom over the years and its really a wonderful time to be celebrating when theres an africanamerican president white house some country. Thats really had done a lot and gained a lot since since the time just parade took place in 1865. Now the United States cultures reactive years ago when they heard they couldnt be in this way. Well, yeah, i know the 25th Army Corps was very disappointed that leader wanted to to be involved the white. So who was their leader as general grant directly if these men could be involved they have been involved in the battle richmond. They have been involved in the battle of pocahontas in the battle of wilmington, and they follow me to have a matters the 41st. Was there the final battle the final three Hour Battle and they wanted to march so three days before march he is saying to general grant general by me and one of mars. Can we mars and grant says . No, so i know they wanted to and i think if theyve been allowed at March America would have seen them and the Crown Jewel of his best army marching down penrovenger, Pennsylvania Avenue at a special time in the wake of the death of President Lincoln at a time when the country was forming his opinion of a new nation rather than have these black soldiers in there and that right for place. They took him out and gave this country an impression that our men didnt do anything worthy of note worthy of being in this parade. So we need to correct that very wrong. It took years of suffering and years of hard work to correct that wrong and im pleased to play the role in doing that here today. May god continue to bless america and maybe well continue to prosperous great country, finally. 150th anniversary of the civil war is over how to how do people like yourself and historians in the public move forward now. Well, you know, its i feel like the young people that who was standing at a place called Camp Barker about four or six Blocks North of year. Theyre standing and waiting on president Abraham Lincoln to come to see them in 1862 and and they up. Theyre not brady brady makes a photograph of them. Behind them is slavery ahead of them is freedom. They dont know much about whats ahead of them, but they do to us behind them and they dont want any parts of that. So i feel like that today. This is a country. Thats come a long way. The future is bright for this country and for the people who love it and who work hard to make it what it is today, and im proud to be a part of that. Here here