Since forever we. Started out as volunteers in the national Park Service 16 years ago. They give guided tours on all of the battlefields, but his real passion is telling the story of the united States Colored troops. He has made this a passion project, helped to cofounder group of reenactor is that tell the story of the 23rd united States Colored troops, the unit that first encountered leads army here in the eastern theater in the summer of 1864, and has also done work well with massachusetts guys who have done some work in the Movie Glory. Who are those folks . He is tireless and telling the story of the united States Colored troops, men who founded the inspiration to fight for their own freedom, and in a very literal sense, and gave new birth of Reading And Meaning to the civil war. Its my Delight And Pleasure to introduce my friend, steward henderson. Thank you, chris. Good morning. Chris makes everything seem like it was such a long time, but i will tell you if you saw a picture of me then i look 30 years younger. But im a historian with the 23rd regiment united States Color troops as well as a company be of the 54th massachusetts volunteers out of washington d. C. And washington is my hometown, so i have to be loyal to those guys. In the slide you will see the combined group, just a small portion of both the 54th and the 23rd. The 23rd started in 2011. Those guys in the 54th have been there since 1988. Some of these guys there were in the Movie Glory. These pictures were taken at the grand opening of 2012 of the museum of the confederacy in appomattox, which is now the american civil War Center of appomattox. And this was, we were the Honor Guard for general u. S. Grant. We were just supposed to bring him in and introduce him and the next thing you know he asked for us to stay for the surrender ceremonies at the end of the day. The 54th mentors the 23rd. Now, many americans were not aware of the service of the u. S. Color troops, and i guess it wasnt until 1989 when the Movie Glory came out and there was a story of the 54th. Then in 1990, Ken Burns came out with his series and that released more information about the united States Color troops. But they were part of a permanent discussion in the years during the civil war and immediately after, but when the union and the confederate white soldiers started to reconcile, they just forgot about the united States Color troops. So over the past ten years i have been speaking about the u. S. Color troops trying to bring that story to the many audiences that i have talked with. But just two years ago we had the 30th anniversary of the Academy Award winning movie, glory. It was shown in theaters all across the country. I in solidarity with my members of the 54th massachusetts went to the afternoon showing. I was in fredericksburg, but they were in washington d. C. And i was surprised, i thought the theater would be sold out. But there were only about 25 people there, and five of them included me because my wife and three of her members of the women of the civil War Era where there. After the movie was over, i had two white guys come up to me because i had my 54th Massachusetts Tshirt on. We spent about five minutes talking about the 54th. So i am not surprised about the lack of awareness. It just means that me and my fellow living historians, no matter how elderly we get, we still have to get out and talk about the united States Colored troops. I can remember marching in several parades. Now, many of those times there were as many as ten different units. All of us had our own flags, and some of us had to flags. But everywhere we went, the crowds kept yelling give them help 54th. So i know they must have seen the Movie Glory. But i think that many people think that that was the only black regiment in the entire civil war. Now they were authorized in 1863 by governor jean andrew, and they were going to be the first u. S. Color troops raised in the old north. Colonel Robert Shaw is going to be the commander. Shaws parents were very influential in massachusetts and they were abolitionists, as was shot and most of the officers. The soldiers were recruited by abolitionists, black abolitionists all across the country including frederick douglass, who is perhaps the greatest african american in the 19th century. He sent two of his sons to the 54th and they trained at camp [inaudible] in massachusetts and they were mustard into service may 28th, 1863. Most of the men, the overwhelming majority of the men, were educated men and very few slaves were in that regiment. Therefore, the movie was not a fair representation of the actual regiment. Their most famous for spearheading the attack on Fort Wagner on july 18th, 1863. The 54th and somewhat units that were with them took the outer walls of the fort, but they could not take the ford. Colonel shaw and 271 of his men were casualties. And shaw was famously buried with his black troops. However, the 54th, 55th massachusetts, and somewhat units actually were victorious at the abandonment of Fort Wagner after a long siege, which ended on september 7th, 1863. The soldiers depicted in glory or more like the average u. S. Ct unit like the 23rd. They are going to be mostly a mixture of enslaved men, some friedman and some men who were already free. In the movie lincoln, one of the first scenes you will see will show lincoln talking with two u. S. Ct soldiers. One was an older gentleman, a former slave, and he talked about the battle of jenkins ferry on april 30th, 1864. He talked about how they make sure that there were no confederates left alive, and that is because they were retaliating for the atrocities of the confederates when they murdered the prisoners taken at Poison Spring and march mill. In a few battles, you do have usct retaliating for those atrocities, and you will have confederates doing the same thing. That is part that part of civil War History is rarely discussed. I remember all through school that they were telling me that the United States civil war was a civil war. You did not have as much violence and atrocities that you would see another wars. And since ive become a historian, i can tell you thats not true. Theres always a lot of violence and war. The next black soldier that he talked to was a member of the fifth Massachusetts Cavalry. That man was very educated and he was like most of the men in the 54th mass, the 55th mass, and the fifth mass cavalry. That is because when the 54th was recruited, there was such an overflow of recruits that some of those men went into the 55th mass and the 50 fifth mass cavalry. But im here to today to talk about all the united States Color troops were also known as the united States Color troops, somewhere united States Colored infantry, and then you had other areas of the army. But at the beginning of the civil war, most black men were not allowed to join either army. And some people may ask, well, why would they think about joining the confederate army . Well, they thought if they fought for the confederacy that they would be free. So you had a lot of men trying to get into both armies. But by the end of the war, you had some 180,000 to 200,000 blacks that served in the united States Army and about another 20 to 29,000 who served in the United States navy. Now this slide is going to show the numbers of u. S. Ct usct that Randy Monument and memorial that they have at the african american civil War Memorial and museum in washington d. C. And today that is where all of the black reenactment units are based out of. We can always call that our home. Now the numbers have been changing since historians have been looking at the 1860 and 1870 census. But all of the numbers on the wall that are etched in the memorial were researched at the national archives. And it shows that there were 209,145 members of the usct. 201,000 blacks, 7000 white officers and 1145 hispanic soldiers. Now the numbers might be skewed a little bit because some soldiers that were in usct units may have transferred to others. That is going to be a person like charles douglas, the son of frederick douglass. He was in the 54th mass originally and then hes going to transfer to the fifth Massachusetts Cavalry. But douglas, inspired many other soldiers in his famous recruiting speech. And i quote, the opportunity is given us to be men with one courageous resolution we may blot out the handwriting of ages against us. Once let the black man get up on his person, the brass letters u. S. , let him Get And Eagle on his button and a musket on his shoulder and bullets in his pocket and there is no power on the earth or under the earth which can deny that he has earned the right of citizenship in the United States. Whoa i say again, this is our chance and will be tied us if we fail to embrace it. Now during the civil war there were only four state regiments that will retain their state identification. All of the other state regiments will be changed to usct regiments. But those four are probably pretty famous, and that is the 54th Massachusetts Infantry colored, the 55th Massachusetts Infantry colored, the fifth Massachusetts Cavalry colored, and the 29th Connecticut Infantry colored. They were all part of the usct, but they maintained their state designations. The actual order created in the bureau of Color Troops was general Order Number 143. It was issued may 22nd, 1863. And by the end of the war there were 166 regiments of infantry, cavalry, heavy artillery, engineers and light artillery. Approximately 38,000 to 43,000 died and another 30,000 were injured, but most deaths were caused by disease though many were executed on many of the battlefields where they thought. Now this is a very famous painting and it has a lot of controversy surrounding it. But this painting was actually used on recruiting posters for usct. Of course, they had words around it and various recruiting posters, but that picture was very famous. Now, those soldiers were actually from Camp Williams in philadelphia. And they could be the third regiment usct, but we arent sure. They were the third usct was the first to leave Camp William Penn going to the war. Frederick douglass gave them an inspirational speech before they left and i will talk about that a little later. Some of the state units who changed, for example, the first North Carolina colored infantry became the 35th. The usct fought in approximately 450 battle actions and they were instrumental in helping to win the civil War And Freedom for their people. As a result of their contributions during the war, three amendments were added to the constitution. The 13th that abolished slavery, the 14th that gave equal rights to blacks, and the 15th that gave the right to vote to the black men. Now remember that back in that time no woman, white or black, was allowed to vote. The first black troops in the war were actually enlisted in 1862. They were raised in South Carolina, kansas and louisiana. Thats because on july 17th, 1862, the second Confiscation And Militia acts were improved approved and subsequently signed by President Lincoln. These acts allowed as many persons of african descent as necessary to be employed to help suppress the rebellion and use them in such manner as he may judge best for public welfare. To some, this meant that they could be me soldiers. In South Carolina, general David Hunter had organized a regiment of South Carolina former slaves, the first South Carolina colored infantry. Only to have them disbanded because President Lincoln was not approve Hunters Emancipation of slaves in the military district. Nor would he authorize the raising of black troops. Orders were addressed to general Rufuss Accident on august 25th, 1862, to raise 5000 black soldiers. The first South Carolina colored interest and they later became. The importance of this order was that these soldiers were raised by the authority of the United States board department, and not an enterprising general on his own authority. In kansas, a paragraph in the newspaper the daily conservative, describes the cavalrymen as such, this is curious enough to being knocked down by the sound of one cavalier, well armed, and a very black man. This figure was such that without any other distinguishing characteristic, he would still have been a marked man. This is the first instance which has come to our personal knowledge, although not the only one of a contraband serving as a union soldier. They had come through the fighting kansas and Nebraska Act and that went all the way on up and through the civil war. Officially now, general lane organized the first kansas colored infantry on august 5th 1862, with a notification to secretary of war edward stanton. The next day, he wired stanton again, who stated that he was raising these soldiers based on the second confiscation act. The first kansas has a distinct honor of being the first Color Troops to engage the enemy. They later became the 79th. They began to recruit the black louisiana native guard to reinforce the troops outside of new orleans. General Benjamin Butler could not authorize general phelps to do so, so phelps resigned. When you look at this picture, it says the first picture on the left side is the first louisiana native guard and 1861. And if you look at the other picture on the other side, that is the actual photo from usct Camp William Penn. Those were the soldiers. The members of the guard approached butler first, because butler could not get any reinforcements that he wanted from the u. S. Government. She will the first and second native guard are going to have their own black officers. The third regiment will have black and white officers. General butler changed their name from the louisiana native guard. Later in the war, their designations will be change too usct. Going back to this picture, going to one Round Table Meeting where a man was talking about his book, and he showed the picture of the first louisiana native guard 1861. I tried to warn him before that that was not a picture of the louisiana native guard. But he used or he cited the internet and saying that these were the native guard. So i showed him this other picture and said look at each one of those soldiers. They are the exact same soldiers. You go to Independence Hall in philadelphia, and you will see the painting and the picture of those soldiers. They came from Camp William Penn. You cannot believe everything you read on the internet, but you have to actually do the research because i actually thought it was the louisiana native guard until i saw the original picture and said these men all look the same, and then i found out. Plus, if you look at the pictures, they are wearing union coats. This guy thought they were the native garden those were confederate uniforms. They are not. As i said earlier, the louisiana native guard were a militia driven group. They were not confederate soldiers. Louisiana, which has black militia dating all the way back to seven tween 27. It was a french territory, then seeded to spain for a while, then the french got it back before it was brought back by the United States. And a lot of them were wealthy black entrepreneurs who were educated in europe. In fact, its said that the wealthy members of the louisiana native guard had more wealth than all of the blacks in New York city. So they were really wealthy guys. And they have property to protect in louisiana. Lets take a step back. When i talk about this subject, i always talk about when the soldiers were actually founded. However, at the beginning of the war, black men had tried to get in both armies, and that will happen after the battle of fort sumter. On april 15th, president Abraham Lincoln calls for a 75,000 militia to put down the rebellion. Pennsylvania sends troops to washington. They marched through baltimore on april 18th, where the first man wounded was a black man named nicholas battle. While there were a few black men in the state militia, most states north and south and relax. However, there were some that did get into militias. Knowing that the state of war existed in the United States, blacks were denied by both governments. However, on may 2nd, 1861 in the state of louisiana, both armies used thousands of black servants, teamsters, cooks, scouts, and other duties. These types of duties did not qualify for being soldiers back in the civil war. However, there are stories that some of these men may have picked up weapons and fought the enemy. Thats probably true. Ive seen many accounts where men have done that. But blacks were not allowed in the confederate army until march of 1865. Some of those blacks have served other duties for the confederacy, such as hospital stewards. They served at a hospital in richmond. There were about 50 blacks that were in the integrated companies that left at the fall of richmond, which happens in april of 1865. There is a black man on the slide that we are very proud of, Sergeant Name Rod berke of the 23rd united States Colored troops. Near maraude at the beginning of the war was a scout and a teamster for the 36th ohio infantry. He served there from April Eaton 61 until he joined the 23rd in 1864. He is from Williams County virginia, but his family was freed a long time ago, so he moved to ohio, where he served as a free man and a teamster and a scout. While black men were not allowed in the union and confederate armies, there were light skinned blacks who actually passed for blacks who are in both armies. And we will never know the full extent of how many did that. But one example is lieutenant Colonel William and read of the first North Carolina colored infantry, later designated to the 35th u. S. 18. In some places he was listed as white, in other places he was listed as a lotto. But his father was a white danish manned and his mother was a black slave from the virgin islands. Reed was a abolitionist from New York, but he graduated from military school in denmark. And most people think of that as being germany, and it does become part of germany after the second prussian war. And he served in the danish army before coming back to the states. He would lead the first North Carolina at the battle of a lusty. He was taking over for the colonel who was not there. He was mortally wounded in the action and died, but he was in command and he talked about the discipline of the 35th usct when the 35th and the 54th massachusetts actually held the line as the union troops were retreating. But lieutenant Colonel William reed is recognized as the highest ranking africanamerican officer in the civil war. And his papers are right under his name. But the other guy, you see his picture. Colonel John Whales jefferson. Actually last year, yeah, last year i went to monticello and i saw pictures of african americans with ties to monticello who actually served with the Union Army in the civil war. One picture was Colonel John wayles jefferson. Was originally john wayles hemings. He is the grandson of Thomas Jefferson and sally hemings. His father was estimate hemings, who moved his family from virginia to ohio. And in 1852, because of the fugitive slave act, they had to get out of ohio. So they go to wisconsin and the father changes the Family Name to jefferson. And he let people know that he is the son of Thomas Jefferson. So they passed as white and wisconsin and john enlisted in the eight Wisconsin Volunteer infantry as a major. He fought in different battles, vicksburg probably being the most famous. He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and colonel, and he commanded that regiment until the end of the war. The african american has his biography at monticello and on the american battlefield trust website. He is known in both places as an african american, and hopefully he will soon be listed as the highest ranking africanamerican officer in the civil war. But another black man used ingenuity to enter the army. William Henry Johnson joined the second connecticut and registered as a, quote unquote, independent man, a status that was not clearly identified. After his 90day Term expired with the second connecticut, he enlisted in the eighth connecticut and fought in first Bull Run and during burnsides north Carolina Expedition to roanoke. Although he could not pass as white, there were some soldiers in both armies that did pass. Now, the black soldiers all were involved in the Pay Controversy where white troops were paid 13 dollars a month plus a three dollar clothing allowance, where black troops were paid only ten dollars a month with a three Dollar Clothing Fee withheld. Making their pay seven dollars. That was a month. That is less than with the white soldiers made. But blacks were paid in accordance with the second Confiscation And Militia acts, even though they were now recognized as regular soldiers. Now on september 28th, 1864, pay was equalized by congress and they received 18 months pay from the time that they were enlisted. But only the free black soldiers got paid the back pay. Those slaves who had joined the army were not eligible for their back pay. This controversy was part of the Movie Glory when you saw denzel washington tearing up the pay stubs. Now let me discuss a few of the battles. We know the battle of Port Wagner where the 54th massachusetts made its grand assault, and Sergeant William H. Carney earned the medal of honor at that battle. Nowbut the battle of wilsons landing, or Wilsons War, now two years ago i did participate in the reenactment that they have at fort pocahontas in virginia. Every year they celebrate and commemorate the battle of Wilsons War or will since landing. It happened may 24th, 1864 in virginia and it pitted 900 men of the first and the tenth u. S. Color troops, plus 150 white soldiers from a transport, and to cannons from the battery of the third new York Light artillery. And they were under general edward wild. Wild is the commander of what they call wildes african brigade. Wild was a very colorful abolitionist and general in the civil war. They were commanding 1100 so men against 2500 confederate cavalry led by general Fitzhugh Lee. Hes the nephew of general robert e. Lee. After lee drove into pickets, he sent the flag of truce demanding the surrender of the garrison. But general wild declined and said, quote unquote, we will try it. And then he added, and i quote, present my compliments to general Fitzhugh Lee and tell him to go to hell, and quote. A transport landed 150 unarmed white soldiers and the gunboat helped the union forces. General lee ordered a charge that was beaten back by the black and white soldiers there. Union casualties were about ranging from 25 to 47. Confederate casualties ranged from 175 to 200. This was the first real battle of the usct and the army of northern virginia. The battle of newmarket heights was fought on september 29th, 1864 with troops of the army of the james attacking fortifications defending the confederate capital richmond. General Charles Payne 30 vision of the 18th corps was three brigades of black troops and general William Bernie had a black brigade. The black troops suffered a growing fire but succeeded in Capturing Newmarket heights. 13 black soldiers earned the medal of honor for their actions at newmarket heights. The fourth first attacks on petersburg June 15th and 17th, 1864 involved black troops from the army of the james, who captured some of the defensive works outside the city. The usct fought ferociously with their battle cry, remember fort pillow. That they black soldiers took no prisoners, executing wounded and surrendering confederates until their white officers got tired of seeing so much bloodshed. However, on july 30, 1864 at the battle of the crater in petersburg, the black troops of the Night Corps, the army of the potomac, were trying to lead the attack were made to be the last attacking division. And by that time there was a strong confederate counterattack and the confederates saw the black troops and they were enraged and took few black prisoners. They yelled no quarter and executed black soldiers who were wounded or surrendered on the field. Confederate said they would kill white soldiers aiding black soldiers. This was a debacle and, in many battles after four pillow, black soldiers offered no quarter to white soldiers. And confederate soldiers did the same to them. But the confederate soldiers did it on many more occasions than the black soldiers did. The battle of nashville, eight regiments a black troops, two brigades were supposed to make a demonstration on a confederate right wing. So general George Henry thomas could attack the left wing. Their attack was so strong that the Confederates Weekend the leftwing. The black troops faced heavy fired from confederate batteries and suffered tremendous casualties. But George Henry thomas was able to destroy general John Bel hoods confederate army because that left flank was we can so much by the black troops attacking on the right. E potomac. In december of 1864, k division of the ninth corps in the army of the potomac and the two black divisions of the tenth and 18th corps of the army of the james formed the 25th Corps in the army of the james. This became the largest grouping of black soldiers in the entire civil war. General Benjamin Butler, commander of the army of the james, loved having black troops in his corps. In fact, he tried to get the black ninth Corps Division transferred to him before the battle of the crater, but that did not take place. Now, in the greater Fredericksburg Area, the first black troops to fight general robert e. Lees army of northern virginia was the 23rd regiment united States Color troops. My colleagues and i represent the 23rd during the battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse on may 15th, 1864. They were called on to assist the second Ohio Cavalry who were being chased by general thomas [inaudible] brigade of cavalry. They marched from the chancellorsville ruins to the intersection of what was then qatar Pin And Orange Pike Road to the [inaudible] farm and they drove back the confederate cavalry. That meant the white soldiers that let the white soldiers know the black soldiers would fight. And it was very specific to that area because many of the soldiers in the 23rd were escaped slaves from the Fredericksburg And Spotsylvania county area. And they were now fighting on their own home ground. But let me start with the story of the 23rd. As you see right here, the 23rd has a exhibit at the Chancellorsville Battlefield Visitors Center. And i will say a little bit better a little more about that later. But lets talk about how the black troops in the fourth division of the ninth corps came to be. In january 1864, general Ambrose Burnside was asked to reconstitute the ninth corps. He told ed when stanton, the secretary of defense, that he would if he could have a black division. And stanton agreed and the fourth division of the ninth corps was now going to be formed. This is going to be pretty confusing for general grant because general Ambrose Burnside out ranked general george gordon meade. So he could not report to him, so the ninth corps was going to operate as an independent Army Corps together with the army of the potomac in general grants overland campaign. That created such confusion that every time that general grant had to give orders for both armies to work together, he had to do that. And its going to change by may 24th. He had enough of that and hes going to place the Night Corps under the army of the potomac. Now, the fourth division was two brigades. The regiments were divided and the first one was going to be made up of the 27th, 30th, and 39, and 43rd usct. The second brigade, the 30th Connecticut colored infantry only had about four companies. So they were transferred to the 31st usct. Then the 19th, the 23rd, the 31st usct. And then in late june, the 28th And 29th usct were added to that second brigade. These regiments came from all across the north, from illinois to connecticut, and eastern new York Front to virginia. There were stories about, when all of the soldiers got together and petersburg, that some of the members saw their old family members. And for some soldiers it was sort of a homecoming. Now the men of the 23rd were recruited in the washington d. C. Area, and many of those men had come from the Fredericksburg Area in april of 1862 to august of 1862, over 10,000 slaves will escape from the Fredericksburg Area. Many of them following the Union Army back to the washington d. C. Area. So they were organized and trained at camp casey, virginia. Camp casey is approximately where the pentagon is today. So many of those men were free and ex slaves from virginia. The fredericksburg and spots of a new national Military Parks mysteries and Conundrums Blog has published the stories of three members of the 23rd. Andrew weaver, peter churchill, and abraham toxin. I will read the official reports from official records about the skirmish on the 15th of may. Headquarters division ninth Army Corps, east, may 15th, 1864. General, i have the honor to report that the 12 30 pm today, the second Ohio Cavalry stationed at the church were compelled to fall back being attacked by superior forces consisting of one brigade of cavalry, with two pieces of artillery. I immediately ordered the fourth division in march to the 23rd u. S. Colored troops to support the cavalry. I found the second ohio driven across the road, and the enemy occupying the crossroads. I ordered them to advance on the enemy of line of battle, which they did, and drove the enemy a perfect route, not being able, they gave chase to piety branch church, which they now occupied. All quiet elsewhere, the enemy lost some five horses killed. I have changed my position to a more secure, one to protect the trains and roads leading to the army. I have since learned that Hamptons Brigade is in full retreat and perfect disorder. I am very respectfully your obedient servant. On may 19th, the entire fourth division of the ninth core will fight against thomas rosss probing cavalry. After the war, the 23rd was at the battle of the crater where they suffered the most losses, and they finished the war in the appomattox campaign. They stay in virginia, and later, they will be sent to texas, the entire 25th Corps. Friends had taken over mexico and were thinking of invading texas, but the power of the american army led to the overthrow of the french from mexico. Some of those black soldiers stayed out west and became buffalo soldiers. In the fall of 2010, i was working at spotsylvania the courthouse. I was at the bloody angle with a friend and fellow historian, John Cummings. We discussed the upcoming 105th anniversary and we thought about forming it then. January 2011, we formed the unit with five original members, which grew to about 25 at its height. I was the first president , and since 2011, we have participated in over 200 events, including our first. We just participated on March 13th with the american legion of fredericksburg who had a history for kids program. Four of us came down in uniforms. On may 17th, the 23rd, with other Usct And Union history living regiments and actors, along with the assistance of the fredericksburg and spots albania community, celebrated the 150th anniversary of the first skirmish. The Fredericksburg And Spotsylvania national Military Park and a grand reopening of the recently renovated battlefield Visitors Center. Before it was a renovated, they had the same exhibits for over 50 years, and 2014 has been a change. When they opened it up, they have the exhibit and many of the people took pictures of the 23rd at the Visitors Center next to that picture. The picture is of sergeant george washington, and he was from spotsylvania county. However he was one of 12 george washingtons in the 23rd. Thats because a lot of the slaves didnt have official names, or only had one name, or since they were from that area, if any of the slave holders found out they were serving in the Union Army, their relatives still in captivity could suffer harsh punishment. One d so they changed their e to george washington, and one day after we started, i happened to look in the roster lit and down, and there were so many george washingtons that it took pages in the roster. Also, there was a big program. We did have a big program on the Chancellorsville Battlefield, the fair view section, and voice of america was there. They interviewed many of the short video and put it on their website. And we had multiple union regiments there. John hennessy was the chief historian of Fredericksburg And Spotsylvania national Military Park, and he was the keynote speaker at that part of the ceremony. And then we had another Ceremony Right at the site of the skirmish. The old farm is now the have fling farm. We had a procession from the Chancellorsville Battlefield led by all the union rian actors, and then the community following us, and the community was able to sit under the tent, and that was for the unveiling of the Virginia State marker, the 23rd usct. That was about a Half Mile away from where we were at the farm. So that shows the different reenactor is that were behind. Next to me on my left was luke harder, and to his left was John Cummings, who carter at that time was the president of 54th massachusetts company, and John Cummings was a cofounder of the 23rd. That didnt end, because when we were there, we had two keynote speakers there, dr. James bryant and general grant. They gave the keynote speak there. We had a big reception at the john wright museum. Hopefully, we gave a good recognition to those soldiers from the 23rd. Frederick douglass, July 24th 1863, spoke about the importance in the civil war have and some of americas first federal troops, and probably gave this speech to more regiments as well. The fortunes of the whole race for generations to come are barreled up in the Success Or Failure of the third regiment of Colored Troops from the north. You are a spectacle for men and angels. You are, in a manner to answer the question, can the black man be a soldier. We can now make soldiers of these men. There can be no doubt. These powerful words resonated with many of the soldiers who were ex slaves. In conclusion, black soldiers fought in numerous battles, approximately 450. In those battles, they suffered an enormous amount of casualties. Depending on how well they were trained, some fought very well and somewhere average. However, many of the soldiers who fought alongside of them talk about their discipline, bravery, and willingness to keep fighting while suffering so many casualties. By the wars and, they enlisted, at a time when there was a big slowdown in white enlistment. Many historians have said their efforts went a long way to winning the ward. Black troops he created the General Benjamin Butler was not the greatest general, but he did appreciate black troops. He created the Army Metal commonly known as the butler metal. It was the only one ever struck for Colored Troops. Butler designed and paid for these medals after the battle of newmarket heights. I close with this quote from general butler, who appeared before congress after the war. He was advocating a bill to give civil rights to the negro race. He gave an Eyewitness Account of the fighting at newmarket heights, and then said, and i quote, i looked on their bronze faces, upturned in the shining sun, as if in mute appeal against the wrongs of the country for which they had given their lives, and whose flake had only been to them a flag of stripes on which no star of glory had ever shown for them. Feeling i had wronged them in the past, and believing what was the future of my country to them, among my dead comrades, there i swore to myself a solemn oath. May my right hand forget its word than my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if i ever fail to defend the rights of those men who have given their blood for me and my country. God helping me, i will keep that oath. Thank you. John rankin joined the Union Army at age 18 and served three years in the indiana 27th infantry. After the civil war, he published memoirs and newspaper columns were counting his experiences. Weather about fear under fire at an tina, more the performance of his regiment to gettysburg, John Tracy, a former Park Ranger at gettysburg national Military Park tells the story of john rankin. He argues the honesty found in rankins writings reveal how union veterans remembered the war themselves, and how they wanted to shape how others remembered. This top was part of a symposium hosted by the emerging civil war blog. Of our emerging voices if you will John Tracy has worked both at Fredericksburg And Spotsylvania national Military Park as well as gettysburg national Military Park. Hes done some fantastic work on the Website Forest this year particularly focusing on gettysburg, but spreading his wings hes going to talk today. You can find a Rabbit Hole and really fall in and thats what todays topic is today. Hes coming to us from the university of West Virginia where he is just finishing up his Masters Degree in public history. Ladies and gentlemen, John Tracy. All right. Hi so today were going to be spending just a little bit of me