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by George Washington Williams (Author)
George Washington William's (1849-1891, who served in the U.S. Coloured Troops, tells the battle experiences of the almost 200,000 black men who fought for the Union cause. Determined to document the contributions of his fellow black soldiers, and to underscore the valour and manhood of his race, William's gathered his material from the official records of U.S. and foreign governments, and from the orderly books and personal recollections of officers commanding Negro troops during the American Civil War.
William's' historiographic use of newspaper reports, soliciting records of local groups through newspaper advertisements, and oral histories, including travelling to interview soldiers, was pioneering.
Carter G. Woodson, American historian, author, journalist, and the founder of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History called it "one of the most valuable accounts of the Civil War.
The author himself served enlisting at the age of 14 and fought during the final battles of the Civil War.
After the war, William's went to Mexico, where he was among Americans who joined the Republican Army under the command of General Espinosa, fighting to overthrow Emperor Maximilian. He was commissioned as a lieutenant, learned some Spanish, and earned a reputation as a good gunner. He returned to the U.S. in the spring of 1867, and reenlisted for a five-year stint in the Army. William's was assigned to the 10th Cavalry "Buffalo Soldiers" in the Indian Territory, but was wounded in a lung in 1868 and was hospitalised until his discharge that year.
First published in 1888 this work is a major book-length academic history of the military history of African Americans in the American Civil War. Williams has been described as "the finest black prose stylist of his day" and this History showcases this skill.
