Freedom For Themselves: North Carolina's Black Soldiers in the Civil War Era (review)

There has been a surge in the publication of studies on black soldiers in the Civil War in recent years. This renewed interest in the United States Colored Troops (USCT) has broadened our understanding of their place in America's most devastating war. Richard M. Reid's book Freedom for Themselves is informative, well-written, and has enriched the historical literature on African American men in the ranks of the Union army. This monograph is a detailed account of the war-time experiences of North Carolina's four African American regiments. The author provides a thorough discussion of the recruitment, organization, training, and combat service of those units. He follows the soldiers on a journey that was filled with pain and disappointment, bravery and cowardice, and victory and defeat.

Reid notes that General Edward A. Wild, a staunch abolitionist from Massachusetts was the most prolific recruiter of black soldiers in North Carolina. The first, second, and third North Carolina Colored Volunteers were designated by the War Department as the 35th, 36th, and 37th USCT respectively, in early 1864. The fourth regiment raised in the state was the Fourteenth United States Colored Heavy Artillery. Several thousand slaves left North Carolina farms and plantations to join the Northern army. Liberation for their enslaved race was a powerful motivation for them to enlist. Reid maintains that the enlistment of black men almost always coincided with financial adversity for their families on the home front.

Against the backdrop of the last half of the nineteenth century, Reid makes it clear that whites believed that blacks were inferior to them in American life and the military. While all USCT had to contend with racial bias, southern black soldiers had the added burden of regional prejudice. Both white and black soldiers in the federal army discounted the military contributions of their black comrades from the slave states. Although racism was pervasive, Reid points out that "the army treated" black men "with a greater degree of equality than they could hope to experience in civilian society" (p. 15).

The North Carolina regiments had to deal with many of the same problems that beset white units, such as desertion, internal dissension, and factionalism. The black army was also bedeviled by insufficient training, disease, excessive fatigue duty, and inadequate equipment. Reid presents a complete portrait of the military performance of the African Brigade. He does not hesitate to praise the regiments enthusiastically for heroism or exceptional valor when guided by the evidence. It should also be mentioned that he treats the poor performance or incompetence of black troops with the same vigor.

The author succeeds brilliantly in telling the whole military story of the black North Carolinians by following them into small battles such as those at Honey Hill and Wilson's Wharf as well as their participation in major engagements and campaigns. The postwar years found black veterans struggling to affirm their freedom, to take care of their families, to earn a living, and to secure the benefits that their military service had earned them. They would, however, long remember their service in the army of liberation that brought freedom to millions of slaves who had languished in bondage for generations.

This meticulously researched volume is illustrated with several photographs and maps. The biographical vignettes, combined with a substantial amount of anecdotal material, give this work a human quality. Reid concludes that African American soldiers from the southern states "through their actions and achievements, created images, symbols, and memories of black courage and commitment to the nation that could not easily be ignored" (p. 328). The Civil War was a transformative event in the lives of black American soldiers. This monograph reveals that the men of the four black regiments from North Carolina cherished their service to the United States during a difficult time in the...