- Joined
- Jan 7, 2013
- Location
- Long Island, NY
Here is a review of this 2015 regimental history:
That's an impressive statistic -- and quite different, if I'm not mistaken, from the figures for the 54th and 55th Massachusetts Infantry which, contrary to the impression given in the movie Glory, were made up mostly of free black men.2 out of 3 men in the 5th Mass. Cav. were former slaves.
Charles Francis Sr., the father of the 5th Cav's captain, was himself the son of John Quincy Adams, notable for his anti-slavery stance.Second in command was Charles Francis Adams Jr., who was then a captain in the First Massachusetts Cavalry. Adams was the son of the U.S. minister to the United Kingdom. Although his family had strong anti-slavery credentials, Adams expressed racist views in private.
Egerton, Douglas R. Thunder at the Gates: The Black Civil War Regiments That Redeemed America (p. 253). Basic Books. Kindle Edition.
That's an impressive statistic -- and quite different, if I'm not mistaken, from the figures for the 54th and 55th Massachusetts Infantry which, contrary to the impression given in the movie Glory, were made up mostly of free black men.
Thanks for the link.Thanks so much for your work in telling the story of the 5th Massachusetts Cavalry - they get so overshadowed by the 54th Massachusetts. Here's my blog post about one of the members of the 5th Mass Cav. William Holmes was born in Virginia and after the War settled in Williamson County, Tennessee. I am slowly working through all the names of the nearly 300 African American soldiers who fought in the Civil War and blogging about them -their stories are fascinating. https://usctwillcotn.blogspot.com/2017/04/william-holmes-company-5th.html
Hi Tina, got a chance to look at your blog. Looks like a good project. How did you decide to take it up?Thanks so much for your work in telling the story of the 5th Massachusetts Cavalry - they get so overshadowed by the 54th Massachusetts. Here's my blog post about one of the members of the 5th Mass Cav. William Holmes was born in Virginia and after the War settled in Williamson County, Tennessee. I am slowly working through all the names of the nearly 300 African American soldiers who fought in the Civil War from this area and blogging about them -their stories are fascinating. https://usctwillcotn.blogspot.com/2017/04/william-holmes-company-5th.html
Sorry it took me so long to come back and see your question! The long answer is that I was volunteering at our church - St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Franklin - running an outreach program with senior citizens. Many of them were African Americans, the descendants of former slaves from Williamson County. We provide different activities each month - bingo, crafts, etc. I was doing the genealogy of my family and very naively decided to try to help them with theirs. At the time I had no appreciation for the difficulty of African American genealogy. Living in Franklin the history of the Civil War is all around us, so I understood that their ancestors were likely enslaved but the challenge of getting past 1865 was not insignificant. I've been working with them for about 15+ years, and the more I do, the more I have come to realize how under-represented their stories are in the telling of the history of Williamson County. Also, I started to find Civil War veterans in their family trees, as well as body servants. A few years ago, I posted the story of one man on my personal facebook page. The response was overwhelming and very positive. That got my hooked - and I decided to try to track down all the African American men from Williamson County who served in the War and tell their stories. Its become an all encompassing passion. Thanks for asking!Hi Tina, got a chance to look at your blog. Looks like a good project. How did you decide to take it up?
That sounds like a great project. How are you spreading the word about it?Sorry it took me so long to come back and see your question! The long answer is that I was volunteering at our church - St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Franklin - running an outreach program with senior citizens. Many of them were African Americans, the descendants of former slaves from Williamson County. We provide different activities each month - bingo, crafts, etc. I was doing the genealogy of my family and very naively decided to try to help them with theirs. At the time I had no appreciation for the difficulty of African American genealogy. Living in Franklin the history of the Civil War is all around us, so I understood that their ancestors were likely enslaved but the challenge of getting past 1865 was not insignificant. I've been working with them for about 15+ years, and the more I do, the more I have come to realize how under-represented their stories are in the telling of the history of Williamson County. Also, I started to find Civil War veterans in their family trees, as well as body servants. A few years ago, I posted the story of one man on my personal facebook page. The response was overwhelming and very positive. That got my hooked - and I decided to try to track down all the African American men from Williamson County who served in the War and tell their stories. Its become an all encompassing passion. Thanks for asking!
I do a fair amount of public speaking locally - and early in February, I'll be speaking at the General John Logan Museum in southern Illinois about a group of men I've researched from this area who joined the US Navy and then settled in Murphysboro, Illinois. I also have another website - SlavesToSoldiers.com that I use to sell memorial pavers in our local Veterans Park. I am hoping to sell one commemorative paver for each of the USCT and US Navy soldiers I have found. I try to use social media, traditional media and my work as a board member of our local African American Heritage Society to spread the word. Primarily its been grass roots. Since I do this all as a volunteer, its a balancing act between spending too much time than is good for me on it, and not spending enough time to be effective!That sounds like a great project. How are you spreading the word about it?