- Joined
- Feb 5, 2017
https://www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2019/04/author-interview-caroline-janney/
This is from a longer interview with Caroline Janney who is exploring and writing about what happened to Federals and Confederate soldiers immediately after Appomatox when everyone started to go home. I had never heard of Fenigan's Florida Brigade before. I can't say I'm surprised by the behavior but I had never heard of it. Can anyone speak to these incidents? Or to the interview? Agree or disagree with her?
You offer some fascinating stories of specific soldiers and regiments, including one that highlights how racial tensions between Confederate parolees and USCT soldiers escalated in the war’s immediate aftermath. What happened with Fenigan’s Florida brigade, and what makes that story significant?
After receiving their paroles at Appomattox, several members of Fenigan’s Brigade made their way to City Point where they hoped to take a steamer south to Florida. While waiting for a ship, they embarked on what would be the first of several murders of United States Colored Troops during their trip home. Each time, they managed to avoid getting caught. I argue that these murders underscored the degree to which wartime atrocities by Confederates against the USCT continued after April 9, 1865. The Confederate army had often disregarded and, in numerous instances, sanctioned the killing of African American soldiers. It should therefore come as no surprise that even after surrendering, these rebel soldiers continued to behave as they had prior to Appomattox.
This is from a longer interview with Caroline Janney who is exploring and writing about what happened to Federals and Confederate soldiers immediately after Appomatox when everyone started to go home. I had never heard of Fenigan's Florida Brigade before. I can't say I'm surprised by the behavior but I had never heard of it. Can anyone speak to these incidents? Or to the interview? Agree or disagree with her?
You offer some fascinating stories of specific soldiers and regiments, including one that highlights how racial tensions between Confederate parolees and USCT soldiers escalated in the war’s immediate aftermath. What happened with Fenigan’s Florida brigade, and what makes that story significant?
After receiving their paroles at Appomattox, several members of Fenigan’s Brigade made their way to City Point where they hoped to take a steamer south to Florida. While waiting for a ship, they embarked on what would be the first of several murders of United States Colored Troops during their trip home. Each time, they managed to avoid getting caught. I argue that these murders underscored the degree to which wartime atrocities by Confederates against the USCT continued after April 9, 1865. The Confederate army had often disregarded and, in numerous instances, sanctioned the killing of African American soldiers. It should therefore come as no surprise that even after surrendering, these rebel soldiers continued to behave as they had prior to Appomattox.