| On Sunday, June 28, 1863, the sight of Black men marching to war against Confederate forces was still new in southern Pennsylvania. Unlike their comrades, the men digging trenches were not a formal military unit but volunteers in the home guard regiment—the only Black unit among five such amateur organizations from towns along the Susquehanna River. They made up in courage and determination for what they lacked in combat training. Rising to the challenge, these soldiers not only dug ditches and worked tirelessly, but they also fought with great honor. “They presented a motley appearance, attired as they were in every description of citizens’ dress,” wrote an admiring Lieutenant Francis Wallace of the 27th Pennsylvania Volunteer Militia (PVM), a newspaper editor in civilian life. “They were armed with the old musket altered to the percussion lock.” “No men on that day worked more faithfully or zealously, than the colored company,” he later wrote. “Their conduct elicited the admiration of all who saw them” (Pottsville Miner’s Journal, 24 October 1863). More information available at: https://www.historynet.com/how-volunteer-soldiers-blocked-robert-e-lee-by-burning-the-worlds-longest-covered-bridge/#:~:text=They%20were%20inexperienced,the%20percussion%20lock and “Like Men of War: Black Troops in the Civil War 1862 – 1865” by Noah Andre Trudeau, p. 94-97. |
