Skip to main content

African-American Soldiers

The brutal murder of hundreds of African-American soldiers at Fort Pillow had a profound effect on Northern sentiment during and after the Civil War.

Fighting to defeat the Confederacy, the first African American regiments also helped win for themselves the full rights and privileges of U.S. citizens.  

Editor's Note: Douglas R. Egerton is Professor of History at LeMoyne College.

During the World War I, American jazz bands played at hospitals, rest camps and other venues, delighting doughboys and Europeans alike.

By the end of the Civil War, nearly 200,000 African-Americans had fought for the Union cause and freedom

The American Civil War had cost more than 620,000 lives and had nearly torn the nation apart, but by May 1865 it was finally over. To celebrate, thousands of people gathered in Washington, D.C., to express their gratitude to the military forces that had made the Union victory possible.

Trying to understand the Civil War’s ugliest incident

We hope you enjoy our work.

Please support this 72-year tradition of trusted historical writing and the volunteers that sustain it with a donation to American Heritage.

Donate