Forged in Battle: The Civil War Alliance of Black Soldiers and White Officers

By Joseph T. Glatthaar

Book Overview

Sixteen months after the start of the American Civil War, the Federal government, having vastly underestimated the length and manpower demands of the war, began to recruit black soldiers. This revolutionary policy gave 180,000 free blacks and former slaves the opportunity to prove themselves on the battlefield as part of the United States Colored Troops. By the end of the war, 37,000 in their ranks had given their lives for the cause of freedom.

In Forged in Battle, originally published in 1990, award-winning historian Joseph T. Glatthaar re-creates the events that gave these troops and their 7,000 white officers justifiable pride in their contributions to the Union victory and hope of equality in the years to come. Unfortunately, as Glatthaar poignantly demonstrates, memory of the United States Colored Troops' heroic sacrifices soon faded behind the prejudice that would plague the armed forces for another century.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0807125601
• ISBN13: 9780807125601
• Release Date: March 2000
• Publisher: LSU Press
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Must read history!

This is one of the most important books on the Civil War that needs to be read by every student of the war. When published in 1989, Forged introduced the United States Colored Troops to the general reading public. While books that are more detailed would follow, notably "Like Men of War" in 1998, this remains the best introduction to the USCT published. This is a very readable and informative book, with no agenda. The 11 chapters each cover an important part of this history. "Breaking Down the Resistance" and "The White Man's War" set the stage with a discussion of how the Civil War was being fought and the decision to form the USCT. "Recruiting the Officers" is a frank discussion of the decision to use White Officers, the men that volunteered and their motivates. "Filling the Ranks", "Coping with Racism" and "Training and Discipline" cover the experience of the Black men who filled the ranks of these regiments. Slave or free, from the North or South, they stood in the face of racism. They preserved and prevailed over official indifference, apathy and hopes that the USCT would fail. "Proving their Valor" and "Leaving Their Mark on the Battlefield" show how the alliance of Black soldiers and White officers worked in combat. The USCT gained acceptance as equals on the battlefield by acts of courage and self-sacrifice that went way past what the movie "Glory" showed. The last chapters deal with official prejudice, occupation and the lives of the men after the war. Appendix 1 is a statistical sampling of the officers and enlisted men that gives us an idea how varied the backgrounds were. Appendix 2 is a list of the men in the USCT, who won the Congressional Medal of Honor. Appendix 3 is a list of black men that became officers in the Union Army.