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State University of New York Press - Edythe Ann Quinn

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205 pages

English

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Description

Through wonderfully detailed letters, recruit rosters, and pension records, Edythe Ann Quinn shares the story of thirty-five African American Civil War soldiers and the United States Colored Troop (USCT) regiments with which they served. Associated with The Hills community in Westchester County, New York, the soldiers served in three regiments: the 29th Connecticut Infantry, 14th Rhode Island Heavy Artillery (11th USCT), and the 20th USCT. The thirty-sixth Hills man served in the Navy. Their ties to family, land, church, school, and occupational experiences at home buffered the brutal indifference of boredom and battle, the ravages of illness, the deprivations of unequal pay, and the hostility of some commissioned officers and white troops. At the same time, their service among kith and kin bolstered their determination and pride. They marched together, first as raw recruits, and finally as seasoned veterans, welcomed home by generals, politicians, and above all, their families and friends.
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction

1. The Hills in 1860

2. War Comes to Westchester and The Hills

Sidebar 1: Peekskill Men in the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Regiment
Sidebar 2: Aaron Halstead Jr., Landsman, U.S. Navy

3. Fourteenth Regiment, Rhode Island Heavy Artillery (Colored)

Sidebar 3: Food Issues for the USCT
Sidebar 4: Abusive Discipline of Black Soldiers

4. Twenty-ninth Connecticut Regiment, Infantry Colored Volunteers

Sidebar 5: Treating Pneumonia in 1864
Sidebar 6: Excerpts from 1st Lt. Henry H. Brown’s Account of October 27, 1864
Sidebar 7: Medical Case of Pvt. John Purdy

5. Twentieth Infantry Regiment, USCT

Sidebar 8: Chaplain George W. LeVere
Sidebar 9: Battle of Port Hudson, May 27, 1863
Sidebar 10: Van Amburgh’s Circus
Sidebar 11: Attack on Milliken’s Bend, June 7, 1863

photo gallery follows page 112

6. Post-Civil War Years in The Hills

Sidebar 12: Valentine M. Hodgson and M. A. Hodgson, White Plains Pension Agents
Sidebar 13: “Colored Veteran Gets Pension”

Epilogue

Appendix A: Roster of the Hills Men in the Civil War

Appendix B: Letters Home: Civil War Letters of Sgt. Simeon Anderson Tierce

Letter dated November 24, 1863
Sidebar 14: Notes for Letter dated November 24, 1863
Letter dated February 15, 1864
Sidebar 15: Notes for Letter dated February 15, 1864
Letter dated February 22, 1864
Sidebar 16: Notes for Letter dated February 22, 1864
Letter dated March 11, 1864
Sidebar: 17: Notes for Letter dated March 11, 1864
Undated letter (written between March 27 and July 8, 1864)
Sidebar 18: Notes for Undated letter (written between March 27 and July 8, 1864)

Appendix C: Jacobs Williams of Harrison, Private, Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Regiment

Appendix D: Allen Banks’ Freedom Journey

Abbreviations
Notes
Bibliography
About the Author
Index

Sujets

États-Unis

Regional

History of the Americas

Region

Ethnic studies

Local history

United States of America

USA

Informations

Publié par	State University of New York Press
Date de parution	31 janvier 2015
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781438455396
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,1648€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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Praise for Freedom Journey

“As an in-depth case study of the African American volunteers from The Hills community who served in the Civil War, Edythe Ann Quinn’s Freedom Journey is a well-researched book that explores a much needed ethnic aspect of that war. For those interested in genealogy and local history, Freedom Journey offers unique insights into the social and cultural history of The Hills community, first settled in the 1790s. Additionally, the work contains a roster of the volunteers and thirteen historical sidebars that relate to the African American wartime experience.”

— Anthony F. Gero, author of Black Soldiers of New York State: A Proud Legacy

“Edythe Ann Quinn has taken a little-known community, The Hills in Westchester County, and using a comprehensively well-resourced and researched methodology, has written not only an enjoyable and engagingly attractive family history (individual and collective) of black New Yorkers from slavery to freedom, but as well the sacrifices that the community’s young men gave. It is the voices of those sable warriors that are heard through the personal letters, woven into the overall engaging literary style of the author.”

— A. J. Williams-Myers, author of Long Hammering: Essays on the Forging of an African American Presence in the Hudson River Valley to the Early Twentieth Century
Freedom Journey
Freedom Journey
Black Civil War Soldiers and The Hills Community, Westchester County, New York
EDYTHE ANN QUINN
Cover image (top) of the Twenty-ninth Connecticut Regiment, Infantry Colored Volunteers seen here drilling at Beaufort, SC in 1864. Sixteen Hills men served in this regiment. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.
Cover image (bottom) is a letter excerpt from Sergeant Simeon Anderson Tierce to his wife, Sarah Jane Tierce. Simeon and thirteen other Hills men served in the Fourteenth Rhode Island Heavy Artillery Colored (11th USCT). Courtesy of the National Archives.
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2015 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.
Excelsior Editions is an imprint of State University of New York Press
For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY
www.sunypress.edu
Production, Diane Ganeles
Marketing, Kate R. Seburyamo
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Quinn, Edythe Ann, 1942–.
Freedom journey : Black Civil War soldiers and The Hills community, Westchester County, New York / Edythe Ann Quinn.
pages cm — (Excelsior editions)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4384-5538-9 (paperback : alkaline paper)
ISBN 978-1-4384-5539-6 (ebook)
1. African American soldiers—New York (State)—Westchester County—History—19th century. 2. African American soldiers—New York (State)—Westchester County—Biography. 3. United States. Colored Troops—Biography. 4. Westchester County (N.Y.)—Biography. 5. United States—Armed Forces—Military life—History—19th century. 6. New York (State)—History—Civil War, 1861–1865—Participation, African American. 7. United States—History—Civil War, 1861–1865—Participation, African American. 8. United States—History—Civil War, 1861–1865—Regimental histories. 9. African Americans—New York (State)—Westchester County—History—19th century. 10. Westchester County (N.Y.)—History, Military—19th century. I. Title.
E540.N3Q85 2015 973.7′415—dc23 2014013991
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
I dedicate this book to The Hills men who served in the Civil War and to The Hills community that supported them.
“May their memory be for a blessing.”
Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. The Hills in 1860
2. War Comes to Westchester and The Hills
Sidebar 1: Peekskill Men in the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Regiment
Sidebar 2: Aaron Halstead Jr., Landsman, U.S. Navy
3. Fourteenth Regiment, Rhode Island Heavy Artillery (Colored)
Sidebar 3: Food Issues for the USCT
Sidebar 4: Abusive Discipline of Black Soldiers
4. Twenty-ninth Connecticut Regiment, Infantry Colored Volunteers
Sidebar 5: Treating Pneumonia in 1864
Sidebar 6: Excerpts from 1 st Lt. Henry H. Brown’s Account of October 27, 1864
Sidebar 7: Medical Case of Pvt. John Purdy
5. Twentieth Infantry Regiment, USCT
Sidebar 8: Chaplain George W. LeVere
Sidebar 9: Battle of Port Hudson, May 27, 1863
Sidebar 10: Van Amburgh’s Circus
Sidebar 11: Attack on Milliken’s Bend, June 7, 1863
photo gallery
6. Post-Civil War Years in The Hills
Sidebar 12: Valentine M. Hodgson and M. A. Hodgson, White Plains Pension Agents
Sidebar 13: “Colored Veteran Gets Pension”
Epilogue
Appendix A: Roster of The Hills Men in the Civil War
Appendix B: Letters Home: Civil War Letters of Sgt. Simeon Anderson Tierce
Letter dated November 24, 1863
Sidebar 14: Notes for Letter dated November 24, 1863
Letter dated February 15, 1864
Sidebar 15: Notes for Letter dated February 15, 1864
Letter dated February 22, 1864
Sidebar 16: Notes for Letter dated February 22, 1864
Letter dated March 11, 1864
Sidebar 17: Notes for Letter dated March 11, 1864
Undated letter (written between March 27 and July 8, 1864)
Sidebar 18: Notes for Undated Letter (written between March 27 and July 8, 1864)
Appendix C: Jacob Williams of Harrison, Private, Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Regiment
Appendix D: Allen Banks’ Freedom Journey
Abbreviations
Notes
Bibliography
About the Author
Index
Preface
Freedom Journey is the Civil War history of three regiments of the United States Colored Troops (USCT), of recruits becoming seasoned soldiers, of battlefield drama, and of death from Confederate fire and, more often, disease. Foremost, it is an odyssey narrative of thirty-six, northern black men from the African American community, The Hills, in Westchester County, New York, on their quest to engage in the great mission to end slavery and restore the Union. As with any odyssey, these warriors experienced great changes in fortune from forces beyond their control, such as military assignments that placed some at the center of Civil War history at the fall of Richmond, and relegated others to the backwaters of the war, occupying Mississippi River forts. Of the thirty-six men, thirteen served together in Company E, being a community among comrades of the Fourteenth Rhode Island Heavy Artillery (Eleventh Regiment, USCT); another Hills man served in Company F of that regiment. Sixteen men from The Hills served in the Twenty-ninth Connecticut Infantry (Colored), and although engaged in the same campaigns they were scattered in several companies. Five men served in four companies of the Twentieth Infantry Regiment USCT under common conditions, and one man served in the Navy. Their experiences, the gist of news sent home in letters and in war stories told and retold by the veterans, became their community history even as it was being made.
The overriding sense of community is the starting point of their odyssey, a theme that continues as the action unfolds on various fronts, and serves as the culminating point for many of the returning veterans. Thus, the major characteristic that distinguishes Freedom Journey from other histories of the USCT is its contributions as a social history of both the soldiers and their northern, black community, The Hills. 1 The Hills was the largest African American community in Westchester County, New York, in 1860, with approximately 190 residents; marking its presence on the county landscape with its rural character, while maintaining ties to Manhattan, a modest distance of barely thirty miles. After having “prayed years and years” for the destruction of slavery and freedom of their southern brethren, The Hills blacks, who traced their roots to enslavement and emancipation in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, sent their sons, brothers, fathers, friends, and neighbors off to participate in what was foremost for them a holy war of liberation. For those at home, in community with each other, theirs became a spiritual odyssey with faith in God, and prayers and letters being their strength against the forces of fear and loneliness. Thus, this combination of military odyssey and community narrative, of quest and home, distinguishes Freedom Journey from grand narratives of the USCT and from the few regimental history of the USCT.
The documentation for those engaged in the military history is substantial but only glimpses of The Hills community’s responses exist. One of the trademarks of social history is respect for the agency of ordinary folks, the women and men of the common narrative, in all their dimensions including their emotions. Thus, I have carefully included my interpretations of human nature for what I believe would be the natural reactions of family members and friends to news both good and bad from the field, be that the frontline of combat or the fortifications in Union occupied territory. However, I employ such phrases as “perhaps,” “probably,” and “most likely,” and although these phrases encumber the text, I have found no viable solution and I thank my readers for their forbearance. And by raising questions, I challenge reade