Black soldiers join the Union army
1863 · Event
Following the Emancipation Proclamation, the War Department creates the Bureau of Colored Troops; nearly 180,000 Black soldiers — most of them formerly enslaved — fight for the Union, the 54th Massachusetts's assault on Fort Wagner proving the point in blood. 'The iron gate of our prison stands half open,' writes Frederick Douglass.
On these timelines: American Civil War, Slavery & Abolition, USA, Master
More from American Civil War
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Around 1863
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