"I had said all during the war that I would die before before I would surrender to a negro, but let me tell you, I had forgotten that resolution. I did everything that negro commanded me to do, and I tell you I did it quick."
— Confederate Frank Edwards describes his surrender at Petersburg in 1865
Brandon Friedman
Nearly 180,000 Black men served in the Union Army. Another 19,000 in the Navy. Black soldiers accounted for roughly 10% of Union military deaths. A large portion of each were formerly enslaved.
I imagine they gave a damn about slavery.
