"Between Two Fires - Black Soldiers in the Civil War,"Joyce Hansen, 1993, Franklin Watts, 42: "This war between the North and the South gave enslaved men and women an opportunity to take advantage of unstable conditions created by the warring whites. This was one way for some black people to initiate their march for their own freedom. Caught between two fires, they to find a way to survive the conflict. And for some, one way to survive was to volunteer to help the Confederates. The promise of freedom for themselves and their families was enough of an incentive to join the Confederate Army, and the Union had said that it was not fighting to end slavery"

"A Brave Black Regiment: History of the Fifty-Fourth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry," Luis F. Emilio, Boston: Boston Book Company, 1894; Reprint, Salem: Ayer Company Publishers, Inc., 1990., 93: [Reporting on the assault on Battery Wagner] "Sergeant George E. Stephens of Company B described the scene to Captain Emilio: 'Just at the very hottest moment of the struggle, a battalion or regiment charged up to the moat, halted, and did not attempt to join us, but from their position commenced to fire upon us. I was one of the men who shouted from where I stood, 'Don't fire on us. We are the Fifty-fourth.' I have heard it was a Maine Regiment .'"

"The Sable Arm." Dudley T. Cornish, New York: Longman, Green & Co., 1956, 274: [Regarding the Battle of the Crater] "George L. Kilmer, an officer of the Fourteenth New York Heavy Artillery, went into the crater with the first wave and reported afterward that when the USCT moved forward to charge the fort, some of white soldiers refused to follow them. Pandemonium broke out when the black soldiers could not continue the assault and started to retreat and come back into the crater. 'Some colored men came into the crater and there they found a fate worse than death in the charge . . . It has been positively asserted, that white men [Union] bayoneted blacks who fell back into the crater.'"

"Negroes in the Confederate Army,"Journal of Negro History, Charles Wesle, Vol. 4, #3, (1919), 244: "The Governor of Tennessee was given permission in June 1861 to accept into the state militia black males between the ages if fifteen and fifty. The men were to receive eight dollars a month, plus clothing and rations."

"Negroes in the Confederate Army,"Journal of Negro History, Charles Wesle, Vol. 4, #3, (1919), 244-245: "Seventy free blacks enlisted in the Confederate Army in Lynchburg, Virginia. Sixteen companies of free men of color marched through Augusta, Georgia on their way to fight in Virginia."

"Negroes in the Confederate Army,"Journal of Negro History, Charles Wesle, Vol. 4, #3, (1919), 249-250: "General Robert E. Lee wrote a long letter to a Richmond Senator urging the arming of blacks in order to fill the depleted ranks of white soldiers. "We must decide whether slavery shall be extinguished by our enemies and slaves used against us . . . There have been formidable armies composed of men having no interest in the cause for which they fought beyond their pay or hope of plunder . . . such an interest we can give our Negroes by giving immediate freedom to all who enlist . . . together with the privilege of residing at the South."

Louisiana Militia Records: "Jordan" - colored boy - Bridge's Battery, Louisiana Light Artillery - enlisted Georgetown and on role of paroled POWs, Greensboro, NC, April 26, 1865 "Joe" - colored - Private - Captain Senner's Battery, Louisiana Light Artillery - enlisted July 1, 1862, Jackson, Mississippi - present on all roles to October 1863 - sick in hospital November 1863 to December 1863 (probably died from illness)

Historic References Pages
One	Two	Three	Four	Five	Six	Seven	Eight
Nine	Ten	Eleven	Twelve	Thirteen	Fourteen	Fifteen	Sixteen
Seventeen	Eighteen	Nineteen	Twenty

Welcome	Mission Statement	Regimental News
Visual Offerings	Historic References	Forgotten In Gray
Unit History	Bgen Terrell Biography	Brothers In Arms
The Chandler Boys	To Their Honor	The Great Emancipator
Newspaper Articles	The Black and the Gray	Confederates of Color
On Black Confederates	Recruiting	Incoming Mail
Enlistment	Regimental Rosters	Suggested Links
Music Recommendation	Horsetradin'	The Supply Officer
Ring Memberships	37th Texas Web Award	Public Domain Art
Awards Received	Wearin' of the Gray	Songs of the 37th
Grand Fabrication	Racists in the Ranks	Flags of the 37th

All Graphics © Copyright 1996-1999 - Michael Kelley EXCLUSIVE PROPERTY OF THE CREATOR NOT FOR PUBLIC USE EXCEPT AS SPECIFICALLY NOTED Reenactor Web Design Services Available

Musical Accompaniment: "Lorena" MIDI file created by Benjamin Tubb Used with permission. All rights reserved. Lyrics