Black soldiers achieved something “virtually unheard of” at the Battle of Nashville in 1864
Posted December 16th, 2014 by James DeWolf PerryCategory: History Tags: Battle of Nashville, Civil War, Emancipation, Emancipation to Equality, U.S. Colored Troops
Today marks the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Nashville, which, between December 16-17, 1864, broke General John Bell Hood’s Confederate Army of Tennessee and left Tennessee in Union hands for the duration of the war.
In a military sense, the 13th United States Colored Troops, despite their bravery and sacrifice on the first day of the battle, “contributed nothing to the Union victory.” Yet this African American regiment achieved something “virtually unheard of in the war” with their courage and sacrifice: they “not only earned the awed respect of white Union troops who witnessed their efforts; they also garnered heartfelt praise from an opposing Confederate general in his official report.”
