Summary:
It’s March of 1863 and two of the first Black regiments in the Union Army are sent to occupy Jacksonville, Florida. Their mission: harass Confederate troops in the area, free enslaved people along the St. Johns River and enlist as many Black men as possible.
Bibliography:
Firebrand of Liberty by Stephen Ash, 2008 (available at JPL)
Montgomery’s Raids in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina by Lt. Col. William Lee Apthorp, 34th USCT, 1864 at https://history.domains.unf.edu/floridahistoryonline/projects-proj-b-p-html/montgomery-index-html/
The Old Sixth Regiment, its War Record, 1861-1865 by Charles K. Cadwell, 1875 at https://archive.org/details/oldsixthregiment00cadwrich
Dickison and His Men: Reminiscences of the War in Florida by Mary Elizabeth Dickison, 1890 at https://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00103091/00001/3
Army Life in a Black Regiment by Thomas Wentworth Higginson, 1870 at https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo1.ark:/13960/t4th93k2r&view=1up&seq=11
"Some War Scenes Revisited" in The Atlantic (July 1878) by Thomas Wentworth Higginson at https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1878/07/some-war-scenes-revisited/538647/
A Yankee in a Confederate Town: The Journal of Calvin L. Robinson by Anne Robinson Clancy, ed., 2002 (available at JPL)
War-Time Letters from Seth Rogers, M.D. Surgeon of the First South Carolina Afterwards the 33rd USCT 1862-1863 at https://www.unf.edu/floridahistoryonline/Projects/Rogers/index.html
Thunder on the River: The Civil War in Northeast Florida by Daniel Schafer, 2010 (available at JPL)
Rose Cottage Chronicles: Civil War Letters of the Bryant-Stephens Families of North Florida by Arch Fredric Blakey, Ann Smith Lainhart, and Winston Bryant Stephens, Jr., eds., 1998 (available at JPL)
Reminiscences of My Life in Camp by Susie King Taylor, 1902 at https://www.google.com/books/edition/Reminiscences_of_My_Life_in_Camp_with_th/v3-cyYKvZr8C?hl=en&gbpv=0
The War of the Rebellion, a Compilation of Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies (April 12, 1862-June 11 1863), 1885 at http://hdl.handle.net/2027/uiuo.ark:/13960/t88h4tg2b
"The First South Carolina Regiment" in The Liberator, 4/10/1863 at http://fair-use.org/the-liberator/1863/04/10/the-liberator-33-15.pdf
“Interesting from Port Royal” in The New York Times, 3/22/1863 at https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1863/03/22/90546693.html?pageNumber=1
“The Occupation and Evacuation of Jacksonville, Fla” in The New York Times, 4/16/1863 at https://www.nytimes.com/1863/04/17/archives/local-intelligence-a-frightful-accident-in-a-broadway-storetwo.html
Music Credits:
- “Pleading Savior” performed by Bobby Horton, 2020: https://www.universalproductionmusic.com/en-us/discover/albums/22641/american-roots
- “Battle Cry of Freedom” performed by Walter Van Brunt, 1916: http://www.library.ucsb.edu/OBJID/Cylinder6576
- “Weeping Sad and Lonely” (a/k/a “When This Cruel War is Over”) from American War Songs No. 2 performed by American Brass Quartet, 1917: http://www.library.ucsb.edu/OBJID/Cylinder7663
- “Ship of Zion” performed by Holloway High School Quartet, 1941: https://www.loc.gov/item/ftvbib000001/
- “Bonnie Blue Flag” performed by Polk Miller and His Old South Quartet, 1914: http://www.library.ucsb.edu/OBJID/Cylinder1440
- “John Brown’s Body” performed by J. Weldon Norris Chorale, 2003: https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.100010565/
- “When Johnny Comes Marching Home” performed by the Victor Band, 1921: https://archive.org/details/78_1-nancy-lee-2-when-johnny-comes-marching-home_victor-band-stephen-adams-patriick_gbia0039741b/1.+Nancy+Lee%3B+2.+When+Johnny+Comes+Marching++-+Victor+Band.flac
- “Just Before the Battle Mother” from Recollections of 1861-1865 performed by Edna White, 1921: http://www.library.ucsb.edu/OBJID/Cylinder6084
Image Credit:
Contrabands Aboard U.S. Ship Vermont, Port Royal, South Carolina by Henry P. Moore, 1861. Courtesy Metropolitan Museum of Art: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/286558
Note: While this image is not from Jacksonville, it’s extremely representative of how contrabands made their way into the Union and, given where and when it was taken, may have included men who later made their way into Higginson’s units. However, there’s no way to know for sure.
Voice actors (in order of appearance):
- New York Tribune: Tauren Hagans
- Susie King Taylor, a young Black nurse that served with the USCT: Danielle Evans
- General Joseph Finegan, a former lawyer and businessman from Fernandina and the officer who commanded Confederate forces near Jacksonville: Zach Bouchelle
- Davis Bryant, a Confederate soldier under the command of General Finegan whose family lived in Jacksonville before moving to Welaka: Joel Russo
- Colonel Thomas W. Higginson, the Union commander of the USCT in Jacksonville: Ray Hollister
- Seth Rogers, a doctor for the USCT stationed in Jacksonville: Will Brown
- Sergeant Charles Cadwell, a white Union soldier stationed in Jacksonville: Will Stroud
- Daniel Sawtelle, a white Union soldier from the 8th Maine who served alongside the USCT in Jacksonville: Evan Alcock
Want to get involved?
The U.S. National Archives is looking for volunteers to help transcribe records related to the United States Colored Troops, among other topics. To learn more, head over to archives.gov.
