On the same day that the 54th Massachusetts was being repulsed at Battery Wagner, another African American regiment, the 1st Kansas Infantry (Colored), was contributing to the greatest Union victory of the Trans-Mississippi Theater, at Honey Springs in the Indian Territory. The 1st Colored Kansas Infantry was probably the best-trained unit on either side. Raised in 1862 from runaway slaves from Missouri, owing to politics and a mistrust of the reliability of blacks it trained until committed to service in early summer 1863.

In the center of the Union line, exposed to enemy fire, the men were ordered to lie down in the tall grass. The officers remained standing to direct the battle. Several were injured. When a Union Indian Cavalry regiment in reserve behind their line began redeploying, the Confederate assumed the Union was retreating. Anxious to destroy the Yankees, the Confederates, a mixed force of Texas and Confederate Indian cavalry regiments, charged.

As the charge began, the 1st Kansas, on orders from their officers, stood. They fired three volleys in quick succession, shredding the charging cavalry. The picture (below) depicts the 1st Kansas (colored) as they rose from the grass. The color guard, a picked force of NCOs that guarded the regimental colors, can be seen. The flags shown still exists and are on display in the Kansas State Capitol, with many more battle honors than they had on July 17, 1863.

Copyright Osprey Publishing 2003

The Sable Arm: Black Troops in the Union Army, 1861-1865
The first work to fully chronicle the remarkable story of the nearly 180,000 black troops who served in the Union army. This work paved the way for the exploration of the black military experience in other wars. This edition, with a new foreword by Herman Hattaway and bibliographical essay by the author, makes available once again a pioneering work that will be especially useful for scholars and students

Forged in Battle: The Civil War Alliance of Black Soldiers and White Officers
This historical exploration denotes the uneasy alliance between black soldiers and white officers who, divided by racial tension and ideology, were united by the trials and bonds of the war they fought side by side

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A Black Woman's Civil War Memoirs: Reminiscences of My Life in Camp With the 33rd U.S. Colored Troops, Late 1st South Carolina Volunteers
Taylor was born a slave in 1848 on an island off the coast of Georgia. She gained her freedom and worked as a laundress for an African-American Union regiment during the war. She offers fascinating details about her life with the troops

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Black Slaveowners: Free Black Slave Masters in South Carolina, 1790-1860
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It was illegal for Blacks to carry arms until March of 1865, and numerous Confederate Government documents attest to the illegality of using slaves and free Blacks in that capacity

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Official records, newspaper articles, and veterans' accounts to tell the stories of the Black Confederates. This well researched collection is a contribution to the discussion about the numbers of black Southerners involved and their significant history.

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Fanatical politics of the western frontier, immigrant abolitionists with loaded Spencer rifles funded by mysterious personages back East, cut-throats, gin heads and horse thieves, colorful character descriptions

The Civil War in Arizona: The Story of the California Volunteers, 1861-1865
History of the California Column in wartime Arizona and a rare compilation of letters written by the volunteer soldiers who served in the U.S. Army from 1861 to 1866. These letters provide testimony of the grueling desert conditions the soldiers endured as they fought on many fronts

Black Flag: Guerrilla Warfare on the Western Border, 1861-1865: A Riveting Account of a Bloody Chapter in Civil War History
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