Saber and Scroll


While the military efforts of African American men, both slave and free, have received moderate attention, those of African American women during the Civil War remain relatively unexplored. Being both black and female provided them unique opportunities to aid Union forces – some bold and glorious, others meek and humble, all of them worthy of recognition and gratitude. Their lives, their contributions, and their trials, tribulations, and triumphs are an important component of the war years. Without their stories being added to the anthology of Civil War research, the annals are incomplete.


