Honoring the United States Colored Infantry (U.S.C.I.)
The Civil War Monuments issue should take 180º turn. It’s time to honor the contributions of the 13th USCT in the Battle of Nashville. Fort Negley Park would be ideal for it’s location. The fort was constructed
by African Americans, including the USCT. The grounds around the fort were “contraband camps” of Black refugees from around the region. Some may still be buried there.
Fort Negley Park is currently under threat of commercial development.
The time is now to act and honor this page of American history. Save the park and honor the USCT.
The 13th USCT
Five color bearers of the 13th U.S.C.I. — carrying a flag with its origin: “Presented by the Colored Ladies of Murfreesboro” — were shot down before their banner was captured. The regiment lost 40 percent of its men, the highest casualty rate of the battle of Nashville.
The 13th U.S.C.T. was comprised of 20 officers and 556 men, most of whom had been enslaved in Tennessee. Ordered to assault Peach Orchard Hill during the battle, after many white Union regiments had failed, the 13th U.S.C.T. was slaughtered by the Confederate troops defending the hill. Yet in undertaking this task these freed slaves, untried in fierce combat, won in their deaths the admiration of friend and foe alike…read more
Blood Proof: USCT and the Battle of Nashville
#usct #usci #nashville
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