African Canadians in Union Blue

Before Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, he added a paragraph authorizing the army to recruit black soldiers. Nearly 200,000 men answered the call. Several thousand of them came from Canada.

What compelled these men to leave the relative comfort of their homes to face death on the battlefield, loss of income, and legal sanctions for participating in a foreign war? Drawing on newspapers, autobiographies, and military and census records, Richard Reid pieces together a portrait of a group of men who served the Union in disparate ways – as soldiers, sailors, or doctors – but who all believed that liberty, justice, and equality were worth fighting for.

By bringing the courage and contributions of these men to light, African Canadians in Union Blue opens a window on the changing nature of the Civil War and the ties that held black communities together even as the borders around them shifted or were torn asunder.

Richard M. Reid’s engaging and well-researched examination of the nearly 2,500 African Canadians who served in the Union Army is a must-read for anyone interested in the black experience during the American Civil War… thanks to Reid’s fascinating and important study, the sacrifice, courage, and determination of these African Canadians can now find their proper place in the history of the American Civil War.