The Union's first black hero of the Civil War wasn't one of the African-American soldiers of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, famously depicted in the 1989 film "Glory," but rather a merchant ship's cook born in Delaware who took up arms to prevent being sold into slavery after a Confederate raider captured his vessel.
At least that's the reckoning of some historians and a pair of upstate New York-based documentary producers who have included William Tillman's story in their new film on the short-but-prolific wartime record of the brig Jefferson Davis, a Southern privateer that seized several Union ships in the opening months of the war.
"He certainly ranks among the top half-dozen African-American heroes of the Civil War as far as I'm concerned," said Gerald Henig, professor emeritus of history at California State University, East Bay, in the San Francisco Bay area.
"This is a guy who falls between the cracks," said Joe Zarzynski, a retired history teacher from Wilton, N.Y., and co-producer of the documentary film released earlier this year. "We have our pantheon of heroes for the Civil War, and this guy should be there."
7 comments:
I wonder why there are so few comments on this article? Thank you, Joe for printing it.
People sleeping?
More blacks fought for the south.
To 10:41 -- yes, because their slave masters made them. Blacks left the south en masse to head to Union lines during the Civil War. The idea that free blacks fought for the Confederacy (a nation built on the idea of white supremacy, something loudly proclaimed by the CSA's leadership) in any significant numbers is ridiculous and has been disproven by a variety of historians.
Not all were forced a lot went voluntary as they loved their masters and the only life they knew.
everyone that cant get a fed govt job and sit on theyre ass all day,watching reruns of sand box joe... Those are the current people looking at falling to the new socialism and slavery...Hide and watch.
How did our country ever survive it's short history without the assistance of colored people?
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