Tag: Memorial Day

 The fact that many  formerly enslaved United States Colored Troops(USCT) died while serving and fighting in the Civil War is something that has weighed heavily upon my heart for quite sometime.  Sometimes referred to as contraband, many did not survive to experience the freedom that they were fighting for. Consider also the USCT who may have been free prior to the war,  who fought and made the ultimate sacrifice so that others might be free. Several weeks ago while conducting research, I encountered  this database on Ancestry.com. U.S., Register of Colored Troop Deaths During the Civil War, 1861-1865   Those Who Served and Fought “By the end of the Civil War, roughly 179,000 black men (10% of the Union Army) served as soldiers in the U.S. Army and another 19,000 served in the Navy. Nearly 40,000 black soldiers died over the course of the war—30,000 of infection or disease. Black soldiers served…