Day 8 -- West Point to Fulton, Mississippi: Black Soldiers in the Civil War and Smithville, MS

Black Soldiers in the Civil War

Today SnR had its first history lesson on the use of Black troops in the Civil War. The group visited Brysons Crossroads, where Union and Confederate troops collided in a battle which ended in the retreat of the Union forces. 

 In the fray, the army commanded the U.S.  Colored troops to send  fire at the advancing Southerners in an effort to cover their retreat. Amazingly, in a mission that was only meant to provide human shield, the US Colored troops laid down some of  the most devastating fire in all of the Civil War, and successfully halted the Southern troops. This was just one example of how African- Americans began to earn respect for their actions and began to become recognized as equal.   I believe that we must all honor those who died fighting in this struggle.

 We also rode through Smithville, MS which was devastated during the historic tornadoes this spring.