Customer Reviews

The Sable Arm: Black Troops in the Union Army, 1861-1865 (Modern War Studies)

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In this book Dudly Cornish tells about the role of black troops in the Civil War. This book is one of the most comprehensive accounts of a single section in the Civil War. Until I read this book I had no idea to what extent the black solider played in the war. The union may not have won the war if it were not for those black troops. This book is a must read for anyone interested in the Civil War.

Every kid, especially black kids should read this book. They will learn what true struggle is, what teamwork is, what overcoming prejudice and hatred look like. Common white soldiers and their officers who had never seen a black person no less cared about them, came away astounded at the black soldiers' bravery and fortitude in battle. At their strong desire to learn how to read, how to be an independent human. Names like Cold Harbor and Fort Pillow will become almost sacred. This was how modern America was built: On a shared struggle for freedom. For evolution.

A great subject that has some details that I found fascinating - today's Officer Candidate Schools are a direct descendant of boards to evaluate officers for the black regiments; the wealthy were able to hire substitutes to serve for them if they were drafted and many black soldiers were those substitutes; President Lincoln was not an ardent supporter of having black troops from the beginning of the war; and many more. I wish that this book had more information on the battles that the black troops had, was more organized and better written - it become very redundant at times. A lot of the beginning of the book is taken verbatim from newspaper accounts at the time and it made for choppy reading. I wish that this had been in chronological order (it would have been easier to follow) and that General's names consistently included whether they were Union or Confederate which made it hard to follow the narrative. This is more of a scholarly work, but the subject is compelling.