Willie Lee Rose (1927–2018)

A very readable and interesting story with a totally different perspective of the civil War as told by a black woman who came from Savannah and spent most of that was working in a camp of black soldiers. Soldiers who quite often died before getting paid and those who did survive may not have received much of that pay anyway. But her life was not harsh, though there was danger.

She hoped that once the war was over, there would be equality for all. She did find it but had to go North to have show more it. She found that crossing the rive in Cincinnati on a train in the late 1800s meant she had to move to a different car, one for "colored people." In 1902, she wondered if the "war had been in vain."

Today things have improved greatly but we have a ways to go. Hopefully, her dream will be completely fulfilled soon. show less

This 1964 study (reprinted in 1994) was the first notable venture into the history of African American civilians during the Civil War. The great majority of such studies have focused on the much better documented experience of black soldiers in the Union army.

This book analyzes the documentary record of white northern missionaries to plantation slaves in the occupied Sea Islands near Beaufort, S.C. It finds that the former slaves on the Sea Islands were not just passive recipients of show more emancipation, aid, and education from paternalistic whites. Their isolation, ignorance of the wider world, and lack of resources certainly told against the Sea Islanders, and postwar policy was destined to reduce many of them to a kind of tenancy by restoring confiscated land to prewar owners. Nevertheless, Rose finds that the Sea Islanders were sound judges of their own interests who guarded their independence and “became, in their own way, as self-governing as many a small New England town.”

This book is also notable for being one of the first studies to consider how Civil War experiences transformed American slavery during its last four years. To the best of my knowledge, nothing else comparable to Rehearsal for Reconstruction was published until the mid-1980s, when state-level emancipation studies finally began to appear. show less

This is a wonderful memoir written by a Black woman from Savannah, Georgia, who served with the Black regiment that was formed in South Carolina. These Black troops did much to secure the Barrier Islands off the coast of Georgia and South Carolina and gained territory that made Sherman’s march to the sea possible. Her perspective on this aspect of the war is a valuable addition to the literature available from that era. I especially enjoyed this memoir because it takes place in the area of show more the South in which I lived for nearly 25 years. Its most important aspect, however, is that we see a perspective of the Civil War from the viewpoint of a Black person who had high stakes in the outcome of the conflict. Her observations are perceptive and show an understanding of what is at stake. Extensive additional notes on the information she gives helps to make this account valuable in understanding much about what these Black regiments accomplished and the sacrifices they made. Highly recommended! 4 stars I just wish she had written more! show less

One of the few memoirs of an African American Civil War woman. Penned years after the war in Boston, this memoir is a wonderful depiction of life for freed slaves affiliated with the Union Army during the war. Taylor served as a nurse; and sometimes taught black soldiers the beginnings of reading and writing.