Campfires of freedom
Subtitle: the camp life of Black soldiers during the Civil War
By: Keith P. Wilson.
Publisher: Kent State University Press
Published: 2002
Place of publication: Kent, [Ohio]
Language: eng
Number of pages: 336
Subjects: United States. Army -- Military life -- History -- 19th century.; African American soldiers -- History -- 19th century.; African American soldiers -- Social conditions -- 19th century.; United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Participation, African American.; United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Social aspects.
Other titles: Campfires of freedom
Description: Monash University (Australia) history professor Keith P. Wilson outlines three broad purposes in writing his new book on the camp life of the American Civil War's United States Colored Troops (USCT): "to describe the soldiers' lives ... to bring into focus the emotional texture of military life ... [and] to analyze the process of cultural change that occurred within the army camps" (xiii). Why camp life? As Wilson states, camp life helped the African-American, "divided from the mainstream of American cultural life," to "bridge this divide, and to negotiate the changes necessary to meet the demands of army life ... to reconfigure race relations and give black people a new definition ... to challenge existing notions of race and relationship." (211). In exploring these issues, Wilson achieves his purposes quite well.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 294-326) and index.