Black Soldiers of New York State

Anthony Gero, author of the new SUNY Press book Black Soldiers of New York State: A Proud Legacy, spoke about his work and signed copies of the book on Sunday, February 22 at the Cayuga Museum in Auburn, New York. Gero, a Fellow of the Company of Military Historians, worked more than ten years on the research for the book, trying to answer the basic question of why these African-Americans would serve a country that denied them the full rights of citizenship. “It is essentially a book about dreams,” said Gero. He also includes this quote from Martin Luther King Jr. in the book, which provides further insight: “If a man hasn’t discovered something he would die for, he isn’t fit to live.”

It was fitting to hold the event at the museum, as Cayuga County, with documented African-American veterans from the Civil War on, is mentioned frequently in the book. Black Soldiers of New York State is now available at our website, and if you're in Auburn, you can pick up a copy at the Cayuga Museum.

A Proud Legacy

Today's featured title in our celebration of Black History Month is Black Soldiers of New York State. Military historian Anthony F. Gero examines the history of the valiant service of New York’s African American soldiers. Gero tells of their two centuries of struggle and triumph, beginning with the French and Indian War and continuing until 1950, when the U.S. Army and New York’s National Guard became integrated.

Learn more at our website about this important part of our state's and our nation's history, largely untold until now.

D. Reid Ross in the Denver Post

Durango, Colorado resident and Lincoln's Veteran Volunteers Win the War author D. Reid Ross was interviewed in yesterday's Denver Post. Read the interview here.

Ross will be speaking at a series of upcoming events, all in the greater Boston area.

Saturday, February 14

The Lincoln Group

Bridgewater, MA

Monday, February 16

Cape Cod Civil War Roundtable

Yarmouth, MA

Thursday, February 19

Civil War Roundtable of Greater Boston

Waltham, MA

Lincoln's Veteran Volunteers Win the War

With this Thursday, February 12th marking the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth, now is an appropriate time to read our new book, Lincoln's Veteran Volunteers Win the War. The book chronicles the Civil War experiences of four brothers from New York’s Hudson Valley. Author D. Reid Ross (grandson of one of the brothers) provides vivid descriptions of soldiers’ attitudes toward President Lincoln and emancipation, courage and performance on the battlefield, the hardships of army life, the role of the Veteran Volunteers, and the Grand Review in Washington, D.C. after the end of the war.

Edwin C. Bearss, author of Fields of Honor: Pivotal Battles of the Civil War, said the book is a “A major breakthrough in Civil War history.”

D. Reid Ross is a retired urban planner and family historian and has published many articles on the American Civil War and his family’s history. The book was a true labor of love, for which Ross spent three decades researching. During that time he visited more than one hundred libraries, pored over hundreds of manuscript collections, and read more than one thousand Civil War and other historical publications, personal memoirs, diaries, and letters. Ross will participate in a number of celebratory events organized by the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission.

For more on the journey that Ross took to research and write this highly personal book, read this interview with the author.

Explore the website for the Civil War Preservation Trust, where you can find links to a number of Civil War blogs and online communities.

Also check out the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission site for a comprehensive compendium of Lincoln bicentennial information and events.