African Americans and the Gettysburg Campaign

Gettysburg And African Americans

One of the most moving experiences I have had at Gettysburg was my visit to the Lincoln Cemetery last year. Lincoln Cemetery is off the beaten path for most visitors to the Battlefield. It is hidden in the Southwest part of town, and parking is limited and difficult. Lincoln Cemetery is an all-black burial ground established on its present site in 1864. It is the resting place for 30 African American Civil War veterans from Gettysburg as well as for many other African American residents of Gettysburg at the time of the Civil War. It is a place of quiet dignity.

In his recent book, "African Americans and the Gettysburg Campaign", James Paradis tells the story of Lincoln Cemetery and much else pertaining to the African American community at Gettysburg. Mr. Paradis is a former Licensed Battlefield Guide at Gettysburg and currently dean of the Upper Hall at St. Mary's Hall-Donne Academy in Burlington, New Jersey.

The African American presence at Gettysburg is significant and has been neglected until recent years. At the time of the Civil War, African Americans comprised about eight percent of Gettysburg's population. It was a small, self-contained and upwardly mobile community. Some of the landmarks on the Battlefield, such as the Brien house, near the center of the Pickett-Pettigrew-Trimble charge on July 3 and the remnants of the Warfield house on Warfield Ridge were owned by prominent African-Americans at the time of the battle.

Mr. Paradis's book sketches the history of African Americans at Gettysburg beginning with the founding of the town. He includes much good information on Gettysburg as a stop on the Underground Railroad and he describes some of the leading black citizens of Gettysburg at the time of the Battle. He discusses the role of African Americans in both the Northern and Southern Armies as teamsters, militiamen, and, significantly for the Union, soldiers. The book discusses the critical role African Americans played following the battle in helping to bury the dead, working on the construction of the National Park, and assisting in the development of tourism at Gettysburg. Mr Paradis also offers information on the African Americans in Gettysburg who served in the U.S. Colored Troops and on the roles they played in subsequent battles of the War.

Mr. Paradis has written a good introduction to African Americans at Gettysburg but little more. I thought the book was short and rather sketchy, leaving a great deal to be developed. There is a much fuller portrayal of African American life in Gettysburg during Civil War times in Margaret Creighton's recent book "The Colors of Courage". Kent Masterson Brown's study "Retreat from Gettysburg" is, likewise, much more detailed in describing the important role of African American teamsters, slave and free, in Lee's Army during the Gettysburg campaign. I wanted to learn more about Lincoln Cemetery than this book gave me, and there were some tantalizing hints in Mr. Paradis's work that needed further exploration. For example, Mr. Paradis mentions a small African American community named Yellow Hill, about seven miles North of Gettysburg, that existed at the time of the battle, but doesn't tell the reader much about it. I wanted to hear more. Mr. Paradis also points out that Frederick Douglass visited Gettysburg on January 25,1869 and gave a speech. There is no information on what brought Douglass to Gettysburg, where he stayed, or what he said. I was disappointed that the book didn't offer more detail. I also should note that the book is short and rather expensive.

This book taught me more than I knew about African Americans in Gettysburg and will serve as an introduction to the subject for new readers. Many of the photographs in the book are excellent and not otherwise readily accessible. The book addresses an underexplored subject, and it will remind the reader of the causes which led to the Civil War and of President Lincoln's reshaping of American democracy at Gettysburg. But in spite of its virtues, this book is little more than an overview and does not do full justice to its subject.

Robin Friedman