At Milliken’s Bend, Louisiana, a Union force composed predominantly of former slaves met their Confederate adversaries in one of the bloodiest small engagements of the war. This important fight received some attention in the North and South but soon drifted into obscurity. In Milliken’s Bend, Linda Barnickel uncovers the story of this long-forgotten and highly controversial battle. The fighting at Milliken’s Bend occurred in June 1863, about fifteen miles north of Vicksburg on the west bank of the Mississippi River, where a brigade of Texas Confederates attacked a Federal outpost. Most of the Union defenders had been slaves less than two months before. The new African American recruits fought well, despite their minimal training, and Milliken’s Bend helped prove to a skeptical northern public that black men were indeed fit for combat duty. Soon after the battle, accusations swirled that Confederates had executed some prisoners taken from the “Colored Troops.” The charges eventually led to a congressional investigation and contributed to the suspension of prisoner exchanges between the North and South. Barnickel’s compelling and comprehensive account of the battle illuminates not only the immense complexity of the events that transpired in northeastern Louisiana during the Vicksburg Campaign but also the implications of Milliken’s Bend upon the war as a whole. The battle contributed to southerner’s increasing fears of slave insurrection and heightened their anxieties about emancipation. In the North, it helped foster a commitment to allow free blacks and former slaves to take part in the war to end slavery. And for African Americans, both free and enslaved, Milliken’s Bend symbolized their never-ending struggle for freedom.
War Experiences and the Story of the Vicksburg Campaign From "Milliken's Bend" to July 4, 1863: Being an Accurate and...
Did you know that Milliken's Bend was an unknown battle of the American Civil War? It was the final victory for the Vicksburg campaign at the end of March of 1863.
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War Experiences and the Story of the Vicksburg Campaign from 'Milliken's Bend' to July 4, 1863 Being an Accurate and...
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public...
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.
Excerpt from War Experiences and the Story of the Vicksburg Campaign From Milliken's Bend to July 4, 1863; Being an Accurate and Graphic Account of Campaign Events Taken From the...
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the...
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the...