Abraham Lincoln - Black Men in Lincoln Blue

Soldiers, you have lady friends in Cleveland

The Anglo-African, September 3, 1865

SOLDIERS, YOU HAVE LADY FRIENDS IN CLEVELAND

CLEVELAND, O., August, 1865.

DEAR EDITOR: Permit me to make your excellent paper the medium of giving credit to the ladies of the Cleveland Soldiers Aid Society, with a semi-annual report of their labors. I hope that you had not drawn the conclusion that silence indicated a relaxation in the great work they began for the welfare of the soldiers; but rather, I shall frankly acknowledge, remissness on my part in writing to you, for which I am exceedingly sorry, and fear that the imperfectness of my report will subject me to the severest reprimanding I have ever received from that sex, within the bounds of my recollection.… Read more

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A Mother Writes to Abraham Lincoln

On December 7, 1864, Alcia Bass wrote to Abraham Lincoln. The distraught mother was concerned about her son, Armor, who served in the 27th USCT. She wrote to the president that her son “was underage and ran away from me,” and that she “would give him up freely” but he was also ill with consumption.

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To read more about “underage” enlistments, families at home, and the post-war lives of men from the 27th USCT, see For Their Own Cause: The 27th United States Colored Troops, The Kent State University Press, 2016.… Read more