Image from the Emancipation Proclamation America's reconstruction: Peoples and Politics After the Civil War
Emancipation Black Soldiers Rehearsal for Reconstruction A New Birth of Freedom: Reconstruction During the Civil War

Battery A. 2nd U.S. Colored Artillery, Army of the Cumberland, c. 1863

Battery A. 2nd U.S. Colored Artillery,
Army of the Cumberland, c. 1863.
(Chicago Historical Society)

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Members of the 2nd U. S. Colored Artillery posed for this photograph while drilling with a 12-pound Napoleon howitzer, the primary artillery weapon for the Union Army.

Black soldiers formed the load team while a white corporal, standing beside the cannon, served as the gunner and aimed the weapon.

Copyright 2003
A New Birth of Freedom: Reconstruction During the Civil War The Meaning of Freedom: Black and White Responses to Slavery From Free Labor to Slave Labor Rights and Power: The Politics of Reconstruction Introduction The Ending of Reconstruction Epilogue: The Unfinished Revolution Additional Resources Credits for this Exhibit Digital History Home