Books for the Civil War Buff in Your Life

Cincinnati played a large part in creatng a refuge for escaped salaves and in the Underground Railroad movement.

Nearly a century after the American Revolution, the waters of the Ohio River provided a real and complex barrier for the United States to navigate. While this waterway was a symbol of freedom and equality for thousands of enslaved black Americans who had escaped from the horrible institution of enslavement, the Ohio River was also used to transport thousands of slaves down the river to the Deep South. Due to Cincinnati's location on the banks of the river, the city's economy was tied to the slave society in the South. However, a special cadre of individuals became very active in the quest for freedom undertaken by African American fugitives on their journeys to the North. Thanks to spearheading by this group of Cincinnatian trailblazers, the ""Queen City"" became a primary destination on the Underground Railroad, the first multiethnic, multiracial, multiclass human-rights movement in the history of the United States.

In 1863, the Union was unable to adequately fill its black regiments. In an attempt to remedy that, Colonel James Montgomery led a raid up the Combahee River on June 2 to gather recruits and punish the plantations. Aiding him was an expert at freeing slaves--famed abolitionist Harriet Tubman. The remarkable effort successfully rescued about 750 enslaved men, women and children. Only one soldier was killed in the action, which marked a strategy shift in the war that took the fight to civilians. Join author Jeff W. Grigg as he details the fascinating true story that became a legend.

Winston-Salem was created in 1913 when the City of Winston and the Town of Salem merged. Salem was established in 1766 by the Moravian Church as a devout religious community. The county seat of Winston was formed out of Salem in 1849. African Americans had no voice in the consolidation; however, these descendants of slaves built a legacy in a "separate and unequal" municipality in the 20th century. The thriving tobacco industry delivered swift progress for African Americans in the Twin City, placing them on the level of the "Black Wall Street" cities in the South. Slater Industrial Academy (now Winston-Salem State University) provided the educational foundation. WAAA radio gave the community an active voice in 1950. Winston-Salem's African American Legacy showcases the significant contributions through the lens of the city's historical cultural institutions.

Because of its clandestine nature, much of the history of the Underground Railroad remains shrouded in secrecy--so much so that some historians have even doubted its importance. After decades of research, Tom Calarco recounts his experiences compiling evidence to give credence to the legend's oral history in upstate New York. As the Civil War loomed and politicians from the North and South debated the fate of slavery, brave New Yorkers risked their lives to help fugitive slaves escape bondage. Whites and blacks alike worked together on the Underground Railroad, using ingenious methods of communication and tactics to stay ahead of the slave master and bounty hunter. Especially after the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act, conscientious residents doubled their efforts to help runaways reach Canada. Join Calarco on this journey of discovery of one of the noblest endeavors in American history.

A part of the Underground Railroad, read here of enslaved people and their stories of using Virginia's waterways to achieve freedom.

Enslaved Virginians sought freedom from the time they were first brought to the Jamestown colony in 1619. Acts of self-emancipation were aided by Virginia's waterways, which became part of the network of the Underground Railroad in the years before the Civil War. Watermen willing to help escaped slaves made eighteenth-century Norfolk a haven for freedom seekers. Famous nineteenth-century escapees like Shadrack Minkins and Henry "Box" Brown were aided by the Underground Railroad. Enslaved men like Henry Lewey, known as Bluebeard, aided freedom seekers as conductors, and black and white sympathizers acted as station masters. Historian Cassandra Newby-Alexander narrates the ways that enslaved people used Virginia's waterways to achieve humanity's dream of freedom.

Much like the rest of the nation, South Central Pennsylvania struggled with slavery. The institution lingered locally for more than fifty years, although it was virtually extinct everywhere else within Pennsylvania.

Gradually, anti-slavery views prevailed. The Appalachian Mountains and the Susquehanna River provided natural cover for fleeing slaves, causing an influx of travel along the Underground Railroad. Locals like William Wright and James McAllister assisted these runaways while publicly advocating to abolish slavery. Historian Cooper Wingert reveals the struggles between slavery and abolition in South Central Pennsylvania.

Washington County Underground Railroad explores Underground Railroad activity in southeastern Ohio using rare photographs, maps, documents, newspaper clippings, and historical research. Starting with the first fugitive slave escape routes, this book travels along the Underground Railroad lines into the stations, documenting the experience of the brave slaves fleeing for freedom and those who risked their lives to help them. Veterans of the War of 1812 helped establish the Underground Railroad in the Washington County area and assisted in this secret and dangerous operation for 50 years. Within these pages, authors Henry Robert Burke and Charles Hart Fogle uncover substantial aspects of this remarkable episode in American history-details that were hidden or simply left to words, until now.

Quaker safe houses and freed slave communities were a fixture in North Carolina. The Coffin family in Greensboro helped develop safe zones and houses on the Underground Railroad in the 1800s. In the east, networks of freedmen and sympathizers aided slaves, hiding in remote locations such as the Dismal Swamp. In coastal towns like New Bern and Wilmington, slaves were secreted aboard ships in search of freedom along maritime routes. Authors Tim Allen and Steve Miller use harrowing firsthand accounts to investigate how African Americans escaped oppression in a dark chapter of Tarheel State history.

Discover Long Island's pivotal role in the Underground Railroad and the stories of the brave men and women whose legacy lives on today.

From the arrival of the Quakers in the seventeenth century to the enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation, Long Island played an important role in the Underground Railroad's work to guide slaves to freedom. In Old Westbury, the Post family established a major stop on the freedom trail with the help of an escaped Virginia slave. In Jericho, families helped escaping slaves to freedom from the present-day Maine Maid Inn. Elias Hicks helped free 191 slaves himself and worked to create Underground Railroad safe houses in many northeastern cities. Some former slaves even established permanent communities across the island. Visit the safe houses--many of which are still standing today--and explore the journey of runaway slaves on Long Island.

In Union County, New Jersey, many soldiers and sailors of African ancestry answered President Lincoln's call for troops during the Civil War and enlisted in regiments organized in Union County, the United States Colored Troops (USCT), out of-state-regiments and the United States Navy and Marine Corps. ¬They fought not only for country but also for their comrades in chains in the South and for the promise of equality that they had for so long been denied. ¬ rough their stories, never-before-seen photographs, documents and service records, local historian Ethel M. Washington tells a largely overlooked but riveting history of patriotic black servicemen in the North who defended the nation's ideals on the battle field even as they faced discrimination in the ranks and back home.

Through a fascinating narrative and stunning vintage photographs, readers will discover the struggles and triumphs of the African Americans of Hampton Roads.

It was in Hampton Roads, Virginia, that hundreds gained their freedom. The teeming wharves were once a major station on the Underground Railroad, and during the Civil War, escaped slaves such as Shepard Mallory, Frank Baker and James Townsend fled to Fort Monroe to become contrabands under the protection of General Benjamin Butler. Upon arrival in the region, many took up arms for the Union, and the valiant deeds of some placed them among the first African American Medal of Honor recipients. Join Professor Cassandra L. Newby-Alexander as she charts the history of this remarkable African American community from the Civil War to Reconstruction.