The Forty-Third Regiment United States Colored Troops

Published in 1866, this is among the earliest full-length accounts documenting the service and sacrifice of African American soldiers during the American Civil War. Mickley, himself a veteran, provides detailed military history of the 43rd Regiment United States Colored Troops, following their formation through key engagements including the pivotal Capture of Richmond. But this is more than a regiment's battlefield record. Written while the war's wounds remain fresh and Reconstruction begins, the text mounts a passionate, deliberate argument against the prevailing biases that had questioned whether Black men could possess the discipline, intelligence, and courage worthy of military service. The book includes biographical sketches of white officers like Brevet Brigadier General S. B. Yeoman, but its true subject is the soldiers themselves, whose labor and valor the author insists on recording for posterity. Mickley writes not merely to commemorate but to claim space for these men in the nation's memory, arguing through documented evidence that their contribution to the Union cause was indispensable. Today, the work stands as a vital primary source for understanding how Black soldiers experienced the Civil War and what that service meant for the ongoing struggle for citizenship and recognition.