roposed that
the history of the American negro soldier should be written, that
posterity might have a fuller and more complete record of the deeds of
the negro soldiers than had been given in the numerous already published
histories of the conflicts in which they played so important a part.

The task of preparing the history fell to my lot, and it is in obedience
to the duty laid upon me by my former comrades, with whom I shared the
toils and joys of camp, march, battle and siege, that this volume, the
result of my efforts, is launched upon the sea of war literature.

Whether or not there is any merit in the work, the reader must judge.
His charity is asked, however, toward such defects as may be apparent,
and which, perhaps, might be expected in the literary work of one whose
life has been largely spent amid the darkness of the South American
countries and the isolation of the South Sea Islands. It was not until
May, 1862, while domiciled at the capitol of Chili, that I first learned
of the war in the United States, when, hastening to this country, I fell
into the ranks with the first negro soldiers that left the Touro
Building at New Orleans, in November, 1862, and marched out on the
Opelousas road, to serve in defence of the Union.

With whatever forebodings of failure I entered upon the work of
collecting the literature of the war, from which to cull and arrange
much of the matter contained herein,--which has required years of
incessant search and appeal,--I can but _feel_ that it has been
thoroughly done. The public libraries of the cities of Boston,
Cincinnati, New Bedford, New York, the War Department at Washington, and
the private libraries of several eminent citizens, have alike been made
use of by me.

It seemed proper, also, that the memory of our forefathers should not be
allowed to remain in longer obscurity; that it was fitting to recall
_their_ deeds of heroism, that all might know the sacrifices they made
for the freedom their descendants were so long denied from enjoying. In
gathering together the scattered facts relating to the negroe's
participation in the wars of 1775 and 1812, difficulties well-nigh
insurmountable have been overcome, and it has been only through patient
and persistent effort that I have been able to prepare the chapters
devoted to the early wars of the United States.

Descriptions of a number of the battles in which negro troops took part
in the late war of the Rebellion, are g