Federal Allies

Soldiers were learning the effects of slavery on a new level -- from the plight of men and women whom they knew and respected personally. This was a community, moreover, whose ranks included the most successful black freedom fighters in U.S. history, African Americans who took visible pride in their tradition of rebellion. For the white soldiers, working with them must have been a transformation. Union soldiers would undergo a similar experience two decades later, as they sheltered fugitive slaves and gained new respect for their black comrades-in-arms.