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Wilson's Wharf was the first major clash between U.S. Colored Troops and the Army of Northern Virginia. The 1st and 10th USCT infantry regiments, supported by two cannon and two U.S. Navy gunboats, faced 11 detachments of veteran Confederate cavalry who were under orders to "kill every man." Union commander General Edward Wild, a one-armed abolitionist, refused General Fitzhugh Lee's demand for surrender, telling Lee to "go to Hell." The battle resulted in a victory for the mainly black Union force.
This book describes the action in detail and in the larger context of the history of black U.S. servicemen, including the British recruitment of runaway slaves during the Revolutionary War, the black Colonial Marines who joined the British in torching Washington in the War of 1812, and the South's attempts to enlist slaves in the final months of the Civil War.
List of contents
Table of ContentsPreface
Prelude: The Significance of the Emancipation Proclamation
I. delete¿ The Commanders at Wilson's Wharf: A Massachusetts
Physician-Soldier vs. a Virginia Professional Soldier
II. delete¿The Federal and Confederate Units That Fought
III. delete The James River Campaign: Strategy, Preparations
and Movement; Rebel Orders Regarding Captured
U.S. Colored Troops' Officers and Enlisted Men
IV. delete Wild and His U.S. Colored Troops Create a Stir
in Charles City County
V. delete¿The Land-Naval "Action at Wilson's Wharf"
VI. deleteConflicting Casualty Reports: Federal Casualties
Incomplete; Confederate Losses Covered
by Fitzhugh Lee and Richmond Papers
VII.¿ Covering Up a Dismal Confederate Failure
VIII.¿United States Colored Troops, Black Sailors
and Black Confederates
IX. deleteFort Pocahontas, June 1864-June 1865
X. delete¿Rediscovery and Preservation of Fort Pocahontas
Appendix A:¿Federal and Confederate Casualties at Wilson's Wharf
Appendix B:¿Casualties At or Near Wilson's Wharf-Fort Pocahontas During 5 May 1864-June 1865
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the author
The late Edwin W. Besch was wounded commanding a U.S. Marine Corps rifle company in Vietnam in 1966 and was a CIA analyst at the U.S. Embassy in Saigon during 1971-73. He was the author or coauthor of 14 intelligence studies, more than 300 reports, and 100+ professional journal articles on military topics. He lived in Mobile, Alabama.
