Includes bibliographical references (pages 339-359) and index.

Against the tumultuous background of military combat, racial conflict, and struggle for national survival, this book brings to life the story and extraordinary performance of The United States Colored Troops on the battlefields of the Civil War. One hundred and eighty thousand African-Americans, enslaved in the South, discriminated against in the North, and widely regarded as inferior in both sections, became soldiers in the Union Army in a bold experiment born of necessity.

"Sixteen months after the start of the American Civil War, the Federal government, having vastly underestimated the length and manpower demands of the war, began to recruit black soldiers. This revolutionary policy gave 180,000 free blacks and former slaves the opportunity to prove themselves on the battlefield as part of the United States Colored Troops. By the end of the war, 37,000 in their ranks had given their lives for the cause of freedom. In Forged in Battle ... Joseph T. Glatthaar re-creates the events that gave these troops and their 7,000 white officers justifiable pride in their contributions to the Union victory and hope of equality in the years to come. Unfortunately, as Glatthaar poignantly demonstrates, memory of the United States Colored Troops' heroic sacrifices soon faded behind the prejudice that would plague the armed forces for another century"--From Amazon.com (paperback edition).

Society for Military History Distinguished Book Award, 1992.

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