Includes bibliographical references (pages 294-326) and index.

Monash University (Australia) history professor Keith P. Wilson outlines three broad purposes in writing his new book on the camp life of the American Civil War's United States Colored Troops (USCT): "to describe the soldiers' lives ... to bring into focus the emotional texture of military life ... [and] to analyze the process of cultural change that occurred within the army camps" (xiii). Why camp life? As Wilson states, camp life helped the African-American, "divided from the mainstream of American cultural life," to "bridge this divide, and to negotiate the changes necessary to meet the demands of army life ... to reconfigure race relations and give black people a new definition ... to challenge existing notions of race and relationship." (211). In exploring these issues, Wilson achieves his purposes quite well.

"Three related themes are examined in this fascinating study: the social dynamics of race relations in Union Army camps, the relationship that evolved between Southern and Northern black soldiers, and the role off-duty activities played in helping the soldiers meet the demands of military service and the challenges of freedom. By vividly portraying the soldiers' camp life and by carefully analyzing their collective memory, the author sets the camp experience in the broader context of social and political change.--Publisher's description.

SACFinal081324