New Bern, NC's "Remembering the War" Features Role of Black Soldiers

From the May 7th New Bern Sun-Journal.

Most history texts give little information about the role blacks played in the Civil War. The Civil War Days program in New Bern over this past weekend featured a three-day US Colored Troops National Symposium. Members of the US Colored Troops Living History Association from all across the country were expected to attend as well.

Han Jones, curator of the African American Civil War Memorial in Washington, DC, was one of the scheduled speakers. He has done extensive research on military intelligence in Eastern North Carolina, much of it from blacks which led to Federal successes in the area.

Also, David Cecelski, author of a book on Abraham Galloway, a Wilmington-native who later lived in New Bern. he was a fugitive slave and considered a top black Union spy in the Civil War. he fought at Harper's Ferry with John Brown and also spent time in Haiti. Galloway was also instrumental in the formation of the First African Brigade and the 5th Ohio.

An Under-Reported Aspect of the War. --Old B-Runner