Soldiers from Fayette County, Pennsylvania, Who Served in United States Colored Troops Regiments in the Civil War

Soldiers from Fayette County, Pennsylvania, Who Served in United States Colored Troops Regiments in the Civil War by Ronald D. Palmer* s INCE THE RELEASE of the motion picture Glory, Americans have developed a new appreciation for the role of African-American sol¬ diers in the Civil War, When the Emancipation Proclamation, issued by President Lincoln on 1 January 1863, allowed the recruitment of blacks for combat duty, Pennsylvania was slow to enlist black volunteers. A month later, in contrast to the policy of Pennsylvania Governor Curtin, Massachusetts Governor Andrew initiated the recruitment of a Massa¬ chusetts Volunteer Regiment of blacks. The regiment was filled out and trained by April of 1863. Pennsylvania blacks volunteered eagerly to serve with this initial Massachusetts regiment, which was designated the 54th Massachusetts Volunteers, and there were enough enlistees to *Editor's note: Born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, the author received a B.A. in French and Economics from Howard University. Following a Fulbright Scholarship to France, he continued studies at Johns Hopkins University, where he received an M.A. from the School of Advanced International Studies. During his thirty-two-year career in the Foreign Service, Palmer served as Ambassador to Togo ( 1976-1978 ), Ambassador to Malaysia (1981-1983 ), and Ambassador to Mauritius ( 1986-1989). His retirement in 1989 presented the opportu¬ nity to pursue an academic career. He joined the George Washington University , Washington, D.C., in March of 1990 as Baker Professor and Diplomatic Consultant-in-Residence, and became Professor of the Practice of International Affairs in June, 1996. In 1997 he was nominated for the GW Teacher of the Year Award. Author of Building ASEAN: 20 Years of Southeast Asian Cooporation (NY: Praeger, 1987), Palmer also writes extensively on foreign affairs as well as local history and genealogy. 120