b&w photo of same man, combed hair and beard, facing forward, shirt on with right side exposed to show amputated arm

Beneath His Shirt Sleeves: Evidence of Injury

Tintype Images of Wounded Civil War Union Soldiers from Pension Application Files in the U.S. National Archives **Please note that the following post contains graphic images that may be disturbing to some readers.** This is an excerpt from two posts about personal tintype images of wounded soldiers in the Civil War Pension Application Files from … Continue reading Beneath His Shirt Sleeves: Evidence of Injury

African American Seamen of the Antebellum Era: Using Seamen’s Protection Certificates to Document Early Black Mariners

During the Civil War, approximately 17,000 men of African heritage served in the Union Navy.  As noted by historian Joseph P. Reidy, this number represented approximately 20 percent of the enlisted men in the U.S. Navy at that time, which was “nearly double the proportion of black soldiers who served in the U.S. Army during … Continue reading African American Seamen of the Antebellum Era: Using Seamen’s Protection Certificates to Document Early Black Mariners