[4], [ix]-xvi, 353 + 12 ad pp. Wood-engraved frontispiece portrait of the author; 1 plate depicting medals. 8x5, original pictorial cloth in gilt & colors. First Edition.

Important work on African-American soldiers in the American Civil War, called by Nevins "the best of the first three full-length studies of the subject; anecdotal, detailed, heavy with official reports..." The author, a black man, served in the Union Army, and after the war held several Federal offices and was in the Ohio legislature. He also wrote History of the Negro Race in America from 1619 to 1880.