1864 Political Cartoon of Black Confederate Soldiers

The cartoon, titled Impetuous Charge of the First Colored Rebel Regiment, shows the men running towards the battle lines and saying things like "We's free, " and Here we comes Massa. Black military history in the Confederacy goes back to the 1st Louisiana Native Guard, a group that became the first official black regiment in the Confederate Army.

The Guard was formed when Louisiana Governor Thomas Overton Moore accepted into the state militia a regiment of approximately 1,100 free African American men.

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