In Jan, 1863, the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry was born, the first and most famous Black regiment of the U.S. Civil War. This is the memoir of John W. M. Appleton, a white officer of Company A. "Appleton wrote candidly about his own experiences, providing a fresh perspective on the men and the regiment as they fought to abolish slavery in the United States."

The memoir is formed from Appleton's letters to his wife, with whom he appears to have an honest, open and loving relationship with. As his men enter the Deep South, they encounter a lack of food and clean water, fleas and all manner of extreme weather. He keeps his personal complaints to a minimum, preferring to steer the narrative towards the other officers and his "beautiful men of war."

I hesitate to say that Appleton supported true Black equality as we understand it, but he is certainly an adamant abolitionist. He hopes the War will not end in compromise, as they must fight until "Slavery is impossible." He beams with pride to see his men "whip" white Rebels and shake hands with white Union soldiers. They are not novelties for civilians to gawk at, a practice that disgusts him as much as unequal pay.

I will not put a rating on Instagram because this is a primary source, not meant for entertainment value. That being said, I applaud editors Jewell and Van Sickle, and of course John Appleton, for providing a thoroughly engrossing and sincere account of the 54th Massachusetts. Appleton's honest descriptions of fellow officers, esp. Lieut. Montgomery - a veteran of "Bloody Kansas" a la John Brown -, are very different than Hollywood's "Glory" portrays . This work is not only significant historically but thanks to Appleton's humble optimism and defiant dedication to his troops, it holds up remarkably well for the modern reader.

I wanted to read this book because I live in Massachusetts and familiar with the history but I did not know much about the 54th.
This book was very well researched and written. It’s very clear that the author took a lot of of time with this book. It wasn’t rushed like other history books that I have read.
As with all history, parts of it were a little dry, but that was just the history. It wasn’t made more interesting with made up information.