By May, the United States War Department had created the Bureau of Colored Troops. The bureau’s chief responsibility was to oversee the efforts of the new mostly Black, but also Native American, Asian, and Pacific Islander, soldiers known as the United States Colored Troops.    

Comprised of 175 regiments, the USCT fought with valor in every major Union Army military battle during the last two years of the Civil War including the Battle of Nashville, Battle of Chickamauga, Siege of Vicksburg, and the Battle of Appomattox Court House.    

Atlanta History Center is home to one of the nation’s most comprehensive collections of Civil War memorabilia including a growing number of rare objects identified specifically with African American USCT soldiers and regiments such as a canteen, swords, a rifle, brass drum, knapsack, Bible, badges, a Medal of Honor, and a USCT flag. Atlanta History Center Historian Gordon Jones examines and discusses the history of some of these artifacts in the series of videos in this online exhibition.