4 The war continues, 1862–1864
The soldiers of Company E, 4th U.S. Colored Infantry. After the Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves in Union-occupied territory, African Americans in both North and South joined the Union army. About the photograph
Most people on both sides had expected a quick war, but by 1862 it was clear the war would continue for years and take a terrible cost. The entire Confederacy, as well as Maryland and Pennsylvania, saw bloody battles. In North Carolina, a battalion of Cherokees served the Confederacy, while in the east, enslaved African Americans escaped to Union lines, were freed, and joined the U.S. Army. Blockade runners dodged Union ships to bring needed supplies and luxury items to the port of Wilmington. In this chapter, we’ll follow the middle years of the war through the experiences of North Carolinians of all backgrounds.
- 4.1North Carolina as a Civil War battlefield, May 1862–November 1864
- 4.2The Raleigh Standard protests conscription
- 4.3Running the blockade
- 4.4Cargo manifests of Confederate blockade runners
- 4.5Freed people at New Bern
- 4.6The Emancipation Proclamation
- 4.7Iowa Royster on the march into Pennsylvania
- 4.8The Battle of Gettysburg
- 4.9African American soldiers
- 4.10The Thomas Legion
- 4.11The capture of Plymouth
- 4.12Civil War casualties
