'Before Petersburg' illustration   Save
National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center
Description: Illustration from "The Black Phalanx: A History of the Negro Soldiers of the United States in the Wars of 1775-1812, 1861-'65" by Joseph T. Wilson. Caption reads; "Phalanx soldiers, under a flag of truce, burying their dead after one of the terrible battles before Petersburg." ALTERNATE TEXT: Groups of African American soldiers work in a large open field. Men to the right use pickaxes to dig into the ground, creating a mass grave. Other men are carrying bodies to be laid in the grave. To the left of the scene, more bodies are laid in a row in preparation for their burial. Towards the middle of the scene, soldiers stand holding guns and one has a flag. There is no action in this scene, as hundreds of men in the background are standing around watching the burials. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: blackphalanx_54
Subjects: African American soldiers; African American men; Civil War 1861-1865
Places: National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center