Book Review - Nineteenth Century Freedom Fighters

REVIEW

NINETEENTH CENTURY FREEDOM FIGHTERS
First South Carolina Volunteers

By Tony Dorty

"The day dawns; the morning star is bright upon the horizon! The iron gate of our
prison stands half open. One gallant rush from the North will fling it wide open,
while four millions of our brothers and sisters shall march out into liberty."

Frederick Douglass, "Men of Color, To Arms!" Douglass Monthly, March 21, 1863

Black men and Boys from the coastal wetlands and islands off the South Carolina
coast were the first to place their strong, dark calloused hands and backs against
this "Iron Gate" that Frederick Douglass speaks of. They were not the last as the
Iron Gate stands wide open now, for others following in the wake of the 1st South
Carolina Volunteers have further pushed it aside. What the 1st South Carolina
began, the Long Sable Line of the Valiant fought to finish. Yet, as time has passed
and history is renewed and rewritten, somewhere within its pages the exploits of
those First Colored Volunteers began to fade, like the sun beneath the horizon.
Perhaps lost in the exploits and dust stirred up by those who followed.

In a new study, magnificently written and researched by Bennie J. McRae Jr.,
co-authored by the late Curtis M. Miller with his wife Cheryl Trowbridge-Miller,
"Nineteenth Century Freedom Fighters, The 1st South Carolina Volunteers", these
first Colored volunteers stand before us once again to tell us of the beginning of
that "Gallant Rush". On the cover of this volume is an image of a young Black
Soldier sitting on the side rail of a tent. The photograph is haunting, yet
captivating. His gaze draws you near his serious demeanor is softened by a slight
smile. He begins to speak to us through the book's authors once we have turned the
first page. Not a large volume only 127 pages still not one single page is wasted.
The vast knowledge one gains within its pages ensures this book will not only be a
library favorite, but a classic among historians, lay historians and those who have
a love for history. It is lavishly illustrated with images familiar to us and some
perhaps seen for the first time. Most interesting is that the volume is not the
domain of adult readers. It is extremely easy to read. Young readers from middle
school through high school can fully comprehend the information within its pages. I
highly recommend this volume be incorporated into the social studies and history
curriculums of middle and high schools.

With time the Iron Gate has rusted, perhaps off its hinges and over grown with weeds
yet it still stands.  The swath that ran through it is trodden down by thousands of
feet. The grass stopped growing with the first company of the 1st South Carolina
that rushed through that gate. This Colored vanguard long obscured from view, pushed
forward by a column of thousands has been re-introduced to us in the pages of this
volume, "Nineteenth Century Freedom Fighters, The 1st South Carolina Volunteers".
Any study of the conflict between the North and South and the role played by the
Black Race in that conflict is incomplete if this volume is missing from that study.