Date of Award

8-16-2024

Document Type

Open Access Thesis

Department

History

First Advisor

Valinda Littlefield

Abstract

For the almost two thousand black Union veterans living in South Carolina following the end of the Civil War, the formation of robust social networks, particularly those composed of fellow veterans, would be the key to sustaining themselves and public memory of their service. This was especially true for the veterans of the 35th US Colored Troops (USCT), formerly the 1st North Carolina Colored Volunteers, who settled in smaller rural communities throughout the South Carolina Lowcountry. Establishing social networks through marriage, forming local veteran support systems and initiating local celebrations were just some of the ways that out-of-state USCT veterans sought to integrate themselves into their new communities and establish a local legacy.

Black Union veterans in South Carolina increasingly found themselves in a losing battle with Confederate veterans over the war for public memory, such as in the case of veterans of Company K, 35th USCT who settled in the small town of Walterboro, the county seat of Colleton County, in 1866. The inability of these veterans to establish lasting institutions to preserve their legacy, alongside the growing domination of Confederate veteran organizations and the triumph of the Lost Cause narrative, ultimately led to a loss of public memory of black Union veterans by the early twentieth century. Case studies such as this one are integral to understanding the regional and national importance of the South’s black Union veterans, as well as helping to restore public memory of these veterans and their service to communities in the twenty-first century.

Rights

© 2024, Elizabeth L Laney

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