REJOICING IN RICHMOND 1865
Black troops were the first to enter the city of Richmond as as liberators and conquerors on April 3, 1865, after that Capitol of the Confederate States of America (CSA) fell by force of arms. Those first entering were the 36th United States Colored Troops (USCT) Regt., 1st Brigade, 1 Division, 25th Army Corps, under the command of Brevet Brigadier General Draper. Needless to say, no triumphal entry into any city on earth, anywhere at any time in recorded history, had ever matched the massive, overwhelming eruptions of of joy, song, praise, and celebration! (LIKE MEN OF WAR: BLACK TROOPS IN THE CIVIL WAR 1862-1965 by Noah Andre Trudeau (1998), p. 422-424)
Having so long, vainly sought to gain their freedom, only to meet disappointments in 1800, when free man Gabriel Prosser's intricate plot was betrayed, and again in 1831, when slave, Prophet Nat Turner's rampage was defeated; this time, this decisive third time, the heavens burst, their chains broke, and the walls came tumbling down!
Neither Emperor Julius Caesar's triumphal entries into Rome, nor Savior Jesus Christ's palm-strewn entry into Jerusalem, was so loudly, so fervently, acclaimed as that voiced by those teeming thousands upon thousands of former black slaves who now streamed into the streets from every quarter, from every direction dancing, praising God, thanking these black troops as heroes and praising "Masta Lincoln" the Commander in Chief, for their divine deliverance to Freedom!
Black troops were the first to enter the city of Richmond as as liberators and conquerors on April 3, 1865, after that Capitol of the Confederate States of America (CSA) fell by force of arms. Those first entering were the 36th United States Colored Troops (USCT) Regt., 1st Brigade, 1 Division, 25th Army Corps, under the command of Brevet Brigadier General Draper. Needless to say, no triumphal entry into any city on earth, anywhere at any time in recorded history, had ever matched the massive, overwhelming eruptions of of joy, song, praise, and celebration! (LIKE MEN OF WAR: BLACK TROOPS IN THE CIVIL WAR 1862-1965 by Noah Andre Trudeau (1998), p. 422-424)
Having so long, vainly sought to gain their freedom, only to meet disappointments in 1800, when free man Gabriel Prosser's intricate plot was betrayed, and again in 1831, when slave, Prophet Nat Turner's rampage was defeated; this time, this decisive third time, the heavens burst, their chains broke, and the walls came tumbling down!
Neither Emperor Julius Caesar's triumphal entries into Rome, nor Savior Jesus Christ's palm-strewn entry into Jerusalem, was so loudly, so fervently, acclaimed as that voiced by those teeming thousands upon thousands of former black slaves who now streamed into the streets from every quarter, from every direction dancing, praising God, thanking these black troops as heroes and praising "Masta Lincoln" the Commander in Chief, for their divine deliverance to Freedom!
