One Drop in a Sea of Blue

by Lundstrom, John B.

• ISBN13: 9780873518215
• ISBN10: 0873518217
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-08-01
• Publisher: Minnesota Historical Society Pr

Summary

Soldiers in the Union Army volunteered for many reasons-to reunite the country, to put down the southern rebellion. For most, however, slavery was a peripheral issue. Sympathy for slaves often came only after the soldiers actually witnessed their plight. In November 1863, thirty-eight men of the Minnesota Ninth Regiment responded to a fugitive slave's desperate plea by holding a train at gunpoint and liberating his wife, five children, and three other family members who were being shipped off to be sold. But this rescue happened in Missouri, where Union soldiers had firm orders not to interfere with loyal slaveholders. Charged with mutiny, the Minnesotans were confined for two months without being tried. Their case was even debated in the U.S. Senate. This remarkable and unprecedented incident remains virtually unknown today. One Drop in a Sea of Blueis the story of these thirty-eight Liberators and of the Ninth Minnesota through the entire Civil War. After a humiliating defeat at Brice's Crossroads, Mississippi, many were held at Andersonville and other notorious Confederate prisons, where the Ninth Minnesota as a whole suffered a death rate exceeding 60 percent. Yet the regiment also helped destroy the Confederate Army of Tennessee at Nashville and capture Mobile. In August 1865, when the Ninth Minnesota was mustered out, only fourteen Liberators stood in its ranks. With vital details won through assiduous research, John Lundstrom uncovers the true stories of ordinary men who lived and died in extraordinary times. John B. Lundstrom, curator emeritus of history at the Milwaukee Public Museum, is the award-winning author of Black Shoe Carrier Admiraland four other books of military history.

Author Biography

John B. Lundstrom, curator emeritus of history at the Milwaukee Public Museum, is the award-winning author of Black Shoe Carrier Admiral and four other books of military history.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. 3
We Are Coming, Father Abraham	p. 7
In the Land of Secesh	p. 26
The Outrage at Otterville	p. 43
An Act of Humanity	p. 69
From Missouri to Memphis	p. 96
An Easy Happy-Go-Luck Kind of March	p. 108
The Battle of Brice's Crossroads (I)	p. 125
The Battle of Brice's Crossroads (II)	p. 153
Our Poor Exhausted, Foot Sore Boys!	p. 180
Picking Up the Pieces	p. 206
Lost in the Confederacy	p. 215
Andersonville (I)	p. 233
Andersonville (II)	p. 266
Spreading the Misery	p. 294
With Smith's Guerrillas	p. 310
Back to God's Country	p. 325
Andersonville (III) and Cahaba	p. 342
The War Is Won	p. 355
Coming Home	p. 374
After the War	p. 392
Conclusion Drops in the Sea of Blue	p. 407
Acknowledgments	p. 411
Appendix The Liberators	p. 415
Notes	p. 421
Bibliography	p. 465
Index	p. 481
Image Credits	p. 501
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