{"id":109,"date":"2011-02-02T04:30:49","date_gmt":"2011-02-02T04:30:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/mobile-tour\/?p=109"},"modified":"2019-09-03T19:09:21","modified_gmt":"2019-09-03T19:09:21","slug":"us-colored-troops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/carlisle\/us-colored-troops\/","title":{"rendered":"Remembering Black Union Troops"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nBlack men from Carlisle and throughout the Cumberland Valley served in the Union army between 1863 and 1865 mostly enrolled in the federal regiments of the United States Colored Troops (USCT)<\/a>.\u00a0 Overall, more than 180,000 blacks served in the federal army.\u00a0 Confederates never employed blacks as troops but they did use slaves to support their armies, including thousands who came along during the 1863 invasion of Pennsylvania.\u00a0 About thirty-five former USCT veterans are buried in what is now Memorial Park in Carlisle on grounds that used to be known as Lincoln Cemetery<\/a> or the Pitt Street Graveyard.\u00a0 Their headstones are no longer present, but their memory endures.\u00a0 One of these men was a former slave named Henry W. Spradley<\/a>, who served in the 24th USCT regiment (under the name Henry Williams).\u00a0 Spradley later became one of the most beloved members of the staff at Dickinson College.\u00a0 His funeral in 1897 was held in Bosler Hall on the college’s campus and attended by residents from across Carlisle.\u00a0 The decision to turn Lincoln Cemetery into a park came only after significant debate and years of controversy.\u00a0\u00a0 In recent years, the community has tried in various ways to restore and honor the memory of those still buried in the park, but the fate of the headstones for the former army veterans so far remains unknown.<\/p>\n\n\t\t