Scope and Content Note
The William A. Gladstone Afro-American Military Collection spans the years 1773-1987 with the bulk of material dating from the Civil War period, 1861-1865. The collection consists of correspondence, pay vouchers, orders, muster rolls, enlistment and discharge papers, receipts, contracts, affidavits, tax records, miscellaneous military documents, and printed matter. Most items document African Americans in military service, especially the United States Corps d'Afrique and the United States Colored Troops, which were organized during the Civil War. Also included are many documents concerned with slavery and various Civil War documents that mention African Americans. Revolutionary War items are primarily pay vouchers to Connecticut blacks who served in the Continental Army. Printed matter includes nineteenth century speeches and writings on slavery, government orders, broadsides, and twentieth-century booklets and journal articles for scholars or collectors.