NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - For the first time, the Tennessee State Library and Archives in Nashville has a collection of letters from white officers who led black troops during the Civil War.
The collection is "Brother Charles: Letters Home to Michigan," correspondence of the Wadsworth Brothers. It is writings by two white members of the 16th U.S. Colored Infantry, which was encamped in Clarksville from 1863 to 1865.
The two left their studies at Oberlin College to enlist in the Union Army. The collection discusses the inspiration for why some white officers wanted to educate and prepare formerly enslaved blacks for citizenship and enfranchisement.
The library staff received digital copies of the correspondence while searching statewide for Civil War-era documents and artifacts.
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