On Private Soldiers and Line Officers

I am fond of repeating "The history of the Civil War is the stories of its soldiers" and other such sayings to convey the essence of what drives me to do what I do. During the past week I came upon a Civil War veteran with a similar view.

Captain George Hillyer of the Confederate Ninth Georgia Infantry noted, "It is interesting to talk about the privates and line officers. We all admire the generals and our eyes kindle and beam, and our ears are full of enthusiasm as we pay deserved tributes to their fame. But it is to the private soldier and the line officers, many of them just as brave as the most famous general, to whom full justice has not been, and can never be done."

This quote appears on page 13 of My Gettysburg Battle Experiences (Thomas Publications, 2005), edited by Gregory A. Coco.

Kendrick Allen, Buffalo Soldier

A note penned on the back of the carte de visite of Kendrick Allen, written by his commanding officer, praises him as an excellent soldier — a fine compliment to an eighteen-year-old sergeant new to soldiering in the 108th U.S. Colored Infantry. Allen served in the regiment from 1864 until 1866.

Five years later he returned to the military, this time in the regular army as a corporal in the Twenty-fourth U.S. Infantry, one of the Buffalo Soldier regiments. He later transferred to the Ninth Cavalry and retired as a sergeant in 1897.

This the first Buffalo Soldier I've documented. If you have any information about Sgt. Allen, please contact me.