Crossed sabres: A history of the Fifth Massachusetts Volunteer Cavalry, an African-American regiment in the Civil War

Few people know that Massachusetts raised an African American cavalry regiment during the Civil War. Until now the history of the Fifth Massachusetts Volunteer Cavalry has been largely overlooked. In fact, other than peripherally, this is the first time that anyone has ever written about the regiment. After 150 years this story of black troopers and white officers cries out for serious investigative study.;"Crossed Sabres: A History of the Fifth Massachusetts Volunteer Cavalry" is about the only African American regiment of cavalry raised in the Northern States during the Civil War. The Fifth Massachusetts Cavalry was one of only four black regiments to retain its state designation. That state designation was significant for two reasons. The governor of Massachusetts was empowered to appoint the officers of the regiment, who could be chosen not only for military skill, but also for abolitionist beliefs and family connections. Secondly, the men recruited for the regiment were credited to the state's quota of men required for federal service, whether they came from Massachusetts or not.;The regiment was raised in the winter of 1863 and fought dismounted in the spring of 1864, taking part in the fighting leading up to the seige of Petersburg. Not only does no history of the Fifth Massachusetts Cavalry exist, but there is no specific history of the larger organizations which contained the regiment. Thus in writing about the frontal assault on the Petersburg "works" on June 15, 1864, I am writing the history of Rand's Provisional Brigade, of Hincks's "Colored" Division, of the XVIII Army Corps of the Army of the James for the first time. The significance of this work is that the history of this one unit can help show how all black troops were recruited, trained and used in the Union Army. At one point the Fifth Massachusetts Volunteer Cavalry was part of an entire Army Corps composed of black soldiers, the XXV, the first such in American history.;"Crossed Sabres" examines the recruiting, training, equipping and supply of a regiment of cavalry, and how cavalry tactics changed during the Civil War. This dissertation looks at the prior service of officers and men and what attitudes they held towards the use of black men as soldiers. This study will lead to a greater understanding of the successes and problems associated with African American troops.;This study does not end with the ending of the war, however. I continue to trace the careers of several of the officers and men after the war, such as Major Henry Pickering Bowditch, who became a professor at Harvard Medical School, or his brother Captain Charles Pickering Bowditch (yes, they had the same middle name), who became the world's foremost expert on Meso-American languages. I examine how African American troopers felt about their wartime service, the segregated Grand Army of the Republic and American society after the war are also examined. "Crossed Sabres" thus transcends the narrow focus of military history to reach into the fields of social, political and African American history.