Reunion of 35th United States Troops (originally the 1st North Carolina Colored Infantry), circa 1905 in front of Prince Hall Masonic Lodge, Plymouth, North Carolina.
Most of the 35th’s enlisted men were former slaves from coastal Virginia and the Carolinas. Its officers were white Northerners. The commander of the regiment was Colonel James Beecher, half-brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe. The 35th, along the more famous 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, was present at the Battle of Olustee, one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War. The two African American regiments heroically guarded the Union’s line of retreat against Confederate forces.
North Carolina State Archives
via African American Soldiers and Sailors~ Onslow County, North Carolina
