Colored Union Soldiers Monument (Hertford, North Carolina)
Dublin Core
Title
Colored Union Soldiers Monument (Hertford, North Carolina)
Subject
Subject (Topic)
African Americans--History
North Carolina--Hertford
United States Colored Troops
African Americans--History
North Carolina--Hertford
United States Colored Troops
Subject (Object Type)
Commemorative sculpture
Commemorative sculpture
Description
The memorial consists of obelisk resting on a square plinth. It is engraved with text on two sides and is accompanied by a North Carolina Civil War Trails marker and informational placard.
Creator
Unknown
Source
Photograph: African American Experience
Date
1910
Contributor
First Baptist Church; United Daughters of Union Veterans
Rights
Town of Hertford North Carolina, 114 West Grubb Street, Hertford, North Carolina, 27944, United States
Format
JPEG
Language
English
Type
Visual Arts-Sculpture
Coverage
Academy Green, King and Hyde Park Streets, Hertford, North Carolina, 27944, United States
Has Part
Inscription on the front:
In Memory
Of the
Colored Union
Soldiers Who
Faught in the
War of
1861-1865
In Memory
Of the
Colored Union
Soldiers Who
Faught in the
War of
1861-1865
Inscription on the rear:
Erected by the United Daughters of Veterans
Erected by the United Daughters of Veterans
Informational placard, North Carolina Civil War Trails:
News of the bombardment of Fort Sumter inspired many African American men to enlist in the U.S. armed forces, but federal law prohibited their service. Frederick Douglass and other black leaders urged changes to allow black enlistments. By mid-1862, as the numbers of white volunteers diminished, the needs of the U.S. Army grew, and the announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation became imminent, more voices called for black recruitment. The Proclamation, issued on January 1, 1863, formally authorized African American military service. By the end of the war, about 180,000 blacks – including some from Perquimans County – had borne arms in the U.S. Army (almost 10 percent of total enlistments) and about 19,000 had served in the U.S. Navy. To remember the county’s African American Union soldiers, women of the black community, many of them the wives and widows of those men, erected one of the few such monuments in the nation on Academy Green in 1910. Coordinated by First Baptist Church and the United Daughters of Union Veterans, the monument is inscribed “In Memory of the Colored Union Soldiers Who Fought in the War of 1861-1865.” Academy Green was the location of the county’s first black school, library, and church (present-day First Baptist Church), which freed-men formed in a bush shelter in 1866. The congregation later built a church across the street. They Answered the Call Three of the men whom this monument commemorates are buried in Perquimans County. Sgt. John Gordon served in Co. A 1st U.S.C.T., organized in Washington, D.C., in May-June 1863. The regiment fought in Virginia (Wilson’s Wharf, The Crater, New Market Heights) and North Carolina (Fort Fisher). It also participated in Gen. Edward A. Wild’s eastern N.C. expedition in Dec. 1863 and burned a Confederate camp near Hertford. It mustered out on Sept. 29, 1865. Pvt. John Sharp enlisted in Co. B. 37th U.S.C.T. at age 19 on Jan. 21, 1864, in Plymouth, N.C. His regiment fought at New Market Heights and Fort Fisher and mustered out on Feb. 11, 1867. Pvt. Arthur Mixon served in Co. G, 40th U.S.C.T., organized in Aug. 1864 in Tennessee, where it guarded railroads and bridges. It mustered out in Oct. 1865.
News of the bombardment of Fort Sumter inspired many African American men to enlist in the U.S. armed forces, but federal law prohibited their service. Frederick Douglass and other black leaders urged changes to allow black enlistments. By mid-1862, as the numbers of white volunteers diminished, the needs of the U.S. Army grew, and the announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation became imminent, more voices called for black recruitment. The Proclamation, issued on January 1, 1863, formally authorized African American military service. By the end of the war, about 180,000 blacks – including some from Perquimans County – had borne arms in the U.S. Army (almost 10 percent of total enlistments) and about 19,000 had served in the U.S. Navy. To remember the county’s African American Union soldiers, women of the black community, many of them the wives and widows of those men, erected one of the few such monuments in the nation on Academy Green in 1910. Coordinated by First Baptist Church and the United Daughters of Union Veterans, the monument is inscribed “In Memory of the Colored Union Soldiers Who Fought in the War of 1861-1865.” Academy Green was the location of the county’s first black school, library, and church (present-day First Baptist Church), which freed-men formed in a bush shelter in 1866. The congregation later built a church across the street. They Answered the Call Three of the men whom this monument commemorates are buried in Perquimans County. Sgt. John Gordon served in Co. A 1st U.S.C.T., organized in Washington, D.C., in May-June 1863. The regiment fought in Virginia (Wilson’s Wharf, The Crater, New Market Heights) and North Carolina (Fort Fisher). It also participated in Gen. Edward A. Wild’s eastern N.C. expedition in Dec. 1863 and burned a Confederate camp near Hertford. It mustered out on Sept. 29, 1865. Pvt. John Sharp enlisted in Co. B. 37th U.S.C.T. at age 19 on Jan. 21, 1864, in Plymouth, N.C. His regiment fought at New Market Heights and Fort Fisher and mustered out on Feb. 11, 1867. Pvt. Arthur Mixon served in Co. G, 40th U.S.C.T., organized in Aug. 1864 in Tennessee, where it guarded railroads and bridges. It mustered out in Oct. 1865.
Medium
Granite
Bibliographic Citation
"Colored Union Soldiers Monument, Hertford." Commemorative Landscapes of North Carolina. Accessed January 22, 2019. https://docsouth.unc.edu/commland/monument/117/.
Alan Skerrett, Jr, ed. "Monuments to the United States Colored Troops (USCT) [African American Civil War Soldiers: The List." Jubilo! The Emancipation Century Blog, May 30, 2011. Accessed February 11, 2026. https://jubiloemancipationcentury.wordpress.com/2011/05/30/monuments-to-the-united-states-colored-troops-usct-the-list/.
Rights Holder
Renée Ater
Still Image Item Type Metadata
Original Format
Sculpture
Collection
Citation
Unknown, “Colored Union Soldiers Monument (Hertford, North Carolina),” Contemporary Monuments to the Slave Past, accessed October 1, 2026, https://slaverymonuments.org/items/show/1106.