Kentucky U.S. Colored Troops Project
This is a set of ledger books from the National Archives that were created to keep track of African American men who joined the U.S. Colored Troops (USCT) from Kentucky. There are roughly 11,000 soldiers listed in these ledgers, 9,000 of whom had been enslaved.
What makes these books so valuable is that, for every man listed who was enslaved, it provides us with an array of facts about him that would otherwise be preserved in no other document: his first and last name, his birth year, his birth location, when and where he enlisted, and it also lists the name of his enslaver, because Lincoln had promised those loyal to the Union that they would be compensated $300 for any enslaved man who joined the Union Army.
This is a set of ledger books from the National Archives that were created to keep track of African American men who joined the U.S. Colored Troops (USCT) from Kentucky. There are roughly 11,000 soldiers listed in these ledgers, 9,000 of whom had been enslaved.