Reply #24: In NC, almost all free men (black, white, Indian) were in military [View All]

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Almost every free male served in the military somehow, including a sizeable number of People of Color. Between 1860 and 1865, roughly one third of them died from combat or disease, another third were severely wounded (often losing an arm or leg).

Many of those in the Union Army were mercenaries recruited from the poor of Europe, particularly Ireland and Germany. This was such a scandal that the Pope issued warnings to be read from the pulpits.