MARC Record from marc_columbia

LEADER: 05493cam a2200481 i 4500
001 15890808
005 20220131101049.0
008 210707s2021 lauab b 001 0beng
010 $a 2021010896
024 $a40030911918
035 $a(OCoLC)on1249496644
040 $aDLC$beng$erda$cDLC$dOCLCO$dBDX$dOCLCF$dOCLCO$dUKMGB$dIDO$dCDX$dGZD$dYDX
020 $a9780807176269$qhardcover
020 $a0807176265$qhardcover
035 $a(OCoLC)1249496644
042 $apcc
043 $an-usu--$an-us-sc$an-us---
050 00 $aF274.S93$bR44 2021
082 00 $a975.7/041092$aB$223
100 1 $aRhea, Gordon C.,$eauthor.
245 10 $aStephen A. Swails :$bBlack freedom fighter in the Civil War and Reconstruction /$cGordon C. Rhea.
246 30 $aBlack freedom fighter in the Civil War and Reconstruction
264 1 $aBaton Rouge :$bLouisiana State University Press,$c[2021]
300 $axiv, 189 pages :$billustrations (black and white), maps (black and white) ;$c24 cm.
336 $atext$btxt$2rdacontent
337 $aunmediated$bn$2rdamedia
338 $avolume$bnc$2rdacarrier
490 1 $aSouthern biography series
504 $aIncludes bibliographical references and index.
505 0 $aAn Angel of God Come Down to Lead the Host of Freedom -- One Plane of Ashes and Blackened Chimneys -- Looking Out from among the Ghastly Corpses -- Why Can't We Have a Soldier's Pay? -- I Now Recommend His Being Allowed to Serve as a Commissioned Officer -- Crowned with Laurels -- This Is a White Man's Government -- The Political Boss of Williamsburg County -- A Campaign of Intimidation and Terror -- What a Mockery of Justice Is This? -- A Proper Denouement to an Extraordinary Man.
520 $a"Stephen Atkins Swails played significant roles in the Civil War and Reconstruction in South Carolina. Born a free Black in Pennsylvania, Swails volunteered to serve in the 54th Massachusetts Infantry, the first African American regiment raised in the North. He earned distinction in a series of major battles, including the bloody assault to capture Battery Wagner in Charleston Harbor, the Battle of Olustee in north Florida, and Potter's raid into central South Carolina. Swails's service was so exemplary that his commanding officer recommended him for an officer's commission-a request the War Department initially denied because of his "African blood." After vigorous lobbying and support from Massachusetts' governor, the War Department changed course and made Swails the first African American commissioned as a combat officer in the United States military. After the war, Swails remained in South Carolina, where he held important positions in the Freedmen's Bureau, helped draft South Carolina's progressive constitution, and served in the state legislature. From his leadership position in the state senate, Swails was instrumental in securing legislation benefitting newly-liberated Black citizens. Later, he settled in Kingstree, a small South Carolina town, where he raised a family, became mayor, and practiced law. Swails remained active in South Carolina politics after Reconstruction until violent followers of racist Governor Wade Hampton drove him from the state. Despite threats against his life, Swails frequently returned to South Carolina and remained a prominent figure in state politics. After Swails died in 1900, state and local leaders erased him from the historical narrative. He would likely have remained forgotten if not for historians' recent efforts to revive his military, political, and civil rights contributions. Award-winning author Gordon Rhea's biography is the first of Swails and one of only a handful for any of the nearly 200,000 African Americans who fought in the Civil War or figured prominently in Reconstruction. Unlike many of his comrades, Swails was literate and wrote numerous letters, memoranda, and documents. Amazingly, the bulk of his most important personal papers ended up in a trash dump before two junk collectors rescued them. Rhea relied heavily on those documents, which comprise a wealth of Swails' writings, including his role in the assault on Battery Wagner and on post-war attempts on his life by political opponents. Rhea also utilized unpublished 54th Massachusetts sources at the Massachusetts Historical Society, extensive Freedmen's Bureau records in the National Archives, and Swails' letters and official documents from his years as a senator during Reconstruction. Swails's life story is a saga of an indomitable human being who confronted deep-seated racial prejudice in various institutions but persisted until he had achieved all he could. His is an inspiring story that is especially timely today"--$cProvided by publisher.
600 10 $aSwails, Stephen A.,$d1832-1900.
650 0 $aReconstruction (U.S. history, 1865-1877)
651 0 $aSouthern States$xRace relations.
651 0 $aSouth Carolina$xPolitics and government$y1865-1950.
610 10 $aUnited States.$bBureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands$xOfficials and employees$vBiography.
650 0 $aAfrican American legislators$zSouth Carolina$vBiography.
610 10 $aUnited States.$bArmy.$bMassachusetts Infantry Regiment, 54th (1863-1865)
651 0 $aUnited States$xHistory$yCivil War, 1861-1865$xParticipation, African American.
650 0 $aAfrican Americans$zSouth Carolina$vBiography.
651 0 $aSouth Carolina$vBiography.
830 0 $aSouthern biography series.
852 00 $bglx$hF274.S93$iR44 2021