The Voice of Southwest Louisiana News Magazine June 2017

editor’s PEN By Brenda Hill
Union Soldiers
and Juneteenth
During my primary years of
academic training, American
history was one of my favorite
subjects to study. My teachers were
very passionate about teaching
history-a history they learned in school,
and a history they learned from their
grandparents who migrated into our
area, just off the Gulf of Mexico.
My teachers were fervent in their lessons
about the Civil War, where an estimated
2.75 million patriotic soldiers-2 million
for the north and 750,000 for the southfought
on American soil due to the
controversy of slavery and state’s rights.
As a child, I looked at the pictures about
the Civil War in our history books, but I
was most impressed by the details of the
Union soldiers. They were mostly young
white males-farmers and volunteers.
Some however were drafted, mostly
under the age of 30, and there were
some up into their sixties that enlisted
as privates. There were boys as young
as 12 who served as drummer boys or
buglers. About a fourth were of German
descent, and 210,000 formed the United
States Colored Troops that consisted of
freed slaves from the north and south.
Others were of British, Irish, Dutch, and
Canadian descent. They came together
to fight for justice for all and to preserve
the Union. Both sides believed they
were doing the will of God, so as a child I
would often wonder about the different
types of conversations they had; the
ideas the different groups would come
together and discuss.
My teachers emphasized the facts about
the 13th Amendment to the United
States Constitution abolishing slavery
and involuntary servitude, except as
punishment for a crime. We learned
how Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation
Proclamation, January 1, 1863 freed
slaves in the southern states. The benefits
of that amendment seemed slow in
coming to some parts of the United
States, but the fact remains that Union
soldiers led by Major General Gordon
Granger landed in Galveston, Texas June
19, 1865 and announced that the war
was over and slaves were free.
I don’t know if my teachers understood
how reciting the Pledge of Allegiance
in the mornings, and then learning how
many ways throughout history ‘brother
fought against brother’, left us with such
a paradox of feelings and emotions by
afternoon.
Thank God for Union soldiers, because
they helped make Juneteenth possible.
Juneteenth is the oldest known
celebration commemorating the end of
slavery in the United States. I know and
understand that “Union soldiers” still exist
today. There are those among us that
value diversity and are willing to stand
up and speak out for equal treatment,
for freedom and justice for all. I serve on
boards with them, worship with them
and enjoy conversations with many of
them in my various walks of life. It’s a joy
Juneteenth Emancipation Day Celebration, June 19,
1900, Texas.
Admiral David Farragut & General Gordon Granger
to know such people.
Celebrate diversity and the sacrifice of
the many “Union Soldiers” (past and
present!) at the SWLA Juneteenth Music
Festival.
For more information
visit AmericanCivilWar.com and www.
swlajuneteenth.org.
Volume 4 • Number 9 WWW.THEVOICEOFSOUTHWESTLA.COM June 2017 3