Transcript
Lindsey Graham (0:00)
There are more ways than ever to listen to History Daily ad free. Listen with Wondry plus in the Wondery app as a member of Noiser plus at noiser.com or in Apple Podcasts. Or you can get all of History Daily plus other fantastic history podcasts@intohristory.com it's early evening on September 2, 1862, in Cincinnati, Ohio, one year into the American Civil War. Powhatan Beatty sighs as he hears a knocking at his front door. He hopes he can get rid of the visitor as quickly as possible. The 35 year old African American cabinet maker finally finished work for the day and wants nothing more than a hearty meal and a good night's sleep. But as he opens his door, Powhatan's dream of a quiet evening disappears. On his doorstep, a grim faced policeman stands with his gun drawn. Powhatan looks over the officer's shoulder and spots dozens more officers banging on every door in the street. For a moment, Powhatan wonders whether the city is being evacuated. He's heard rumors that the Confederates are planning an attack, but before he can ask, the policeman grabs Powhatan's collar and roughly pulls him into the street. Powhatan stumbles and falls to the ground. The policeman points his gun and orders Powhatan to get back to his feet. As he stands up, Powton is forced along the road at gunpoint. With other neighbors being dragged out of their houses, the police officers seem to be seizing every black man of working age they can find. Soon, Powton is ordered to stop, and he and his neighbors are herded together and marched to a nearby camp. When they arrive, policemen hand the men shovels and gruffly order them to start digging rifle pits and trenches. But as the men next to him pick up their shovels, Houghton hesitates. He was born a slave but gained his freedom years ago, and even though he's willing to support the Union, he doesn't want to be treated like a slave again. But with armed officers all around him, he realizes he has little choice today. So with a sigh, Powhatan picks up his shovel and begins to dig. After a decisive Confederate victory in nearby Kentucky, the authorities in Cincinnati began to panic. No Union troops stood in the way of the Confederate army only 100 miles to the south. So in a desperate and controversial attempt to protect the city, Mayor George Hatch ordered the Cincinnati police to detain 400 free black men and force them to build fortifications. After two days, the men were allowed to return home and a call for volunteers would be put out instead. But the result will shock authorities. Powhatan Beatty and 700 black men will answer the call again, 300 more than the police had forced into labor. The Cincinnati Black Brigade, as the volunteer detachment will come to be known, will become the first unit of African Americans employed for military duty in the Civil War. As the Union army gradually integrates black men into its ranks, Powhatan Beatty will move from the Cincinnati Black Brigade into the wider Northern forces, and just two years after digging trenches in Cincinnati, he will head to the Confederate capital, where the process of military integration will culminate in Powhatan and 13 other Black soldiers winning the Medal of Honor at the Battle of Newmarket Heights on September 29, 1864 at Designer Shoe Warehouse we believe that shoes are an important part of.
