U.S. Colored Troops Grand Review
Harrisburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Excluded from a May 1865 "Grand Review of the Armies" in Wash., DC, U.S. Colored Troops from Penna. and Mass. regiments assembled here at State & Filbert Sts. on Nov. 14, 1865 for a parade honoring their courage during the Civil War. Grand Marshal T. Morris Chester led them through Harrisburg to Sen. Simon Cameron's Front St. home to be gratefully acknowledged. Octavius Catto, William Howard Day, Gen. JB Kiddoo, & the Rev. Stephen Smith spoke.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
When the great "Grand Review of the Armies" paraded through Washington in May 1865, the United States Colored Troops who had fought and bled for the Union were pointedly left out. In answer, Black regiments from Pennsylvania and Massachusetts assembled here at State and Filbert Streets on November 14, 1865, for their own triumphant review. Grand Marshal T. Morris Chester led them through Harrisburg to Senator Simon Cameron's home, where leaders including Octavius Catto and William Howard Day honored their service.
Why it matters
This overlooked parade insisted that Black soldiers be recognized for saving the Union, a demand for dignity that prefigured the long struggle for equal citizenship after the Civil War.
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Related people
- · T. Morris Chester
- · Octavius Catto
- · William Howard Day
- · Simon Cameron
- · Stephen Smith
Related events
- · U.S. Colored Troops Grand Review, Nov. 14, 1865
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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