Freedom Fighters: Richmond National Battlefield Park

This heritage site is a part of the American Battlefield Trust's Road to Freedom Tour Guide app, which showcases sites integral to the Black experience during the Civil War era. Download the FREE app now.

By November 1864, several thousand African American soldiers, designated as United States Colored Troops or USCT, held Fort Harrison and the nearby earthworks. Many of these men had survived the bloody combat at New Market Heights, Fort Gilmer, and the Confederate counterattack against Fort Harrison where they defended the earthworks in front of you. These same soldiers remained here until the following April and were among the first Union troops to enter the Confederate capital.