Elijah Dorsey and Fletcher Howard raised their right hands, swore to defend the Constitution, and officially became members of the 7th Regiment, US colored Infantry. Augusts Alexander, with the rank of Major, came from Canada to fight on behalf of the Union.
From April 1865, these three Fighting Men took part in skirmishes in Maryland and Florida as well as important battles at Petersburg and Fort Fisher. One of them won the Congressional Medal of Honor for his bravery, and another was present at Appomattox when Robert E. Lee surrendered. During those 22 months of active duty tours, whether the problems were equal pay or the insubordination of white junior officers, Dorsey, Fletcher and Alexander discovered that racism in their own army was as stubborn an enemy as the Confederates themselves.
