Thunder at the Gates

Soon after Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, abolitionists began to call for the creation of black regiments. At first, the South and most of the North responded with outrage,southerners promised to execute any black soldiers captured in battle, while many northerners claimed that blacks lacked the necessary courage. Meanwhile, Massachusetts, long the centre of abolitionist fervor, launched one of the greatest experiments in American history. In Thunder at the Gates , Douglas Egerton chronicles the formation and battlefield triumphs of the 54th and 55th Massachusetts Infantry and the 5th Massachusetts Cavalry,regiments led by whites but composed of black men born free or into slavery. He argues that the most important battles of all were won on the field of public opinion, for in fighting with distinction the regiments realized the long-derided idea of full and equal citizenship for blacks. A stirring evocation of this transformative episode, Thunder at the Gates offers a riveting new perspective on the Civil War and its legacy.

“" Thunder at the Gates is the first book to provide a full account of the three black regiments raised by Massachusetts in the Civil War. The 54th's famous assault on Fort Wagner is here, but so also are many other campaigns and battles fought by that regiment, the 55th, and the 5th Cavalry. The narrative is enriched by the stories of more than a dozen individual soldiers and officers, which gives a human and personal dimension to this important work."-- James M. McPherson”

Co-winner of the 2017 Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize "Egerton brings the stories of three black regiments together, exploring their origins, their wartime service, and the post-war lives of their soldiers and officers... This is a deeply and impeccably researched work, drawing on (to name just some of the sources) manuscript collections of personal papers, the black and white press, regimental records, draft records, records of the Department of the South, medical records, pension files, wartime letters and journals, memoirs, and photographs. Egerton's is a brisk and personable narrative history that will reach a wide audience, with its vivid portraits of lives both on and off the battlefield."-2017 Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize committee "Thunder at the Gates is the first book to provide a full account of the three black regiments raised by Massachusetts in the Civil War. The 54th's famous assault on Fort Wagner is here, but so also are many other campaigns and battles fought by that regiment, the 55th, and the 5th Cavalry. The narrative is enriched by the stories of more than a dozen individual soldiers and officers, which gives a human and personal dimension to this important work."-James M. McPherson "Gracefully written and well-researched, Thunder at the Gates is an indispensable chronicle of the triumphs and tribulations of three regiments of black soldiers who fought to destroy legalized slavery and helped preserve the American Union. Egerton's powerful narrative allows the men, and the families who supported them, to live in our imaginations just as they should."-Annette Gordon-Reed, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and author, with Peter S. Onuf, of "Most Blessed of the Patriarchs": Thomas Jefferson and the Empire of the Imagination "Egerton's history shows how the sacrifice of these recruits on the battlefields at Fort Wagner and Olustee not only proved that African-Americans could be dedicated fighters but also opened the way to securing rights, including equal pay for military service and the opportunity to be promoted into the ranks of commissioned officers. White Northerners may have enlisted to hold the nation together; it was their black counterparts, both former slaves and freemen, who fought for liberty."-New Yorker "[Thunder at the Gates is] a fantastic performance throughout... This is a landmark study of the true crucible of the American Civil War."-Steve Donoghue, Christian Science Monitor "[M]asterful...Some of the best military writing I have encountered."-Joseph C Gouldon, Washington Times "Poignant... artfully told and wonderfully detailed."-Paul Jablow, Philadelphia Inquirer "[F]ascinating...Reading this book will help you understand why, even in 2016, there is a Black Lives Matter movement."-Donald D. Breed, Providence Journal "The magic in this story...comes from the author's ability to build empathy for the soldiers...In Thunder at the Gates, Egerton has memorialized these brave patriot soldiers and the legacy they left for their ancestors--a legacy for us all to treasure as a part of our collective heritage."-Michael Ramsey, Roanoke Times "[Thunder at the Gates] is a brutally honest, comprehensive account of [the African American regiments'] contributions and an excellent addition to Civil War collections."-Booklist, starred review "[A] solid addition to the Civil War literature...Providing a fuller picture of black men's involvement in the war, Egerton weaves in the activities of the [54th and] 55th Volunteer Infantry Division and the Fifth Cavalry. He emphasizes the way race affected the men's military experiences, looking as much at individual black soldiers as white officers...Egerton's fine work pays respect to the black soldiers who fought and died black liberation."-Publishers Weekly "Egerton presents a captivating narrative... [His] study of the individuals and attention to their lives after the war is extremely well researched and well documented. This is an important addition to the shelves of Civil War books."-Library Journal, starred review "Massachusetts sent three black regiments into Union service, including the famous 54th Infantry featured in the film Glory. Douglas Egerton evocatively recovers the story of these soldiers and their officers, exploring their campaigns, the symbolic impact of their service, and how wartime activities shaped their postwar lives. This is a deeply satisfying rendering of an important subject."-Gary W. Gallagher, author of The Union War and Nau Professor of History, University of Virginia "We have long known of the history of the pioneering black Massachusetts regiments of the Civil War-the Fifty-fourth and Fifty-fifth infantry and Fifth Cavalry--and their impact on the military and political battlefields. In this deeply-researched and stunningly narrated new study of their exploits, Egerton, by focusing our attention squarely on the men, both the enlisted and officers, has found a new and exciting way to retell the story of those whose actions had a profound impact on the outcome of the struggles against slavery and racial oppression."-Richard J. Blackett, Professor of History, Vanderbilt University "Only those who have known slavery can understand how fiercely the fire of liberty can burn in the human heart. Douglas Egerton's account of Massachusetts' African American volunteers--the 54th and 55th Massachusetts Infantry and 5th Massachusetts Cavalry--lays out vividly the energies and personalities that prompted their gallant rush. As was said in 1863, so Douglas Egerton says for us now: Tell it with pride to the world!"-Allen Guelzo, New York Times bestselling author of Gettysburg: The Last Invasion "'None were braver in the fight' wrote the poet Paul Laurence Dunbar about Massachusetts' black regiments, and Douglas Egerton takes up that refrain, chronicling with nuance and insight the heroic struggle for freedom and justice of soldiers such as Lewis and Charles Douglass, William Carney and Stephen A. Swails. Egerton brilliantly interweaves personal stories and political context, evoking the battlefields of Ft. Wagner and Olustee, and the profound legacy of what happened there. This is a great book, worthy of the men who inspired it."-Elizabeth R. Varon, author of Appomattox: Victory, Defeat, and Freedom at the End of the Civil War

Douglas Egerton is the Merrill Family Visiting Professor in History at Cornell University and a professor of history at Le Moyne College. The award-winning author of seven previous books, he lives in Fayetteville, New York.

An intimate, authoritative history of the first black soldiers to fight in the Union Army during the Civil War Soon after Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, abolitionists began to call for the creation of black regiments. At first, the South and most of the North responded with outrage-southerners promised to execute any black soldiers captured in battle, while many northerners claimed that blacks lacked the necessary courage. Meanwhile, Massachusetts, long the center of abolitionist fervor, launched one of the greatest experiments in American history. In Thunder at the Gates , Douglas Egerton chronicles the formation and battlefield triumphs of the 54th and 55th Massachusetts Infantry and the 5th Massachusetts Cavalry-regiments led by whites but composed of black men born free or into slavery. He argues that the most important battles of all were won on the field of public opinion, for in fighting with distinction the regiments realized the long-derided idea of full and equal citizenship for blacks. A stirring evocation of this transformative episode, Thunder at the Gates offers a riveting new perspective on the Civil War and its legacy.

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