VOLUNTEERS
Giclee (pastel)
2004
8" X 11"
edition 400

"You say you will not fight to free Negroes. Some of them seem willing to fight for you. When victory is won there will be some black men who can remember that, with silent tongue and clenched teeth, and steady eye and well-poised bayonet, they have helped mankind on to this great consummation; while, I fear, there will be some white ones, unable to forget that with malignant heart and deceitful speech, they strove to hinder it."
--Abraham Lincoln
   1863

As I worked and researched the Civil War monument, I found myself focused not so much on the technical aspects of war or the individual order and details of each battle, but on the histories and personal stories that reflect much of the pain and anguish experienced by a great nation divided and in turmoil. I read accounts and comments by military leaders, historians and the transcribed words of “colored” men who had also laid their lives on the line in less than welcomed circumstances.