From Mashantucket to Appomattox: The Native American Veterans of Connecticut's Volunteer Regiments and the Union Navy

Abstract

Due to complex social arrangements among New England Indians and changing perceptions of race, many New Englanders believed that most Indians in the region were “extinct,” while others viewed Indians as “colored men.” At the time of the Civil War, these perceptions allowed many Indian volunteers to cross racial boundaries and serve in both white and colored regiments.