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US Colored Troops Monument

120 Duncan Street, Clarksville, TN 37042

(931) 472-3351

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About

The US Colored Troops Monument at Ft. Defiance Civil War Park & Interpretive Center was unveiled by the Mt. Olive Cemetery Historical Preservation Society on Saturday, June 18. During the Civil War era, Clarksville served as a recruitment center for escaped slaves who joined the Union Army, hoping to win their freedom. More than 20,000 USCTs from Tennessee served in the war.

The mold for the soldier was used in three other U.S. locations, and this was the final one created. The caste had been scheduled to be destroyed the day after this monument was made.

The Society has been on a year-long journey to obtain the support to construct a monument in Clarksville to honor, celebrate, and remember the USCT, who were men of African descent, many of them formerly enslaved, who enlisted in the Union Army to fight for their freedom. This journey is now complete, with the formal unveiling ceremony of the monument.