During the American Civil War, more than 2,000 Black U.S. soldiers were captured by Confederate forces and subjected to violence, forced labor, and attempted reenslavement. Yet, despite the Confederacy's refusal to recognize them as legitimate prisoners of war, a remarkable number of these men worked together and fought to survive.

Every Thing but Death reconstructs the experiences of these soldiers, revealing how they forged communities of mutual support, resisted their captors, and fought to preserve their freedom. Drawing on military records, pension applications, personal narratives, and other fragmentary sources, the book places Black prisoners' collective strategies for survival at the center of the history of the Civil War and emancipation. It also traces their postwar struggles for federal recognition, pensions, and the rights they had fought to secure.

Advance Praise

“This groundbreaking study of Black POWs reveals how they survived, navigating life-and-death decisions amid the failure of both Confederate and federal policies.” — Hilary N. Green, author of Unforgettable Sacrifice

“A revelatory look at the fight to end slavery during the American Civil War.” —Amy Murrell Taylor, author of Embattled Freedom

William G. Thomas III, A Question of Freedom: Families Who Challenged Slavery from the Nation's Founding to the Civil War (2020), Slavery & Abolition

Thomas M. Curran, Women Making War: Female Confederate Prisoners and Union Military Justice (2020), H-Net

Researching African American Civil War Ancestors: A Guide

Crowd-Sourced Transcription and Remote Teaching

Witnessing Racial Violence: Public Awareness and the Battle of Fort Pillow