This man, Isaac C. Hart, enlisted in New Bedford, Massachusetts as a private in 1861 and served in the infantry until 1864, when he was promoted to captain of the 2nd United States Colored Cavalry. As a white officer leading Black soldiers, Hart knew he might face torture from the Confederates if captured. His men could face worse – the Confederates had promised to execute on the spot or sell into slavery any captured Black soldier. Luckily, the 2nd suffered light casualties. Hart himself survived the war and afterward moved to Cincinnati, where he died in 1913.
For the past 110 years, his ashes went unclaimed until this spring, when his great-great-niece received a phone call – Captain Hart’s remains had been rediscovered. And so, on April 27th, 2023, Isaac C. Hart was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery for his service to the country in the Civil War.
