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by Eileen Yanoviak.
Hardback (6.2×9.3 inches). 167 pages. 2025.
Subtitle: An Unsung African American Civil War Hero
The title of this book is exceptionally accurate: Lucy Higgs Nichols proved to be a rather tenacious woman. Born in 1838 into slavery in Tennessee, she organized an escape upon learning she and her child would be sold to a plantation in Alabama or Mississippi. With Union troops not that far away, both made it to relative safety with the 23rd Indiana.
She put here cooking, cleaning, foraging, and seamstress skills to use with the 23rd. Her enterprising and effective efforts endeared her to many a soldier and the doctor in charge made her an unofficial nurse. As Nichols had little in the way of documentation, much of her bio contains a unit history of the 23rd Indiana. She stayed with the 23rd throughout the war as it moved south and became part of Sherman’s March to the Sea.
Post war, she moved to Indiana and became a servant for former officers and was extremely active in the GAR. The real battle came when she applied for a pension. Denied repeatedly, she overcame racism and her unofficial status through sheer will — and the written support from former enlisted and officers of the 23rd. An act of Congress finally secured her pension.
One wobble (p80): a reference to the 1866 Civil Rights Act “about one year after the Emancipation Proclamation.” The Emancipation Proclamation was in 1863, although you could argue that its full implementation didn’t occur until after the ACW was over in 1865 with the ratification of the 13th Amendment.
The book contains 38 black and white photos, one black and white map, and six black and white illustrations.
Every once in a while, I find a real interesting book about an obscure person. This is one of ’em.
Enjoyed it.
— Reviewed by Russ Lockwood
