Black Civil War Soldiers of Cape Girardeau
- Thomas Smugala
- May 30
- 6 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
Black Civil War soldiers of Cape Girardeau played a vital role in the Union’s efforts despite facing immense challenges. More than 200 Black men from Cape Girardeau, Perryville, Ste. Genevieve and the surrounding areas enlisted in the Union Army at the steps of City Hall in Cape Girardeau. These soldiers, like James Ivers, exemplified courage in the face of harsh conditions. Cape Girardeau, a Union stronghold, was strategically significant, protected by four forts.
Black men enlisted into the Union Army at the steps of City Hall in Cape Girardeau.
Today, a bronze statue in Ivers Square honors the legacy of these soldiers in Cape Girardeau. It commemorates the bravery of the local Black soldiers and their sacrifices.
Ivers Square is a historic public square in downtown Cape Girardeau, Missouri, at the Common Pleas Courthouse on North Lorimier Street. Named in June 2017 by the Cape Girardeau City Council, it honors James Ivers, an enslaved man who enlisted in the Union Army’s 56th United States Colored Infantry in 1863 at the courthouse, and his wife, Harriet, who became one of the first Black women to own property in the city after the Civil War. The square commemorates the courage of over 200 African American men from the region who joined the United States Colored Troops (USCT) between 1863 and 1864, many of whom enlisted at this site, which also historically served as a place where enslaved people were sold.
...registered with the Smithsonian Art Museum and stands as a tribute to the contributions of Black soldiers.
A significant feature of Ivers Square is a bronze statue of a USCT soldier, unveiled on June 8, 2019, during a ceremony featuring Civil War reenactors, performances, and descendants of James Ivers. This statue, by sculptor Roy Butler, is registered with the Smithsonian Art Museum and stands as a tribute to the contributions of Black soldiers. The square’s renaming and statue installation, spearheaded by historian Denise Lincoln and Professor Steven Hoffman, aims to highlight the region’s complex history, acknowledging both slavery and the fight for freedom. Ivers Square hosts events like the annual Juneteenth celebration, fostering community unity and historical awareness.
Slaves had been sold from the auction block at this very spot.
Recently, we met up with Denise Lincoln, a descendant of a local slave owner who is writing a book on the story of the local Black men who fought for freedom during the American Civil War.
Tell us about the statue and the market behind it.
West of the Common Pleas Courthouse was a market house. Built in 1852, it was the gathering place where goods were exchanged for money or barter. Judith Ann Crow, a local historian, discovered another commodity traded—slaves had been sold from the auction block there.
Ivers Square is a beautiful park set above downtown Cape at the historical City Hall. The site of this years Juneteenth celebration.
By the early 1900s, the aging building was razed, and Cape Girardeau's first public library was constructed in 1922 on the site of the old market house. The old Carnegie Library housed county offices for years before being restored and repurposed once again in 2022 as part of the City of Cape Girardeau's City Hall complex.
The historical Ivers Square in Downtown Cape Girardeau.
When the United States Colored Troop memorial statue was proposed as a visual marker of Cape Girardeau's Black Civil War history, its placement in Ivers Square was carefully considered and purposefully placed at the site of the auction block of that old market house as a declaration and reminder of the price of freedom.
Tell us about the enlistment process
All 249 men who enlisted at Cape Girardeau were volunteers for the Union Army. At the first enlistment in 1863, the men stated their names, were examined by the post's medical surgeon, and read the Oath of Allegiance to preserve the Union of the United States. They were issued uniforms, began training, and sent by company regiments to their assigned duty. Most Cape enlistees signed their papers with an "X," as literacy was illegal for enslaved persons in Missouri. They committed to three years of federal military service.
Some 249 men Black men enlisted into the Union Army on the steps of the Cape City Hall overlooking the Mississippi.
During the second period of enlistment, Union loyal enslavers were promised financial compensation for losing a slave to military service. It appears some owners actually accompanied their former slaves to their enlistment, but most did not. Compensation was an unfulfilled promise for the enslavers in southeast Missouri.
Tell us about Jim and Harriet Ivers
Jim and Harriet had both been enslaved by local enslavers. Harriet, from her young girlhood, had been enslaved by Moses and Margaret McClean, but she and her children were hired out frequently when Moses died and Margaret needed income.
...Harriet successfully navigated the process of claiming a widow pension, purchased property, built a house, and was matriarch of multi-generations of Ivers descendants...
Dr. E. M. Harris, a second-generation Irish immigrant, enslaved Jim until he died in 1851, at which time Jim was sold from the Harris estate, purchased by John Ivers, a man about his exact age.
Jim was the uncompensated laborer in Ivers' family plastering business, at Ivers' co-owned flour mill, and then as a stevedore and warehouseman at Filbrun & Ivers Commission & Forwarding Company.
Jim and Harriet were married in 1853, in the custom of slaves, but had no choice but to live apart. In 1858, John Ivers purchased Harriet and her three children, uniting the family for the first time, and set them up in quarters within the warehouse.
When Jim enlisted on the first day it was possible in Missouri, he was 36 years old. He identified as James Ivers (taking his enslaver's surname) and was a private in Company H of the Third Arkansas Volunteer Infantry of African Descent (later 56th US Colored Infantry). The company deployed from Cape Girardeau on September 4, 1863, to Helena, Arkansas. Tragically, Jim died of a respiratory infection on October 1, 1863. With the help of many concerned citizens, White and Black, Harriet successfully navigated the process of claiming a widow pension, purchased property, built a house, and was the matriarch of multi-generations of Ivers descendants who lived in freedom in Cape Girardeau until the 1960s.
...I feel a responsibility to honor and share Cape Girardeau's Black history.
Historian Denise Lincoln and her upcoming book.
Tell us about yourself and your upcoming book
My name is Denise Lincoln. My husband Doug and I have lived in Cape Girardeau for 43 years, raising and launching two sons into their adult lives. I've been a minister on the staff of First Baptist Church and the Baptist Student Center on the Southeast Missouri State University campus and the Director of the Cape Area Family Resource Center. I declared early retirement to accompany Doug's 15-year medical traveler stint and utilized my time to research my family and local history.
...time in the Washington DC area allowed me to compile extensive research materials about the local Civil War story, utilizing records and manuscripts at the National Archives and the Library of Congress.
Generous blocks of time in the Washington DC area allowed me to compile extensive research materials about the local Civil War story, utilizing records and manuscripts at the National Archives and the Library of Congress. My passion for this subject stems from an "aha moment" when encountering a microfilm box labeled "Cape Girardeau." Images of documents recording Black enlistments opened a "rabbit hole" of research, discovery, and associations that has, thus far, been a 13-year project. Having been a descendant of an enslaver, I feel a responsibility to honor and share Cape Girardeau's Black history.
My big dream is to publish a book about people and events as slavery came undone in southeast Missouri.
My big dream is to publish a book about people and events as slavery came undone in southeast Missouri. I am motivated to be sure the community and the descendants of the courageous soldiers have a written record of this long overdue account of the Black enlistees who started their path of freedom from Cape Girardeau enlistment.
The historic Ivers Square is the site for Cape Girardeau's Annual Juneteenth Celebration Saturday, June 21.
Celebrate Juneteenth in Cape Girardeau! The historic Ivers Square is the site for Cape Girardeau's Annual Juneteenth Celebration. You are invited to attend the celebration on Saturday, June 21, to honor the emancipation of enslaved African Americans and the enduring spirit of freedom and unity. This free, family-friendly event promises something for everyone! Enjoy a kids' zone, live entertainment, inspiring presentations, and explore booths from artisanal craft vendors and social service organizations - not to mention delicious local food trucks.
Bring your family, friends, and neighbors to celebrate, connect, and reflect with the community. We can’t wait to see you there!
For more information click here: https://visitcape.com/
Get Out There! Create something. Start that new business. Join the Army. Do something. Do anything. What one person can do, another can do. That sunken sofa will be fine without you.
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