author
Isaac J. Hill
b. 1826
Born free in Pennsylvania in 1826, this minister, Civil War soldier, and author left behind one of the earliest firsthand histories of the 29th Connecticut Colored Regiment. His life joined faith, military service, and Black historical memory in a way that still feels immediate.
1 Audiobook
A Sketch of the 29th Regiment of Connecticut Colored Troops
by Isaac J. Hill
About the author
Isaac J. Hill was an African American minister, Union soldier, and writer best known for A Sketch of the 29th Regiment of Connecticut Colored Troops, published in 1867. Library and public-domain records identify him as born in 1826, and his book remains the work most closely associated with his name.
Accounts of his life describe him as a free Black man born in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, who later became a minister and served in the Civil War with the 29th Connecticut Colored Regiment. After the war, he wrote an early regimental history drawn from the experiences of Black soldiers, giving his work lasting value as both testimony and historical record.
Hill died in 1882. Though not widely known today, he is remembered for preserving the story of a Black Union regiment in his own words, and for linking religious leadership, military service, and authorship in a single remarkable life.