Free Military School for Applicants for Commands of Colored Troops, No. 1210 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia. Established by Supervisory Committee for Recruiting Colored Regiments. John H. Taggart, Late Colonel 12th Regiment Pennsylvania Reserves, Preceptor., 1863

This collection contains one twelve-page pamphlet titled Free Military School for Applicants for Commands of Colored Troops, No. 1210 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia. Established by Supervisory Committee for Recruiting Colored Regiments. John H. Taggart, Late Colonel 12th Regiment Pennsylvania Reserves, Preceptor., published in Philadelphia by King and Baird, Printers, 1863. The pamphlet explains the qualifications—such as physical fitness, education, and knowledge of military principles—that men should have in order to be accepted as commanding officers in the United States Colored Troops. The pamphlet explains that the Free Military School will train applicants in these qualifications, indicating that students may gain practical experience at nearby Camp William Penn, “the largest camp existing for the organization and disciplining of Colored Troops” (p. 7). The back of the pamphlet lists seventy-one members of the Supervisory Committee for Recruiting Colored Regiments, including Thomas Webster, chairman, and Caldwalader Biddle, secretary, whose bylines appear on p. 8 of the pamphlet following a section on “the urgent need of officers.”