John D. Warner, Jr.

The service of African-American soldiers during the Civil War is one of that conflict's most stirring, if still not completely understood, aspects.

Where the infantry regiments recruited largely free Blacks from the North, the 5th focused on escaped slaves who it was believed would be better horsemen. Not only would the former slaves be fighting for themselves, but they would be fighting to liberate loved ones still enslaved.

As part of the mostly Black XXV Corps, the cavalrymen found themselves at the vanguard of the Union army as it captured Richmond. On April 3, 1865, the 5th Massachusetts Cavalry Regiment was among the first units to enter the burning Confederate capital, at once a hellscape of destruction and a heaven for liberated slaves. Denied the rapid demobilization granted white regiments, the 5th ended the war in Texas on the Mexican border.

Riders in the Storm covers the story of the African-American cavalrymen of the 5th Massachusetts. Author John Warner has literal fingertip command of the primary sources, and after spending two decades researching letters, diaries, reports, newspapers, and more, he tells a story of resilience in the face of adversity.