George Moses Horton, A Civil War Poet explores Horton’s poetry through a different lens, expanding Horton’s impact on history. 

 

Horton (1797-1883?) is not a widely known figure, and most who do know of Horton do not have a full understanding of his historical and literary importance. Horton is most commonly recognized for being the first Black man to publish a book in the South due to the 1829 publication of The Hope of Liberty. During his lifetime, he also published two other books: The Poetical Works (1845) and Naked Genius (1865).

 

Horton’s accomplishments in the publication of his books are historically important and deserve much more recognition than they receive. However, the poems within the books also tell an interesting story. 

 

Naked Genius is Horton’s third and final published book, and some of its content focuses on the Civil War. At some point during April 1865, Horton escaped slavery in Chatham County, North Carolina and traveled to Raleigh, North Carolina where he crossed into land controlled by the Union. From that point forward, he traveled alongside the 9th Michigan Cavalry Volunteers and forged a relationship with Captain William H.S. Banks. Captain Banks would later sponsor and publish Naked Genius.
 

Naked Genius stands out historically from Horton’s other published work as it offers perspective on the Civil War from a rarely found narrator, a formerly enslaved Black man. Throughout the book, Horton protests slavery, explores the nation’s intense emotions, tells stories from soldiers’ points of view, and documents historic moments. Naked Genius is an untapped resource for historians trying to paint a more diverse picture of the American Civil War which so commonly only highlights white protagonists. 

 

Throughout George Moses Horton, A Civil War Poet, Horton’s movements alongside the 9th Michigan Cavalry Volunteers are mapped and a timeline for Horton’s freedom is proposed. Poems from Naked Genius are also annotated with emphasis on both their historical and literary importance. 

 

George Moses Horton, A Civil War Poet spotlights a new angle of study on Horton, and hopes to help Horton’s name one day be included alongside those such as Emily Dickinson, George Henry Boker, Henry Timrod, and Walt Whitman in discussions surrounding America’s celebrated Civil War poets.

 

Sources

 

George Moses Horton, A Civil War Poet pulls from a variety of sources, all sited on individual pages.

 

Information on movements by the 9th Michigan Cavalry is pulled heavily from Assistant Adjutant General, Col. George H. Turner’s Record of Service of Michigan Volunteers in the Civil War (1861-1865).

 

Authors

 

Ella Sullivan created George Moses Horton, A Civil War Poet as an individual-research project as an undergraduate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

 

Eliza Richards acted as advisor on this project and is currently compiling a book on Horton.