During the American Civil War,
During the American Civil War, Virginia resident William Terrill Bradby was one of an estimated 20,000 Native Americans who served with Union military forces in the fight against the Confederacy. A large part of Bradby’s own contributions to the Union cause involved maritime transportation. A member of the Pamunkey Tribe, Bradby was born in Virginia in 1833. After the Civil War broke out in 1861, Bradby remained loyal to the Union even though Virginia joined the Confederacy. Bradby’s unwavering decision to side with the North resulted in his church expelling him from its congregation. Even more significantly, his military service on behalf of the Union often placed him at high risk and in harm’s way. Bradby’s initial activities with the Union forces included serving as a land guide and scout for the Army of the Potomac during the Peninsula Campaign in southeastern Virginia in 1862. The following year, however, Bradby exchanged those land-based assignments for “water duty” when he join...