U.S. Colored Troops Memorial "Resurrection of Valor"

Located in Cave Springs Heritage Plaza, this statue recognizes the service of over 2500 formerly enslaved men who served in the United States Army in Giles County during the Civil War.

Also known as "Resurrection of Valor," this bronze statue shows a black soldier looking at and talking to a young black child.

This was created by local sculptor Pamela Sue Keller, as an initiative of Pulaski's Community Advisory Council for Inclusive Recognition & Acknowledgement (CACIRA). It is located in Cave Springs Heritage Plaza on N. 1st Street, Pulaski.

The statue commemorates the former enslaved men who served in the 110th & 111th regiments of the U.S. Colored Troops of Giles County, TN.

This project was the vision of retired local educator Mrs. Vivian Sims who funded the project herself and helped create a partnership with CACIRA and the City of Pulaski. The intent is that it will send a message of hope and inspiration to younger generations.

During the Civil War, many African-American men escaped slavery to become soldiers in the U.S. Army.

Here in Giles County, the U.S. Army organized the 110th & 111th Regiment U.S. Colored Troops (U.S.C.T.) in late 1863 and early 1864. Most of the soldiers who joined these units had lived their entire lives in slavery. Most of them lived in Giles County, though some came from neighboring Tennessee counties or from the northern counties of Alabama and Mississippi.

The U.S. Army controlled Giles County for most of the Civil War, and the 110th & 111th U.S.C.T. were a critical part of the U.S. Army's success here. Their most important job was to protect the Nashville-Decatur Railroad and the Columbia Turnpike (present-day Highway 31) in Pulaski and Giles County. These local U.S. Colored Troops didn't work alone. Other U.S.C.T. regiments and white U.S. Army units from across the country were sent to Giles County to help defend against Confederate forces. Many of these U.S. soldiers were stationed at Fort Lilly in North Pulaski. 

After military losses at battles at Athens & Sulphur Creek Trestle, Alabama in late 1864, these units helped defend Pulaski against Nathan B. Forrest's Confederate forces. Elements of these regiments served with distinction at the Battle of Nashville and in U.S. General William T. Sherman’s campaign in Georgia. Some soldiers in the 110th & 111^th suffered and died in Confederate captivity, especially as prisoners of war in Mobile, Alabama.

After the Civil War’s official end in April 1865, many of these U.S.C.T. soldiers continued to serve the United States here while Tennessee transitioned out of the defeated Confederate States and back into the United States of America. Later, many of these veterans remained in Pulaski & Giles County. Some became prominent African-American community members, church leaders, and educators who made Giles County into the community it is today.

There is a Civil War Trails interpretive sign in the same park. You can view this sign at https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=246047

Learn more about the project and access a full list of U.S. Colored Troops who served in Pulaski at https://www.visitpulaski.com/usctmemorial

Program, Unveiling of "Resurrection of Valor," June 2023, accessible at https://www.visitpulaski.com/usctmemorial