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John Basil Turchin and the Fight to Free the Slaves
John Basil Turchin and the Fight to Free the Slaves Author:Stephen Chicoine This book highlights the contributions of a Russian immigrant who became a Union officer during the Civil War. John Basil Turchin left Czarist Russia to embrace democracy in America. When the Civil War began, he rushed to defend the Union, his formal training in the Imperial Russian Army and his combat experience in the Crimean making him a valu... more »able officer. A man of conviction, he refused to be intimidated by commanding officers that were lenient toward rebels and the return of fugitive slaves to their masters. His subsequent court martial turned the trial into a focal point for Northern debate on the conduct of the war and the issue of slavery.« less