351:"When I was about twelve years old, a large caravan arrived from Fezzan, and it was said a Sârâ (white man) was one of the party. This raised a great excitement, particularly among us children, for we had heard fabulous tales concerning them. For example, we were told that the whites were cannibals, and all the slaves that they bought were for no other but culinary purposes. Sure enough, there arrived a white man, and the King assigned him a dwelling situated in East Kouka... The first time I saw him was one day when he was in the market, outside of Kouka, and I ran from him."
255:. Unlike most of the African Americans who served in the United States Army during the war, neither Said nor any of his ancestors had ever been enslaved in the United States. Rather, Said voluntarily immigrated to the United States and then volunteered to fight in the war. Near the end of the war, he requested attachment to the Hospital Department so that he could take up the study of medicine. An 1867 journalist's account suggests that, after the war, Said fell in love with an American woman and married her. They are reported to have settled in
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arrows." While Denham attributes his survival to Barca Gana's prowess in combat, he also noted that Barca Gana had to be dissuaded from leaving the wounded white man behind, as the general did not want to divert military resources for the preservation of an adventurer who was not even a Muslim. Advised by one of his party that God seemed to want Denham preserved, Barca Gana delivered Denham to safety.
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chief with his own hand brought down four Bornu warriors, when Barca Gana, whose strength was gigantic, threw a spear from a distance of thirty-five yards and laid the pagan low..." Denham's report added of Barca Gana's heroism, "The Bornu general had three horses killed under him by poisoned
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woman named Dalia. Said was raised primarily by his mother. According to Said, his father had four wives, and was "large, tall, and well proportioned; resembling more a giant than an ordinary man." "My father greatly distinguished himself under our immortal
220:. Said traveled widely in Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and the Russian Empire, later venturing to the Caribbean, South America, Canada, and the United States. In his account of his life and travels, Said decried the aggression of
336:, but he cast Denham as the hero rather than Barca Gana, despite Denham's only surviving because Fulani warriors wanted to seize his clothing to use as "proof" that Christians were being used to fight in the
176:, was a famous general and his unusual aptitude for learning languages, however, led to the elevation of his social position. Having learned Arabic in his youth in Central Africa, he quickly learned the
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184:, who provided him with a French tutor after recognizing his exceptional linguistic abilities. By the time of his 1872 memoirs, he reported familiarity or fluency with the
270:, he did not disclose his service in the United States Army in his memoirs. A trophy photograph of Said posing in his U.S. Army uniform, during his attachment to the
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589:(2023), The Sergeant: The Incredible Life of Nicholas Said: Son of an African General, Slave of the Ottomans, Free Man Under the Tsars, Hero of the Union Army
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The
Sergeant: The Incredible Life of Nicholas Said: Son of an African General, Slave of the Ottomans, Free Man Under the Tsars, Hero of the Union Army
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accompanied a military expedition in which the forces of Bornu under Barca Gana were joined with those of an Arab slave-raiding army and those of the
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Allan D. Austin. "Mohammed Ali Ben Said: Travels on Five
Continents." Contributions in Black Studies, Volume 12, Article 15: October 2008
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The military prowess of Said's father is described by an
English traveler who had the opportunity to witness Barca Gana in combat.
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303:, the Washington of Bornou... He was the terror of... the enemies of our Country, and wherever he appeared the enemy fled..."
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Nicholas Said was not born until years after his father's wartime episode against the Sokoto
Caliphate, recalled by Denham. (
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406:"Nicholas Said, 1836-1882. The Autobiography of Nicholas Said, A Native of Bournou, Eastern Soudan, Central Africa"
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language of his enslavers. Demonstrating proficiency in
Russian, he became the servant of Russian Prince
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army) Said did report his first encounter with a white man, whom he identified as the German researcher
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468:"Summary of the Autobiography of Nicholas Said, A Native of Bournou, Eastern Soudan, Central Africa"
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Safet
Dabovic. Out of Place: The Travels of Nicholas Said. Criticism, Vol. 54, No. 1., pp. 59-83
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259:, where Said wrote his memoirs. Said's later life is unclear, but one account has him dying in
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Paul E. Lovejoy. Mohammed Ali
Nicholas Sa'id: From Enslavement to American Civil War Veteran
152:(born Mohammed Ali ben Sa'id, c. 1836–1882) was a traveler, translator, soldier, and author.
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Paul
Lovejoy. Jihad in West Africa During the Age of Revolutions. pp. 242-3; 258, 2016,
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Said described himself as being a
Kanouri speaker born in "Kouka" (now Kukawa), near
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Charles Henry Eden. "Africa, Seen
Through Its Explorers" pp. 135-6, 2010,
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Thunder at the Gates: The Black Civil War Regiments That Redeemed America
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The rise and fall of Fulani rule in Adamawa 1809-1901
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224:against his homeland, described his pilgrimage to
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272:55th United States Colored Infantry Regiment
623:African Americans in the American Civil War
32:Nicholas Said, taken in Boston in July 1863
330:would later retell the story in his novel
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564:(phd thesis). SOAS University of London.
518:"MHS Collections Online: Nicholas Said"
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232:, and reflected on his conversion from
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314:. In combat against the forces of the
247:From 1863 to 1865, Said served in the
132:55th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry
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628:Union Army non-commissioned officers
216:, as well as some experience with
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558:Njeuma, Martin Zachary (1969).
182:Alexander Sergeyevich Menshikov
598:. New York : Basic Books.
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266:Because he was living in the
648:19th-century Nigerian people
638:People from the Bornu Empire
65:1882 (aged 45–46)
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318:, Denham reported that "A
168:, Said fell victim to the
594:Egerton, Douglas (2017).
170:Trans-Saharan slave trade
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368:Calbreath, Dean (2003).
268:Reconstruction-era South
86:United States of America
76:United States of America
633:People from Borno State
574:Autobiography, pp. 25-6
333:Five Weeks in a Balloon
286:, the son of General (
261:Brownsville, Tennessee
257:St. Stephens, Alabama
112:Years of service
41:Mohammed Ali ben Said
440:"A Native of Bornoo"
447:Tubmaninstitute.ca
253:American Civil War
142:American Civil War
102:United States Army
372:. Pegasus Books.
312:Sultan of Mandara
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166:Bornu Empire
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56:Bornu Empire
618:1882 deaths
328:Jules Verne
251:during the
68:Brownsville
607:Categories
478:2019-03-18
355:References
292:Barca Gana
249:Union Army
174:Barca Gana
106:Union Army
82:Allegiance
38:Birth name
284:Lake Chad
115:1863–1865
72:Tennessee
527:19 March
452:19 March
415:19 March
320:Fellatah
288:Katzalla
218:Armenian
160:Born in
123:Sergeant
96:Service/
582:Sources
342:Mandara
296:Mandara
210:Italian
202:Russian
198:Turkish
190:Mandara
49:c. 1836
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294:and a
206:German
194:Arabic
186:Kanuri
162:Kukawa
98:branch
52:Kukawa
443:(PDF)
338:Bornu
234:Islam
226:Mecca
90:Union
543:ISBN
529:2019
502:ISBN
454:2019
417:2019
374:ISBN
242:Riga
230:Czar
212:and
156:Life
128:Unit
120:Rank
62:Died
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
