Federal infantry pushed across these fields on the morning of April 9, 1865. A column of 15,000 infantry of the Army of the James, including more than 5,000 United States Colored Troops, blocked retreating Confederate forces. A Federal soldier wrote that the infantry advanced in "two columns - black and white - side-by-side - in a regular checkerboard." More than 180,000 African Americans served in the United States Army during the Civil War. Despite initial opposition, the U.S. Army began enlisting African Americans in late 1862, and over half of the recruits were formerly enslaved. Seven United States Colored Troops infantry regiments helped defeat Lee's Army of Northern Virginia here, leading to the emancipation of over 250,000 enslaved Virginians. The United States Colored Troops present at Appomattox Court House came from various backgrounds, including Henry Crenshaw, a 20-year-old free man from Lynchburg, Virginia, who enlisted in the 8th United States Colored Troops in Washington, D.C., in November 1864 as a substitute and mustered out in November 1865; Alexander Dennis, a 35-year-old man born enslaved in Prince Edward County, Virginia, who volunteered in the 45th United States Colored Troops in Wheeling, West Virginia, in July 1864 and died of pneumonia at Fort Monroe in August 1865; Nelson C. Davis, a 21-year-old formerly enslaved man from North Carolina, who was drafted into the 8th United States Colored Troops in Utica, New York, in September 1863, mustered out in November 1865, and later married Harriet Tubman; Abe Dola, a 26-year-old sailor from China, who volunteered in the 31st United States Colored Troops in Norwich, Connecticut, in January 1864 and deserted in July 1865; and John Peck, a 35-year-old free man from Venango County, Pennsylvania, and a barber, who was drafted into the 8th United States Colored Troops in August 1863 and mustered out in November 1865.