Little-Known Black History Fact: Richard Poplar

Private Richard "Dick" Poplar is the subject of today's "Little-Known Black History Fact."

The name Richard Poplar resonates largely with the people of Petersburg, Virginia, especially on Sept. 18th, when the town will celebrate its 7th annual Richard Poplar Day.

Private Richard "Dick" Poplar was a 19th century African-American Confederate soldier who was held captive as a P.O.W. in July 1863 during the battle at Gettysburg. It was said that he had attached himself to the Sussex Light Dragoons, a gang of wealthy men who eventually made up Company H of the Confederate Army.

Poplar was imprisoned at Fort Delaware for five months then held at Point Lookout, a Maryland prison, for an additional 14 months. His legacy was defined by the way he took care of the other captured Petersburg soldiers, like the ones who were held during the Petersburg Battle of the Old Men and Young Boys in 1864. Poplar was released in exchange on March 1, 1865 and sent to Petersburg where he returned to his job as a chef at Bollinbrook Hotel.

In 1886, Poplar was buried along with the rest of the black soldiers in unmarked graves at Blandford Cemetary on Memorial Hill, even though he had been given a large military funeral with high-ranking pallbearers, including captains and colonels. But It wasn’t until a ceremony in 2004 that Poplar received a headstone, and Sept. 18 was declared Richard Poplar Day.

The number of black Confederate soldiers in the Civil War ranged between 60 to 100,000, but only about 15,000 saw actual combat.

Little-Known Black History Fact: Richard Poplar