House Recognizes Asian American Soldiers of Civil War
Saturday, Aug. 9, 2008

Bill singles out two Chinese American soldiers who fought for the Union army.

Edward Day Cohota, alias Sing How, fought in the Civil
War and served in the U.S. Army for 30 years, but never
received his U.S. citizenship.

WASHINGTON.— The U.S. House of Representatives on July 30 passed a resolution honoring Asian American and Pacific Islander soldiers who fought in the Civil War, culminating a five-year battle to help correct the historical record.

Historians have recently uncovered evidence that hundreds of soldiers of AAPI heritage fought on both the Union and Confederate sides, continuing a long tradition of significant AAPI contribu­tions to the history of the United States. House Resolution 415 posthumously honors Edward Day Cohota and Joseph L. Pierce, both of Chinese ancestry, as examples of this overlooked group of men.

“The history of America would be to­tally different without the contributions of Asian Americans. Asian Americans have been an integral part of making our country great,” said Rep. Mike Honda, who introduced the bill. “I am pleased that heroes such as Pierce and Cohota will finally take the place they deserve in our nation’s memory.”

The resolution, co-sponsored by more than 50 legislators from both parties, focuses on the actions of Co­hota and Pierce, the two most widely documented AAPI Civil War soldiers. Cohota’s comrades gave testimony of the seven bullet holes in his coat during the battle of Drury Bluff. Pierce fought at the Battle of Gettysburg, volunteering for a dangerous assault on Bliss Farm, a bloody no-man’s land between the Union and Confederate armies. Both men were Union soldiers.

Despite the sacrifice of hundreds of men such as Pierce and Cohota, the bigoted laws of the day denied them the right to naturalize as U.S. Citizens. Honda said this resolution was the least that could be done to honor their memory