In this illustration from Frank Leslie's Weekly, the usual support roles played by black soldiers are given due attention, but the large central image represents their bravery in combat at the battle of Milliken's Bend. Part of the Vicksburg campaign in June 1863, the battle was fought in part by a unit of black soldiers, recently freed slaves who had been ill-trained and ill-armed. Helped by gunboats, they held off the Confederate attack. Assistant Secretary of War Charles A. Dana wrote that "the bravery of the blacks completely revolutionized the sentiment of the army with regard to the employment of negro troops."