The history of formerly enslaved people who helped fight for their own freedom will come alive before a crowd of students and spectators Friday at Port Gibson City Hall.

At 1 p.m. Friday, the city will commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Coleman’s Crossroads Plantation and the service of U.S. Colored Troops during the Civil War.

“We’re covering the story from facts and brining out the stories that have been hidden and unknown for decades,” said Ser Seshsh Ab Heter-CM Boxley of Natchez who is helping coordinate the program for Port Gibson.

Boxley’s name is a reflection of his African roots and the plantation on which his ancestors were enslaved.

He is also coordinator of Friends of Forks of the Roads Society’s annual Black and Blue living history events highlight the contribution of black soldiers during the Civil War.

The Battle of Coleman’s Crossroads Plantation was fought July 4, 1864, in southern Claiborne County near the present-day intersection of Mississippi 552 and U.S. 61. U.S. Colored troops including an ancestor of Claiborne County Economic Development District director Milton Chambliss fought in the battle.

“They’re trying to build their tourism industry, so they wanted to help start commemorating the role of ex-slaves in Claiborne County in securing their own freedom in the Union Army,” Boxley said.

During the event, Boxley will be portraying the freedman who told Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s army where to safely cross the Mississippi River from Louisiana into Mississippi during his Vicksburg Campaign of 1863.

“He only gets one line in the history books, but I’ve created a living history to bring him alive and tell the story,” Boxley said.

Another historical figure portrayed is Elijah Wilkins, an ancestor of Port Gibson Mayor Fred Reeves. Wilkins followed Grants army from Port Gibson to Vicksburg where he enlisted in the Third Mississippi Infantry of African Descent.  He fought at Milliken’s Bend, La., on June 7, 1863.

Others soldiers and historical figures and being portrayed include William T. Montgomery who became a Union sailor and his younger brother, Isaiah Montgomery who served as a cabin boy for Union Admiral David Dixon Porter.

The Montgomery brothers were enslaved on Hurricane Plantation in Warren County. Hurricane Plantation was owned by Joseph Davis, the older brother of Confederate President Jefferson Davis.