Nigeria, Feb. 22 -- This third installment in the Nicholas Said column series expands on my previous pieces and brings the discussion to a conclusion.

Perhaps the final straw that broke Nicholas Said's back and drove him to leave combat duties during the Civil War was the imposition of an inexperienced 18-year-old white boy named Lieutenant Robertson James - described as "one of the least qualified officers in the regiment" - as the leader of his platoon.

On the day Said finally received his long-denied back pay of $200, he voluntarily resigned his sergeantship, demoted himself to private, laid down his arms, and requested a secretarial assignment. He later left that role to work at the army hospital.

Dr. Burt Green Wilder, a physician...