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History of African Americans in the Civil War |
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John Brown Took Harpers Ferry Hostage October 16, 1859
"Once let the black man get upon his person the brass letters, U.S., let him get an eagle on his button, and a musket on his shoulder and bullets in his pockets, and there is no power on earth which can deny that he has earned the right to citizenship in the United States." - - Frederick Douglass
These words spoken by Frederick Douglassmoved many African Americans to enlist in the Union Army and fight for their freedom. With President Abraham Lincoln's issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, the Civil War became a war to save the union and to abolish slavery.
Approximately 180,000 African Americans comprising 163 units served in the Union Army during the Civil War, and many more African Americans served in the Union Navy. Both free Africans Americans and runaway slaves joined the fight.
On July 17, 1862, Congress passed two acts allowing the enlistment of African Americans, but official enrollment occurred only after the September, 1862 issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation. In general, white soldiers and officers believed that black men lacked the courage to fight and fight well. In October, 1862, African American soldiers of the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteers silenced their critics by repulsing attacking Confederates at the battle of Island Mound, Missouri. By August, 1863, 14 Negro Regiments were in the field and ready for service. At the battle of Port Hudson, Louisiana, May 27, 1863, the African American soldiers bravely advanced over open ground in the face of deadly artillery fire. Although the attack failed, the black soldiers proved their capability to withstand the heat of battle.
On July 17, 1863, at Honey Springs, Indian Territory, now Oklahoma, the 1st Kansas Colored fought with courage again. Union troops under General James Blunt ran into a strong Confederate force under General Douglas Cooper. After a two-hour bloody engagement, Cooper's soldiers retreated. The 1st Kansas, which had held the center of the Union line, advanced to within fifty paces of the Confederate line and exchanged fire for some twenty minutes until the Confederates broke and ran. General Blunt wrote after the battle, "I never saw such fighting as was done by the Negro regiment....The question that negroes will fight is settled; besides they make better solders in every respect than any troops I have ever had under my command."
The most widely known battle fought by African Americans was the assault on Fort Wagner, South Carolina, by the 54th Massachusettson July 18, 1863. The 54th volunteered to lead the assault on the strongly-fortified Confederate positions. The soldiers of the 54th scaled the fort's parapet, and were only driven back after brutal hand-to-hand combat.
Although black soldiers proved themselves as reputable soldiers, discrimination in pay and other areas remained widespread. According to the Militia Act of 1862, soldiers of African descent were to receive $10.00 a month, plus a clothing allowance of $3.50. Many regiments struggled for equal pay, some refusing any money until June 15, 1864, when Congress granted equal pay for all black soldiers.
African American soldiers participated in every major campaign of 1864-1865 except Sherman's invasion of Georgia. The year 1864 was especially eventful for African American troops. On April 12, 1864, at Fort Pillow, Tennessee, Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest led his 2,500 men against the Union-held fortification, occupied by 292 black and 285 white soldiers. After driving in the Union pickets and giving the garrison an opportunity to surrender, Forrest's men swarmed into the fort with little difficulty and drove the Federals down the river's bluff into a deadly crossfire. Casualties were high and only sixty-two of the U.S. Colored Troops survived the fight. Many accused the Confederates of perpetuating a massacre of black troops, and the controversy continues today. The battle cry for the Negro soldier east of the Mississippi River became "Remember Fort Pillow!"
The Battle of New Market Heights, Virginia (Chaffin's Farm) became one of the most heroic engagements involving African Americans. On September 29, 1864, the African American division of the Eighteenth Corps, after being pinned down by Confederate artillery fire for about 30 minutes, charged the earthworks and rushed up the slopes of the heights. During the hour-long engagement the division suffered tremendous casualties. Of the sixteen African Americans who were awarded the Medal of Honor during the Civil War, fourteen received the honor as a result of their actions at New Market Heights.
In January, 1864, General Patrick Cleburne and several other Confederate officers in the Army of the Tennessee proposed using slaves as soldiers since the Union was using black troops. Cleburne recommended offering slaves their freedom if they fought and survived. Confederate President Jefferson Davis refused to consider Cleburne's proposal and forbade further discussion of the idea. The concept, however, did not die. By the fall of 1864, the South was losing more and more ground, and some believed that only by arming the slaves could defeat be averted. On March 13, the Confederate Congress passed General Order 14, and President Davis signed the order into law. The order was issued March 23, 1865, but only a few African American companies were raised, and the war ended before they could be used in battle.
In actual numbers, African American soldiers comprised 10% of the entire Union Army. Losses among African Americans were high, and from all reported casualties, approximately one-third of all African Americans enrolled in the military lost their lives during the Civil War.
African American Civil War History in the National Park System
There are many sites in the National Park System that include places associated with African American history during the Civil War period. The following are some that illustrate many of these significant places and events.
Andersonville National Historic Site, Georgia
This Civil War Confederate prisoner of war camp commemorates the sacrifices borne by American prisoners not only in the 1861-1865 conflict but in all wars. The Union prison population included many African Americans. During the Civil War, the Confederacy's threat to sell black prisoners into slavery and to execute their white officers ended prisoner exchanges. Antietam National Battlefield, Maryland
General Robert E. Lee's first invasion of the North was ended in this battlefield in 1862. Lincoln used the occasion of the Union victory here to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. Boston African American National Historic Site, Massachusetts: African Meeting House
The African Meeting House is the oldest standing African American church building in the United States. Completed in 1806, it has been the site of many events significant in African American history through all periods. Here, in 1832, William Lloyd Garrison founded the New England Antislavery Society, one of the milestones in the Abolitionist movement. During the Civil War, members of the Massachusetts 54th Infantry enlisted at the Meeting House. The building today, restored to its mid-1850's appearance, is on the fifteen sites on the Black Heritage Trail, which travels through the largest concentration of pre-Civil War African American historic sites in the United States. Boston African American National Historic Site, Massachusetts: Shaw Memorial
This park includes the Robert Gould Shaw Memorial monument honoring the 54th Massachusetts Regiment, the most famous African American unit of the Civil War, and the subject of the movie "Glory." The memorial was designed by Augustus Saint Gaudens, sponsored by the family of Robert Gould Shaw. It was dedicated in 1897 and is recognized as one of the finest works of American sculpture. The 54th Massachusetts Regiment was the first regular Army unit of African Americans raised in the North in the Civil War. The unit held enormous significance for blacks, embodying their struggle against slavery and racism, and represented their hopes for the future. Massachusetts abolitionist Governor John A. Andrews organized the unit between January and May 1863. The Lincoln administration permitted him to commission only whites as officers, but Andrew sought out those men who possessed military experience, opposed slavery, and embraced this idea of black military service. Andrew worked closely with black leaders like Lewis Hayden to win the confidence of the African American community and promised eventually to commission black men as officers. Andrew declared his commitment to the regiment, announcing that his honor "as a man and a magistrate" would "rise or fall" with the Fifty-fourth. Enlistees came from across the North and included the well-educated sons of black leaders like Frederick Douglass. The regiment quickly proved its fighting ability in the South Carolina sea islands and led the attack on Battery Wagner, a key Confederate fortification in Charleston's defensive network. Although the 18 July 1863 assault failed and cost the unit its fabled commander, Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, and 272 casualties, the unit's valor won the right for blacks to serve in the army. Nearly 179,000 African Americans subsequently enlisted and played a crucial role in the victory over slavery and the South. Equally important, the unit led the fight for racial justice. For eighteen months, the 54th and other black units in the Department of the South refused all pay until the federal government ended its policy of unequal pay for black soldiers. Although promised the same pay and benefits as whites, all blacks regardless of rank received less pay than white privates. Near mutinous conditions prevailed in the Fifty-fourth until Congress bowed to pressure and adopted legislation equalizing the pay of black and white troops. In the closing months of the war, elements of the Fifty-fourth were the first Union soldiers to occupy Charleston, the seat of secessionist fervor. The unit also destroyed valuable rail stock and liberated hundreds of slaves in the back country of north Georgia and South Carolina before mustering out of service in August 1865. Fort Scott NHS, Kansas
The right to bear arms against the Confederate army was considered a part of emancipation. The First Kansas Colored, the first black regiment to see combat in the Civil War, and the Second Kansas Colored, were mustered here. Fort Sumter NM, South Carolina
It was near here at Fort Wagner that the famous African American regiment, the 54th Massachusetts under Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, made its heroic attack. The 54th let the attack, scaled the parapet, and were only driven back after brutal hand-to-hand combat. Frederick Douglass NHS, Washington D.C.
Frederick Douglass saw the Civil War as the inevitable consequence of man's inhumanity to man and a necessary conflagration to break the bonds of slavery. He saw immediately that if former slaves could fully participate in the fighting, they could not be denied full citizenship in the Republic. George Luther Turner, one of the original backers of John Brown, became a major in the Union Army. He immediately turned to Douglass to help recruit "Colored" ; Troops. The March issue of "Douglass Monthly" issued the well known challenge "Men of Color To Arms." Douglass recruited over one hundred free blacks from upstate New York for the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts. Among the recruits arriving at boot camp were two of Douglass' sons Lewis and Charles. Lewis, the older son, served as the first sergeant major of the 54th and he was in the thick of the fighting at Fort Wagner where 1515 Union troops were mowed down by a blistering barrage from the Confederate stronghold. Lewis marveled that he returned unharmed from the assault. President Lincoln sought Douglass' advise and invited him to the White House. Apparently the two men came to an immediate understanding and respect for one another. Douglass left that meeting feeling that his concerns would be addressed and he agreed to continue to do more recruiting. Douglass had one more meeting with Lincoln on behalf of the black soldiers concerning equal pay. He felt that his advise was sincerely sought and duly considered. Nevertheless, Douglass was often frustrated by Lincoln's procrastination in issuing the Emancipation Proclamation. The Emancipation Proclamation, which went into effect on January 1, 1863, was a decisive moment in the relationship of Douglass and Lincoln. Once having been issued, the slavery system was doomed. Douglass had persuaded Lincoln to make the pronouncement, and once having done so, the course of the war and the future of the nation were profoundly changed. Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania NMP, Virginia
Portions of four major Civil War Battlefields - Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House - Chatham Manor, Salem Church, and the historic building in which Stonewall Jackson died comprise the park. Fredericksburg National Cemetery is within the park and contains the graves of several USCT soldiers. George Washington Memorial Parkway, Virginia
The 1st USCT encamped and trained on the Theodore Roosevelt Island. Gettysburg NMP, Pennsylvania
The great Civil War battle fought here July 1-3, 1863, repulsed the second Confederate invasion of the North and today, the park has numerous historic items including a collection of several dozen African American Civil War museum objects from the Gladstone collection. Petersburg NB, Virginia
More USCT soldiers fought at Petersburg than at any other Civil War battle. One of their most notable actions included their participation in the Battle of the Crater during which African American soldiers suffered horrific losses attempting to seize Petersburg. Rock Creek Park, Washington D.C.
The park contains several sites that were used in the movement of African Americans along the Underground Railroad from slavery to freedom. Springfield Armory NHS, Massachusetts
From 1794 to 1968 Springfield Armory was a center for manufacture of U.S. military small arms and the scene of many important technological advances. Several types of weapons used by USCT were manufactured at the Springfield Armory. Vicksburg NMP, Mississippi
It was during the engagements for this vital city that African American soldiers battled Confederate soldiers at Milliken's Bend in 1863.
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