Black Soldiers in the American Civil War

The Civil War began with the Confederate barrage on Fort Sumter, South Carolina on April 12, 1861, as American Southerners waged in armed conflict against the U.S. government to preserve their way of living which entailed slavery. The reality of slavery’s abolishment motivated runway slaves and freed blacks to enlist in the Union Army but a 1792 law prohibited black or colored people from joining the military. The 16th U.S. President Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) contemplated the emancipation of slaves but feared this would provoke the border states to join the Confederacy. 

Untethered by politics and committed to weakening the Confederacy, Union Generals John C. Fremont (1813-1890) and David Hunter (1802-1886) enlisted liberated slaves under their military jurisdictions into their ranks. Major General Fremont was appointed by President Lincoln to command the Department of the West on November 02, 1861, and border state Missouri was within his jurisdiction. Fremont attempted to persuade Missouri to side with the Union by freeing and recruiting Missouri slaves into the Union Army, but President Lincoln relieved Fremont of command fearing Fremont’s actions would push Missouri to join the Confederacy. Major General Hunter who served under Major General Fremont in Missouri was appointed to command the Department of the South in March 1862. Hunter, advocated arming blacks as soldiers for the Union cause, and issued General Order No. 11, emancipating the slaves in Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida.

"The three States of Georgia, Florida and South Carolina, comprising the military department of the south, having deliberately declared themselves no longer under the protection of the United States of America, and having taken up arms against the said United States, it becomes a military necessity to declare them under martial law. This was accordingly done on the 25th day of April 1862. Slavery and martial law in a free country are altogether incompatible; the persons in these three States — Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina— heretofore held as slaves, are therefore declared forever free."

- Major General David Hunter, 1862

Following the issuance of General Order No. 11, Hunter enlisted black soldiers from South Carolina and formed the first such Union Army regiment, the 1st South Carolina (African Descent), a unit Hunter was ordered to disband; however, Congress later approved. President Lincoln revoked the approval over potential agitation in border states where slave holders could turn their support to the Confederacy. Abraham Lincoln’s worries about the border states waned as Confederate victories continued, and high Union casualty numbers drove down the number of white volunteers. In desperate need of fresh and motivated soldiers, President Lincoln heavily reflected on black recruitment. On July 17, 1862, the Second Confiscation and Militia Act was passed by Congress, which freed slaves who were the property of Confederate soldiers. By July 22, 1862, with a draft copy of the Emancipation Proclamation, Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery in the U.S. and black men were recruited into the Union Army. The Emancipation Proclamation was officially publicized on September 22, 1862 and took effect on January 01, 1863.

Black regiments from Massachusetts, South Carolina, and Tennessee were activated and citizenship was granted to enlistees. By May 1863 the Bureau of Colored Troops was organized to administer the muster of black troops. The Confederate government decreed that any black person captured taking up arms against the Confederacy would be charged with insurrection and would be put to death or enslaved. In response President Lincoln issued General Order 233 which mandated punishment of Confederate prisoners of war (POWs) for black Union soldier’s mistreatment.

The Union Army implemented unequal regulations on black soldiers such as less pay; $10 a month pay while white soldier’s monthly pay was $13 per month, and with $3 deducted from black soldier’s pay for uniforms, while white soldiers did not receive a pay deduction for uniforms. Congress finally agreed on equal pay to black Union troops in June 1864. Black units were often placed on work details instead of combat. White officers were commissioned to command black units whereas the few black commissioned officers during the war were never permitted to command white troops. Despite the reluctance to put black troops into action, black soldiers bravely fought in several key battles.

On May 27, 1863, Union Army Major General Nathaniel P. Banks (1816-1894) ordered assaults on the Confederate stronghold at Port Hudson, Louisiana. Two regiments consisting of black soldiers from the 1st and 2nd Louisiana Native Guards were among the first black soldiers in combat during the Civil War.

Union Army Colonel and Swiss immigrant Hermann Lieb (1826-1908) commanded a black soldiered brigade defending the garrison at Milliken’s Bend, Louisiana on June 7, 1863. He later commanded the 5th U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery.

The notable 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment was an all-black Union Army unit commanded by Colonel Robert Gould Shaw (1837-1863), assaulted the Confederate fortification of Fort Wagner on Morris Island, South Carolina on July 18, 1863. Although the assault resulted in heavy casualties and forced Union forces to retreat, Sergeant William H. Carney (1840-1908) heroically retrieved the 54th Massachusetts regimental colors. For his actions, Carney became the first black person awarded the highest military award; the Medal of Honor, presented to him on May 23, 1900.

In July 1864 Brigadier General Edward Ferrero (1831-1899) commanded the Ninth Army Corps’ Colored Division who were selected to lead the assault against the Confederate Army in the Siege of Petersburg, Virginia. On July 29, 1864, General George Meade (1815-1872) commanding general of the Army of the Potomac decided against the use of black soldiers to lead the attack. Meade’s reason was to avoid political repercussions if the attack was unsuccessful and potentially him being blamed with sacrificing black soldiers rather than white soldiers.

Black Union soldiers fought in the Battle of Nashville, Tennessee from December 15-16, 1864. The 12th, 13th, 14th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 44th, and 100th Regiments of the U.S. Colored Troops, consisting of approximately 13,000 black soldiers is the largest presence of black troops to fight in a single Civil War battle.

Black women aided the Union’s war efforts by serving as nurses, spies, and scouts. Slave-born abolitionist Harriet Tubman (1820-1913), served as a scout with the 2nd South Carolina Volunteer Colored Infantry Regiment, an all-black Union Army unit formed in 1863.

Throughout the war 120 blacks served as commissioned officers. The credit as the highest ranking is given to Lieutenant Colonel William N. Reed (1825-1864); however, he was a mulatto from the Danish West Indies; now U.S. Virgin Islands. His father was Danish, and his mother was a black slave from the Virgin Islands, but it is not known if she was mulatto or not. Reed was commissioned on June 01, 1863, appointed by Brigadier General Edward Wild (1825-1891), an abolitionist, who commanded a brigade in the Department of the South. Lieutenant Colonel Reed commanded the First North Carolina Colored Infantry Regiment, later designated the 35th U.S. Colored Troops. He died on February 27, 1864, from wounds suffered at the Battle of Olutsee, Florida. Many black officers served as chaplains, surgeons, and in leadership roles within the U.S. Colored Troops.

Major Martin R. Delaney (1812-1885) is famed as the first black field officer in the U.S. Army. Prior to joining the Army Delany recruited thousands of men for the Union Army. In February 1865, after meeting with President Lincoln on the creation of an all-black Corps led by black American officers, Delaney was commissioned a Major in the 52nd U.S. Colored Troops Regiment.

Approximately 180,000 black men served in the Union Army and about 19,000 served in the Union Navy. An estimated 40,000 black service members died during the Civil War, from infections or disease as well as on battlefields not mentioned in this article. Their service solidified black soldier’s effectiveness which carried on in black Army units dubbed Buffalo soldiers from 1866 to 1944, and well into an integrated U.S. military of the 21st century where service members of all races and ethnicities have excelled to the top ranks and command positions.

by Anthony E. Thomas