Historical Tangents

When I was researching for my article on the history of the Buffalo Soldiers, I came across a lot of information on african american soldiers during the Civil War and what I learned surprised me. I never would have guessed that there were black men willing to volunteer for the Confederacy nor that the Union Army would be so resistant to having them amongst their ranks. The more I learned, the more I wanted to know, and I wanted to take some time to share what I learned about the passionate and brave black soldiers of the Confederate and Union armies.

Confederate

The official policy of the Confederate Army was to deny any black volunteers, regardless of their free status. I didn’t find any exact reasoning for why these men chose to volunteer to fight for a country that wanted to keep them enslaved but, based on other research, I speculate that freedmen did this in the hopes of gaining freedom for any family that still enslaved. Fortunately for them, the Confederate States had no rule against individual states funding the formation of state militias made up of these black volunteers to serve alongside the main army.

The first of these militias was the Louisiana Native Guard formed in March of 1861. Further companies formed in Alabama and Tennessee, where some commanding officers actively recruited freedmen. Virginia received 130 volunteers between Richmond (where freedmen showed up sporting a Confederate flag) and Lynchburg. In Arkansas, two full companies of volunteer freedmen were formed by the end of 1861.

Though they were never fully conscripted into the Confederate army, these volunteers fought alongside Confederate soldiers with uniforms and weapons provided by their individual states. Frederick Douglas noted black Confederate soldiers at the battle of First Manassas in July of 1861. During the Peninsula Campaign of 1862, there were “several reports” (Broadwater, 2014) of black Confederates fighting alongside whites. Black snipers took out Union troops in Yorktown, and there was at least one report of a canon being manned entirely by black soldiers. Even at the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863, black soldiers were among the Confederate prisoners taken by the Union victors.

Outside of state-level volunteers, the Confederate Army did have black men among the labor force, but not in combat roles. These labor roles, such as cooking and serving meals and mending uniforms, were filled mainly by slaves that were being rented to the Confederate Army by their masters. Some freedmen also served these roles but they were forbidden from carrying weapons.

The first, and only, unit of black men to be officially conscripted by the Confederate Army wouldn’t come around until 1865. By then, the Confederacy was running out of white men to recruit and they had run out of freedmen volunteer units. Confederate President Davis pushed a bill that would call for 200,000 slaves to be freed and allowed into service. However, much arguing over the bill in Congress prevented it from being passed in time to make a difference.

Despite the setback, the 1^st Regiment of the Confederate States Colored Troops was formed of about 200 volunteer soldiers. Though they were short on training, men, and resources, they were eager to prove themselves. In their first and only battle just before the end of the war, they managed to hold their own against the initial wave of Union forces until the sheer manpower of their opponents overwhelmed them.

Union

Something that surprised me as I was researching this was how resistant the Union was to allowing black men to enlist in the beginning of the war. Freedmen and runaway slaves were both turned away by recruiters in the Union states. Not only was it against US military policy to allow non-whites to enlist, but President Abraham Lincoln refused to pass a ruling that would let them enlist because he feared angering the border states. Even when the Union allowed black men to enlist in 1863, recruitment was specific to freedmen (though many recruiters overlooked that detail to help fill quotas).

Approximately 200,000 African American soldiers served the Union army over the course of the war and many historians argue that the Union may not have won the war as early as they did, if they won at all.

Before the enlistment of black soldiers was officially allowed, there were some individuals in the Union army that went against official Union orders and attempted to create Colored Regiments in 1862. The most successful attempts came about in September of that year and created regiments that would go on to have a great impact on the Civil War.

In September of that year, Brigadier General James Lane went against direct orders and actively recruited to create the 1^st Kansas Colored Regiment and quickly found himself enough volunteers to create seven full companies by the end of the month. In October, they were strong enough in number and trained enough to participate in raids on Confederate strongholds. These men went on to be the first black Union soldiers to engage in combat with Confederates at Island Mound in Bates County, Missouri. Their first battle was a victory for the Union, and it paved the way for further recruitment and acceptance of black soldiers in the Union Army.

At around the same time, Major General Benjamin Butler was able to recruit the Louisiana Native Guard and put out a call for more recruitments in late August. He did specify that he wanted freedmen volunteers but his recruiters mostly ignored that order and the majority of the men that signed up were runaway slaves. On September 27^th, they became the first unit of black soldiers to be mustered into the Union Army.

Though the Union didn’t allow active recruitment of black soldiers into the Army until January of 1863, they did tentatively allow state-level units to be formed in late 1862 following the Emancipation Proclamation. This was great timing as the Union had also just enacted the Conscription Act, which would essentially create a draft if states weren’t able to meet their recruitment quotas for the month. This was not a popular move with the public as they were growing tired of the war and there were some violent protests over the issue. Being able to recruit willing black volunteers in the place of reluctant whites was a great way to avoid having a draft and risking public unrest. The first unit formed under this police was the 54^th Infantry in Massachusetts, which went on to be one of the most famous units in the Union and one of the only ones to retain their original name after being absorbed by the Union army.

Though black soldiers had won the right to enlist in the Union army, they didn’t get equal treatment as a part of the package. Black soldiers were paid less than their white counterparts ($10/month vs $13/month) despite being promised equal. After much lobbying by the soldiers, the Lincoln administration agreed to pay them their promised equal pay as well as backpay for the time they were underpaid, so long as they were able to prove that they were freedmen by May of 1861; very few of these soldiers were able to do so.

They also faced more danger in the battlefield than white soldiers did. The Confederacy considered any and all black soldiers who joined the Union army to be traitors and the Confederate Secretary of War sent out orders for them to be captured so they could be tried and hanged (President Davis would later expand this to include their white commanding officers). However, Confederate officers would often tell their men to kill any black soldiers on site and take no quarter. There were many eyewitness accounts of black soldiers being brutally killed both during battle and after Confederate victories.

Conclusion

Though the african american involvement in the Civil War has been downplayed and largely ignored by the general public and even some historians, there is no doubt that these men had an active role in fighting for their freedom and that of their fellow man. The bravery and passion these men displayed in battle was the first of many dominoes that fell towards the freedom and equality of all Americans of all races.

References:

The Buffalo Soldiers: Their Epic Story and Major Campaigns- Debra Scheffer PhD, 2015

Civil War Special Forces: The Elite and Distinct Fighting Units of the Union and Confederate Armies- Robert Broadwater, 2014