The Role of Black Troops
The idea of black soldiers was initially anathema to many in the North, but by mid-1863, state-raised
black regiments had begun to see action and regiments of the United States Colored Troops (U.S.C.T)
were being formed. By the war’s end, African-Americans were a vital component of the Federal armies.
THE UNION TIGHTENS ITS GRIP 1863resolution authorizing Davis to allow
such captured white officers to be put
to death and to sell black enlisted men
back into slavery.
Lincoln’s response to this was stern:
for every captured Federal officer put
to death, an imprisoned Confederate
officer would be summarily executed
in the North. There were no recorded
cases of white
officers being
executed by Rebel
authorities but
there is strong
evidence of seized
black soldiers
being returned
to slavery. Moreover, Southern soldiers
finding themselves confronted by black
Union soldiers often discarded any
semblance of obeying the rules of war.I
n addition to the hazards of battle
and other dangers of military life,
black soldiers faced other difficulties.
Confederates reacted strongly to the
prospect of black Union soldiers.
President Jefferson Davis issued a
proclamation in December 1862 that
directed all Confederate military officers
in the field to turn over captured black
Union soldiers and
their white officers
to state—not
Confederate—
authorities. In
this capacity any
prisoners could
be indicted for
insurrection or inciting insurrection and
sentenced to death. On May 1, 1863
the Confederate Congress went one
step further and passed a jointThe number of men
who enlisted in the
U.S.C.T.; at least 94,000 of them came
from Southern states and 80,000 from
the Northern states and territories; the
rest had unknown origins.178,895
BEFORE
Butler Medal, 1864
Instituted by Major General Benjamin Butler in 1864 to
honor the bravery of African-American troops, the Butler
Medal was the only one ever struck for black troops. It is
inscribed: “Freedom will be theirs by the sword.”When the war began few whites, in the
North as much as in the South, thought
it appropriate or even safe to permit
African-Americans to enlist as soldiers.
EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION
The formation of black regiments was
sanctioned by the Emancipation Proclamation
❮❮ 160–61. For Lincoln, enlisting black soldiers
was a practical measure to assist in preserving
the Union, but he feared repercussions from the
border states, where the idea of arming black
men was repugnant to most white citizens.
STATE-RAISED BLACK REGIMENTS
After the Confiscation Acts passed by the U.S.
Congress in 1862, Massachusetts, Connecticut,
and the military governments of occupied
Louisiana and South Carolina began forming
black regiments. Response to recruitment drives
was mixed—in the states of New England free
blacks had been turned away when they
tried to join up in 1861 and now some thought
twice about enlisting. In the occupied South,
freed slaves flocked to join up, excited by
the prospects of steady pay and striking a
blow against their former masters.
107th Regiment U.S. Colored Infantry
Although black soldiers fought for their country,
they were not U.S. citizens. Frederick Douglass said
that by bearing arms “no one can deny that [they
have] earned the right to citizenship.”