Although the reports of Negro determination to avenge Fort Pillow were probably exaggerated, it is true that in the last year of the war black troops fought in greater numbers and with greater efficiency than ever before. These troops played a major role in the final victory of Union arms. By October 20, 1864, there were 140 Negro regiments in the Federal service with a total strength of 101,950 men.1 Fifteen Negro regiments served in the Army of the James and twenty-three in the Army of the Potomac during the massive Union invasion of Virginia in the summer of 1864.2 Black troops participated in every other major Union campaign in 1864-65 except Sherman's invasion of Georgia.
It is obviously impossible to describe here all of the engagements in which Negro troops fought during 1864-65. Only a few of the battles can be discussed, and they must stand as representative of the whole. Negro soldiers played a vital role in the fighting around Petersburg, Virginia, in June 1864. Black regiments under General Edward Hinks assaulted and captured an important rebel entrenchment near the city. Secretary of War Stanton, referring to the battles near Petersburg, told a newspaper reporter that “the hardest fighting was done by the black troops. The forts they stormed were the worst of all. After the affair was over, General [William F.] Smith went to thank them, and tell them he was proud of their courage and dash. He says they cannot be exceeded as soldiers, and that hereafter he will send them in a difficult place as readily as the best white troops.”3 An officer of the Twenty-second U.S. Colored Infantry wrote enthusiastically to a Philadelphia newspaper:
The problem is solved. The negro is a man, a soldier, a hero. Knowing of your laudable interest in the colored troops, … I have thought it proper that I should let you know how they acquitted themselves in the late actions in front of Petersburg, of which you have already received newspaper accounts. If you remember, in my conversations upon the character of these troops. I carefully avoided saying anything about their fighting qualities till I could have an opportunity of trying them.
That opportunity came on [June 15th] and since, and I am now prepared to say that I never, since the beginning of this war, saw troops fight better, more bravely, and with more determination and enthusiasm. Our division, commanded by General Hinks, took the advance on the morning of the 15th inst., arrived in front of the enemy's works about 9 o'clock, A.M., formed line, charged them, and took them most handsomely…. We pushed on two and a half miles further, till we came in full view of the main defences of Petersburg. We formed line at about 2 o'clock P.M., reconnoitred and skirmished the whole afternoon, and we were constantly subject to the shells of the enemy's artillery. At sunset we charged these strong works, and carried them. Major Cook took one with the left wing of our regiment as skirmishers, by getting under the guns, and then preventing their gunners from using their pieces, while he gained the rear and redoubt, where there was no defence but the infantry, which, classically speaking, “skedaddled.” We charged across what appeared to be an almost impassable ravine, with the right wing at the time subject to a hot fire of grape and cannister, until we got so far under the guns as to be sheltered, when the enemy took to their rifle-pits as infantry men. Our brave fellows went steadily through the swamp, and up the side of a hill, at an angle of almost fifty degrees, rendered nearly impassable by fallen timber. Here, again, our color sergeant was conspicuous in keeping far ahead of the most advanced, hanging on to the side of the hill, till he would turn about and wave the stars and stripes at his advancing comrades; then steadily advancing again, under the fire of the enemy, till he could almost have reached their rifle-pits with his flagstaff. How he kept from being killed I do not know…. We left forty-three men wounded, and eleven killed in the ravine over which our men charged the last time. Our loss in the whole day's operations was one hundred and forty-three, including six officers, one of whom was killed. Sir, there is no underrating the good conduct of these fellows during these charges; with but a few exceptions, they all went in as old soldiers, but with more enthusiasm. I am delighted that our first action resulted in a decided victory….
Our men, unfortunately, owing to the irregular feature of the ground, took no prisoners. Sir, we can bayonet the enemy to terms on this matter of treating colored soldiers as prisoners of war far sooner than the authorities at Washington can bring him to it by negotiation. This I am morally persuaded of. I know further that the enemy won't fight us if he can help it. I am sure that the same number of white troops could not have taken those works on the evening of the 15th…. The real fact is, the rebels will not stand against our colored soldiers when there is any chance of their being taken prisoner.4
Thirteen Negro regiments fought at Chaff in's Farm in Virginia at the end of September, and of a total of thirty-seven Congressional Medals of Honor awarded to veterans ofthat battle, fourteen went to black soldiers.5 Negro troops were not confined to infantry and artillery units alone. By October 1864 there were six black cavalry regiments in the service. One of these was the Third U.S. Colored Cavalry, composed mainly of freedmen recruited from Mississippi and Tennessee in 1863. In March 1864 the Third U.S. Colored Cavalry was garrisoned in a fort defending Yazoo City, Mississippi. A large Confederate force attacked the city on March 5. One of the officers of the Negro regiment wrote the following account of the battle:
The combined forces of Ross and Richardson, numbering between 4,000 and 5,000 men, formed a cordon around the city during the night of March 4th, and at daylight on the morning of March 5th, they were hurled against the Union troops, numbering but 1,217 men and officers all told.
… The gun-boats could render no assistance in this fight, as the city and the Union troops were between them and the enemy. The rebels opened the fight by first advancing on the Ben-ton road, driving in the pickets of the Third U.S. Colored Cavalry…. The report of their carbines, volley after volley, as they met the attack, was the first sound to break the stillness of the early morning, denoting to the practiced ear that an attack in force was being made. Major Cook was at the fort, and hastened with a detachment of the regiment to support the picket, but the enemy came on with a rush that he could not check, and he was compelled to fall back and seek cover in the fort….
The enemies [sic] batteries, from their commanding positions on the adjacent hills, rained shot and shell into and around the besieged fort, some of the shot bursting in the air over the fort, the pieces falling among the men, killing and wounding many, … while the rebel sharpshooters, crouching in gully and ravine, closed in around the besieged fort, in readiness for the final rush, which was to carry the fort by assault. Surely the little fort and its brave defenders seemed doomed. It was well known that the Texans took no “nigger” prisoners, therefore no quarter could be expected…. Thus the battle raged for several hours, the enemy all the time taking more advanced ground, when the firing ceased, and a flag of truce was seen approaching the fort. Major Cook sprang upon the parapet, where he was hailed by Colonel Mabry of the Third Texas Cavalry, bearing a message from General Ross, demanding the immediate and unconditional surrender of the forces holding the fort, to which demand Major Cook made this reply, “My compliments to General Ross, and say to him that if he wants this fort to come and take it.” Colonel Mabry, bowing, returned to his command, and the firing was soon resumed. …
After the flag of truce incident, the attack was renewed with even more fury than before. … At this trying moment Major McKee, Eleventh Illinois Infantry, reached the fort, having been sent by Colonel Coates, who was much concerned for the safety of those in it…. Maj. McKee ranked Maj. Cook by seniority of commission, and he at once assumed command. It being feared that the 9th Texas, which had secured a strong position west of the fort, and quite close to it, might attempt a charge across the intervening space, Major McKee ordered Companies A and B, Third U.S. Colored Cavalry, to take position outside the fort, in a deep ditch on the west side, bringing them face to face with the 9th Texas…. Major McKee accompanied these companies and remained with them, directing their movements. The enemy now formed a complete circle around the fort, ranging from 100 to 200 yards distant. They made repeated charges to carry the works by assault, but were as often beaten back, leaving the hill-side strewn with their dead and wounded….
For a long time the issue trembled in the balance, it seeming that the Union soldiers must be overcome by sheer force of numbers, and it was only by their heroic bravery and bulldog tenacity that they maintained their ground. Communication between the Union forces in the city and those in the fort was now cut off, the fort being completely surrounded. The defeat of one meant the certain downfall of the other…. And so the fight raged, the yells of the combatants, the groans of the wounded and the prayers of the dying being drowned in the general tumult. At a moment when it seemed that the Union troops must yield to the great preponderance of numbers, one of those lucky incidents occurred that sometimes turn the tide of battle. It was brought about by a bold dash made by Lieutenants Farley and Carson of the Third U.S. Colored Calvary. Lieutenants Farley and Carson had been sent back to camp early that morning by Major Cook, to gather up all the men left in camp, and bring them to the fort, but on their return, they were cut off by the forces of General Richardson then entering the city. With the men they had gathered up, some 20 or 30, they fought their way back to the city, losing two men, killed by the enemy. Reaching the city, they put themselves at the command of Colonel Coates, doing gallant service. These officers … leading such men as they could rally, made a bold dash that turned the enemy's left flank, which threw them into confusion. Sometimes it required but a trifle to start a panic, which once set in motion is as uncontrollable as a drove of Texas steers when stampeded. When the rebel line in the city broke, the 9th Texas, rebel, occupying a position west of the fort, seeing the stampede of their friends, and fearing that they too would be cut off, also broke in disorder. This being the regiment confronting Major McKee and the two companies of the Third U.S. Colored Cavalry, that officer sallied forth with these companies, dashed down the hill, firing and yelling, which completed the rout of the 9th Texas, which degenerated into a mad scramble to seek shelter in gully and ravine. By these lucky and timely moves by the officers named, the combined forces of Ross and Richardson were defeated and put to flight. Thus the battle of Yazoo City was fought and won. The enemy was in retreat, leaving their dead and wounded where they fell.6
One of the important engagements of 1864 was the Battle of Nashville, December 15-16, in which General George Thomas's Army of the Cumberland destroyed the Confederate Army of Tennessee, commanded by John B. Hood. Eight black regiments played a vital role in this victory. Thomas J. Morgan, Colonel of the Fourteenth U.S. Colored Infantry and commander of a brigade of four Negro regiments in the Battle of Nashville, gave the following account of his regiment from the time it was organized in November 1863 until the Battle of Nashville more than a year later:
November 1st, 1863, by order of Major Steams, I went to Gallatin, Tennessee, to organize the 14th United States Colored Infantry…. There were at that time several hundred negro men in camp, in charge of, I think, a lieutenant. They were a motley crowd,—old, young, middle aged. Some wore the United States uniform, but most of them had on the clothes in which they had left the plantations, or had worn during periods of hard service as laborers in the army….
As soon and as fast as practicable, I set about organizing the regiment…. The colored men knew nothing of the duties of a soldier, except a little they had picked up as camp-followers…. We had no tents, and the men were sheltered in an old filthy tobacco warehouse, where they fiddled, danced, sang, swore or prayed, according to their mood.
How to meet the daily demands made upon us for military duty, and at the same time to evoke order out of this chaos, was no easy problem. The first thing to be done was to examine the men. A room was prepared, and I and my clerk took our stations at a table. One by one the recruits came before us a la Eden, sans the fig leaves, and were subjected to a careful medical examination, those who were in any way physically disqualified being rejected. Many bore the wounds and bruises of the slave-driver's lash, and many were unfit for duty by reason of some form of disease to which human flesh is heir. In the course of a few weeks, however, we had a thousand able-bodied, stalwart men….
Acting upon my clerk's suggestion, I assigned them to companies according to their height, putting men of nearly the same height together. When the regiment was full, the four center companies were all composed of tall men, the flanking companies of men of medium height, while the little men were sandwiched between. The effect was excellent in every way, and made the regiment quite unique. It was not uncommon to have strangers who saw it parade for the first time, declare that the men were all of one size….
The complete organization of the regiment occupied about two months, being finished by Jan. 1st, 1864. The field, staff and company officers were all white men. All the noncommissioned officers,—Hospital Steward, Quartermaster, Sergeant, Sergeant-Major, Orderlies, Sergeants and Corporals were colored. They proved very efficient, and had the war continued two years longer, many of them would have been competent as commissioned officers….
General George H. Thomas, though a Southerner, and a West Point graduate, was a singularly fair-minded, candid man. He asked me one day soon after my regiment was organized, if I thought my men would fight. I replied that they would. He said he thought “they might behind breastworks.” I said they would fight in the open field. He thought not. “Give me a chance General,” I replied, and I will prove it.” …
While at Chattanooga, I organized two other regiments, the 42nd and the 44th United States Colored Infantry. In addition to the ordinary instruction in the duties required of the soldier, we established in every company a regular school, teaching men to read and write, and taking great pains to cultivate in them self-respect and all manly qualities. Our success in this respect was ample compensation for our labor. The men who went on picket or guard duty, took their books as quite as indispensable as their coffee pots….
DALTON, GA.— August 15, 1864, we had our first fight at Dal-ton, Georgia. General Wheeler, with a considerable force of Confederate cavalry, attacked Dalton, which was occupied by a small detachment of Union troops belonging to the 2nd Missouri…. My regiment formed on the left of the 51st Indiana Infantry…. The fight was short, and not at all severe. The regiment was all exposed to fire. One private was killed, one lost a leg, and one was wounded in the right hand. Company B, on the skirmish line killed five of the enemy, and wounded others. To us it was a great battle, and a glorious victory. The regiment had been recognized as soldiers; it had taken its place side by side with a white regiment; it had been under fire. … After the fight, as we marched into town through a pouring rain, a white regiment standing at rest, swung their hats and gave three rousing cheers for the 14th Colored. …
PULASKI, TENN.— September 27th, 1864, I reported to Major-General Rousseau, commanding a force of cavalry at Pulaski, Tenn. As we approached the town by rail from Nashville, we heard artillery, then musketry, and as we left the cars we saw the smoke of guns. Forest [sic], with a large body of cavalry, had been steadily driving Rousseau before him all day, and was destroying the railroad. Finding the General, I said: “I am ordered to report to you, sir.” “What have you?” “Two regiments of colored troops.” Rousseau was a Kentuckian, and had not much faith in negro soldiers. By his direction I threw out a strong
line of skirmishers, and posted the regiments on a ridge, in good supporting distance. Rousseau's men retired behind my line, and Forest's men pressed forward until they met our fire, and recognizing the sound of the minie ball, stopped to reflect.
The massacre of colored troops at Fort Pillow was well known to us, and had been fully discussed by our men. It was rumored, and thoroughly credited by them, that General Forest had offered a thousand dollars for the head of any commander of a “nigger regiment.” Here, then, was just such an opportunity as those spoiling for a fight might desire. Negro troops stood face to face with Forest's veteran cavalry. The fire was growing hotter, and balls were uncomfortably thick. At length, the enemy in strong force, with banners flying, bore down toward us in full sight, apparently bent on mischief. Pointing to the advancing column, I said, as I passed along the line, “Boys, it looks very much like fight; keep cool, do your duty.” They seemed full of glee, and replied with great enthusiasm: “Colonel, dey can't whip us, dey nebber get de ole 14th out of heah, nebber.” “Neb-ber drives us away widout a mighty lot of dead men,” &c.,&c.
When Forest learned that Rousseau was re-enforced by infantry, he did not stop to ask the color of their skin, but after testing our line, and finding it unyielding, turned to the east, and struck over toward Murfreesboro….
NASHVILLE, TENN.— November 29, 1864, in command of the 14th, 16th, and 44th Regiments U.S.C.I., I embarked on a railroad train at Chattanooga for Nashville. On December 1st, with the 16th and most of the 14th, I reached my destination, and was assigned to a place on the extreme left of General Thomas' army then concentrating for the defence of Nashville against Hood's threatened attack….
Soon after taking our position in line at Nashville, we were closely besieged by Hood's army; and thus we lay facing each other for two weeks. Hood had suffered so terribly by his defeat under Schofield, at Franklin, that he was in no mood to assault us in our works, and Thomas needed more time to concentrate and reorganize his army, before he could safely take the offensive….
About nine o'clock at night December 14th, 1864, I was summoned to General Steadman's [sic] headquarters. He told me what the plan of battle was, and said he wished me to open the fight by making a vigorous assault upon Hood's right flank. This, he explained, was to be a feint, intended to betray Hood into the belief that it was the real attack, and to lead him to support his right by weakening his left, where Thomas intended assaulting him in very deed. The General gave me [four colored regiments], … a provisional brigade of white troops … and a section of Artillery … of the 20th Indiana Battery. …
As soon as the fog lifted, the battle began in good earnest. Hood mistook my assault for an attack in force upon his right flank, and weakening his left in order to meet it, gave the coveted opportunity to Thomas, who improved it by assailing Hood's left flank, doubling it up, and capturing a large number of prisoners.
Thus the first day's fight wore away. It had been for us a severe but glorious day. Over three hundred of my command had fallen, but everywhere our army was successful…. General Steadman congratulated us, saying his only fear had been that we might fight too hard. We had done all he desired, and more. Colored soldiers had again fought side by side with white troops; they had mingled together in the charge; they had supported each other; they had assisted each other from the field when wounded, and they lay side by side in death. The survivors rejoiced together over a hard fought field, won by a common valor….
During that night Hood withdrew his army some two miles, and took up a new line along the crest of some low hills, which he strongly fortified with some improvised breast works and abatis. Soon after our early breakfast, we moved forward over the intervening space. My position was still on the extreme left of our line, and I was especially charged to look well to our flank, to avoid surprise.
The 2nd Colored Brigade, under Colonel Thompson, of the 12th U.S.C.I., was on my right, and participated in the first day's charge upon Overton's hill, which was repulsed…. When the
2nd Colored Brigade retired behind my lines to re-form, one of the regimental color-bearers stopped in the open space between the two armies, where, although exposed to a dangerous fire, he planted his flag firmly in the ground, and began deliberately and coolly to return the enemy's fire, and, greatly to our amusement, kept up for some little time his independent warfare.
When the second and final assault was made, the right of my line took part. It was with breathless interest I watched that noble army climb the hill with a steady resolve which nothing but death itself could check. When at length the assaulting column sprang upon the earthworks, and the enemy seeing that further resistance was madness, gave way and began a precipitous retreat, our hearts swelled as only the hearts of soldiers can, and scarcely stopping to cheer or to await orders, we pushed forward and joined in the pursuit, until the darkness and the rain forced a halt….
When General Thomas rode over the battle-field and saw the bodies of colored men side by side with the foremost, on the very works of the enemy, he turned to his staff, saying: “Gentlemen, the question is settled; negroes will fight.”7
General James B. Steedman, an old Breckinridge Democrat who had originally been opposed to the enlistment of Negro troops, was in command of the left wing of the Army of the Cumberland during the battle. He stated in his official report:
The larger portion of these losses, amounting in the aggregate to fully 25 per cent, of the men under my command who were taken into action, it will be observed fell upon the colored troops. The severe loss of this part of my troops was in their brilliant charge on the enemy's works on Overton Hill on Friday afternoon. I was unable to discover that color made any difference in the fighting of my troops. All, white and black, nobly did their duty as soldiers.8
Steedman's report reflected the growing respect for black troops among persons who had once felt little but contempt or pity for the Negro race. A government commission investigating the condition of the freedmen reported in May 1864 that the whites have changed, and are still rapidly changing, their
opinion of the negro. And the negro, in his new condition as freedman, is himself, to some extent, a changed being. No one circumstance has tended so much to these results as the display of manhood in negro soldiers. Though there are higher qualities than strength and physical courage, yet, in our present state of civilization, there are no qualities which command from the masses more respect.9
Lydia Maria Child recounted the following incident in the spring of 1864:
Capt. Wade, of the U.S. Navy, who bought a house for his wife in this town [Wayland, Mass.], has been a bitter pro-slavery man, violent and vulgar in his talk against abolitionists and “niggers.” Two years ago, he was for having us mobbed because we advocated emancipating and arming the slaves. He has been serving in the vicinity of N. Orleans, and has come home on a furlough, an outspoken abolitionist. He not only says it in private; but has delivered three lectures in town, in which he has publicly announced the total change in his sentiments since he has had “an opportunity to know something on the subject.'' A few days ago, he was going in the cars from Boston to Roxbury, when a colored soldier entered the car. Attempting to seat himself, he was repulsed by a white man, who rudely exclaimed, “Vm not going to ride with niggers.” Capt. Wade, who sat a few seats further forward, rose up, in all the gilded glory of his naval uniform, and called out, “Come here, my good fellow! I've been fighting along side of people of your color, and glad enough I was to have ‘em by my side. Come and sit by me.” Two years ago, I would not have believed such a thing possible of him. So the work goes on, in all directions.10
President Lincoln summarized the contribution of Negro soldiers and laborers to the Union cause in a letter of September 12, 1864: “We can not spare the hundred and forty or fifty thousand now serving us as soldiers, seamen, and laborers. This is not a question of sentiment or taste, but one of physical force which may be measured and estimated as horse-power and steam-power are measured and estimated. Keep it and you can save the Union. Throw it away, and the Union goes with it.”11
The war also had its comic aspects. Elijah Marrs, an ex-slave from Kentucky who had become a sergeant in the Twelfth U.S. Colored Artillery, wrote the following account:
After Hood's defeat, and during the time our soldiers occupied Nashville, frequent furloughs were given to the colored soldiers to return to Kentucky to see their wives and families. One of them stopped at Bowling Green, his wife living about five miles distant, on the other side of Barren River. He informed our commanding officer, Col. Babcock, that the parties she belonged to had been treating her very cruelly, and to some extent on account of he, her husband, being in the army. The Colonel immediately sent for me, informed me of these facts, and ordered me to take a guard of ten men to accompany the soldier, who acted as our guide, and to bring the woman into camp; and further, that if the man who owned her had anything to say about it or offered any resistance, to put a ball into one ear so that it might come out of the other. When he said this I imagined that I was clothed with authority to do whatsoever I pleased on my trip. I got my men together as soon as possible, and crossed the Barren River, but instead of at once proceeding to the man's house on foot as we were ordered to do, I concluded that we would go by water, and at once commenced to look around for means of transportation. We soon discovered a small boat that was lying at the wharf, which we took possession of at once, and ordered the captain of the craft to take us nine miles down the river. This he refused to do, and as I did not propose to have my orders disobeyed, I concluded I would take charge of the boat myself, and at once placed myself at the wheel. I was not equal to the emergency, as the wheel refused to do my bidding. Some of the other boys tried it, but their failure equaled my own. I had determined, however, to make the journey by river, and as we could do nothing with the large boat, we “pressed” into service two skiffs, and started on our trip. We had not proceeded a great way before we were fired upon by the rebels from the southern side of the river. We at once, with great haste, rowed to the opposite shore, where we arrived in safety, abandoned the skiffs, and returned the enemy's fire at long range, the rebels being on one side of the river and we on the other. We remained out from camp until dark, when we made a forced march for our quarters.
We arrived in camp at about 10 o'clock. We claimed to have had a brush with the enemy, and that we had obtained a great and signal victory, but our victory was in beating a hasty retreat. The next morning I reported to the commander of the post as to the result of our expedition. But, unfortunately, advices had already reached his ears of our retreat, my attempt to capture the boat, which was already in the service of the Government, and of our taking the two skiffs. For these offenses I came very near losing my office, but luckily I escaped with a reprimand. From this time forward I was an obedient officer, and never attempted to do anything without [sic] I had special orders so to do from my superiors.12
The rebels evacuated Charleston on February 17, 1865, and the first Union troops to march into the city the next day were the men of the Twenty-first U.S. Colored Infantry, followed soon afterward by detachments of the Fifty-fourth and Fifty-fifth Massachusetts Regiments. Colonel Charles B. Fox of the Fifty-fifth described the entry of his regiment into Charleston:
Words would fail to describe the scene which those who witnessed it will never forget,—the welcome given to a regiment of colored troops by their people redeemed from slavery. As shouts, prayers, and blessings resounded on every side, all felt that the hardships and dangers of the siege were fully repaid. The few white inhabitants left in the town were either alarmed or indignant, and generally remained in their houses; but the colored people turned out en masse…. Cheers, blessings, prayers, and songs were heard on every side. Men and women crowded to shake hands with men and officers. Many of them talked earnestly and understandingly of the past and present.
… On through the streets of the rebel city passed the column, on through the chief seat of that slave power, tottering to its fall. Its walls rung to the chorus of manly voices singing “John Brown,” “Babylon is Falling,” and the “Battle-Cry of Freedorn;” while, at intervals, the national airs, long unheard there, were played by the regimental band. The glory and the triumph of this hour may be imagined, but can never be described. It was one of those occasions which happen but once in a lifetime, to be lived over in memory for ever.13
Negro troopers of the Fifth Massachusetts Cavalry were the first soldiers to enter Richmond after its evacuation on April 2, and close behind them came troops from General Godfrey Weit-zeVs XXVth Army Corps, an all-Negro corps of thirty-two regiments.
Official records show that a total of 178,985 enlisted men and 7,122 officers served in Negro regiments during the Civil War, nearly 10 per cent of the Union Army. These men fought in 449 engagements, of which thirty-nine were major battles. Approximately 37,300 Negroes lost their lives while serving in the Union Army. Seventeen black soldiers and four Negro sailors were awarded Congressional Medals of Honor.14 Black men were understandably proud of their record in the Civil War, a record which made the continued denial of officers' commissions to deserving Negroes all the more galling. On July 26, 1864, a meeting of Philadelphia Negroes adopted the following resolutions:
Resolved, That there can be no good reason offered why colored men, especially those who have proved their availability in the field, may not be promoted to command colored troops, rather than [white] civilians….
Resolved, That our duty to those men, our brethren who are enlisted through our influence, demands that we should not yield this point without an emphatic protest against its injustice to them, and its insulting endorsement of the old dogma of negro inferiority.
Resolved, That considered in the light of official reports from several battle-fields, we have now veteran colored troops, some of them deserving the highest acknowledgments from the nation, and while we battle for the country, and continue to swell the ranks of the army, we are determined to ask for those veterans the same treatment, promotion and emoluments that other veterans receive.15
In February 1865, a group of noncommissioned Negro officers in Louisiana sent the following petition to the Secretary of War:
In view of the recent Proclamation of the President calling for 300,000 volunteers, and appreciating the necessity of an immediate response to this call, we would respectfully petition that permission be given to raise a number of colored regiments, to be officered exclusively by colored men.
In regard to the policy of this measure, we would respectfully urge that while many of the noblest of our race have sprung to arms with alacrity in defense of the Government, many others, equally loyal, have hesitated because one of the greatest incentives to enlistment, and the greatest stimulant to the strict performance of a soldier's duty—the hope of promotion—has been denied them.
We confidently believe that the removal of this bar to a soldier's ambition would result in an uprising of the colored people, unsurpassed even by the enthusiastic response to the President's first call. In regard to the capability of colored men to perform the duties of commissioned officer, we would respectfully suggest that there are hundreds of non-commissioned officers in colored regiments who are amply qualified for these positions, both by education, and experience, and that others of our educated men, anticipating the granting of commissions to colored men by the Government, have applied themselves to the study of military tactics, in order that men properly educated might not be wanting to accept them.16
In spite of these appeals, very few Negroes were actually commissioned during the war. More than seventy-five black men had been commissioned in the three regiments raised by Butler in Louisiana in 1862, but General Banks later replaced most of these with white men. Six sergeants in the Massachusetts Fifty-fourth and Fifty-fifth Regiments were promoted to lieutenancies at the end of the war, and all three officers of an independent battery of light artillery in Kansas were black. Eight Negro surgeons were given medical commissions as majors, and in February 1865, Martin R. Delany was commissioned a Major of Infantry and ordered to recruit an “armee d'Afrique” in South Carolina, but the end of the war put an end to Delany's project before it had gotten fairly started. In all, not more than one hundred Negroes (excluding chaplains) received officers' commissions during the war.17