Pennsylvania in the Civil War
Virtue ~ Liberty ~ Independence
The Colored Troops1
And yet, the war for the Union was not the first time an
African fought for the Stars and Stripes. Black faces were not uncommon among the ranks of the patriots in 1776. The first man to fall in that struggle
was the negro, Cripus Attucks,2 who led the mob in its attack on
the British Troops in the Boston Massacre.
At Bunker Hill, the free negroes fought intermingled with the
whites; and when Major Pitcairn was killed, it was by a bullet from a
negro’s rifle. At the Battle of
Rhode Island, Colone Greene’s black regiment repulsed three successive
charges, during which they handled a Hessian regiment severely.3 In the War of 1812, General Jackson issued a proclamation
authorizing the formation of black regiments, and, subsequently, in an address
to the colored troops thus enlisted, acknowledged their services in unstinted
praise.
But, at the time of the Civil War, the negro was closely
associated with the public mind with the political causes of the strife. The prejudice and opposition against the use of colored troops was so strong that the war was half finished before
they were organized to any extent.
The first appearance of the negro in the military operations of that period occurred September, 1862, in Cincinnati, at the time of the threatened invasion by Morgan’s raiders. A so-called Black Brigade of three regiments was then organized, and
assigned to duty in constructing the fortifications and earthworks about
Cincinnati. These men gave their services voluntarily, but were unarmed and without uniforms. Their organization, such as it was,
existed for three weeks only, and had no connection with the government for
enlisting colored troops.
About the same time General Benjamin Butler took the
initiative in the enlistment of colored as soldiers, by organizing at New
Orleans the regiments known as the Louisiana Native Guards, one of which
completed its organization in August, 1862, and was mustered into service on
the 27th of the following month. It was designated the First Louisiana Native Guard, and was the first black regiment to join the Union Army. The
Second Louisiana Native Guard was mustered in, October 12, 1862; the third on
November 24, 1862. The other regiments of the Guard or Corps d’Afrique as it was called, completed their organizations within a few months later.
At this time, also, in August 1862, recruiting for a colored regiment was commenced in Kansas, and over 600 men were soon mustered in. The regiment, however, was not
mustered into the United States service until January 16, 1863.
It was the designated the First Kansas Colored Volunteers,
but its name was changed, in December 1864, to the 79th United
States Colored Infantry.
Recruiting for a black regiment had, also, been undertaken in
South Carolina by General Hunter, and an officer, Sergeant C. T. Trowbridge,
had been detailed for that purpose as early as May 7, 1862. The recruiting progressed slowly, and
was attended with so many difficulties and discouragements that a complete
regimental organization was not affected until January 31,1863. Some of the companies, however, were
organized at an earlier date. Colonel
T. W. Higginson was assigned to the command of this regiment, his commission
dating back to November 10, 1862. Trowbridge
was made Captain of the first company organized, and subsequently promoted to
the Lieutenant Colonelcy.
This regiment, First South Carolina, was the first slave
regiment organized, the Louisiana Native Guard having been recruited largely
from free blacks. The designation
of the First South Carolina was changed by the War Department, in February
1864, to Thirty-third United States Colored Infantry.
Recruiting for the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts commenced in
February 1863, and its ten companies were full in May. It was the first colored regiment
raised in a Northern State, the First Kansas having been recruited largely in
Missouri, and partly from enslaved blacks. The Fifty-fourth was composed mostly of free men, and its recruits came
from all the Northern States, it being their first opportunity to enlist.
By this time the movement had become general, and before the
war closed the colored troops embraced:
Type of Regiment Number
Of these, about 60 were brought into action on the
battle field, the others having been assigned to post or garrison duty.
The first action in which colored troops were engaged was an
affair at Island Mounds, Mo., October 28, 1862, in which a detachment of the
First Kansas was attacked by superior number of Confederates under command of
Colonel Cockerel. Although
outnumbered, they made a successful resistance and scored a victory. Their loss was 10 killed, including a
Captain, and 19 wounded. The
First Kansas, also, lost 16 men killed on May 18, 1863, in a minor engagement
at Sherwood, Mo.
In the assault on Port Hudson, La., May 27, 1863, colored
troops were used for the first time in a general engagement. The Nineteenth Army Corps during its
besiegement of that stronghold, included several colored regiments in its
organization. There were the
First and Third Louisiana Native Guards; the First Louisiana Engineers, Corps
d’Afrique; and, the Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Infantry, Corps
d’Afrique. During the siege the
First Louisiana Native Guards lost 2 officers and 32 men killed, and 3
officers and 92 men wounded (including the mortally wounded); total 129. But few regiments in the Nineteenth
Corps sustained a greater loss. The
other regiments of the Corps d’Afrique were actively engaged, but with few
casualties. The First Louisiana
Native Guard was attached to August’s First (1st) Division, and
participated in the assaults of May 27th and June 14th,
in which the principal loss occurred, its dead lying among those nearest the
enemy’s works. This regiment
should not be confounded with the First Louisiana Infantry, also of Augur’s
Division,--a white regiment which, also sustained a severe loss at Port
Hudson.
On June 7th, 1863, the colored troops composing
the garrison at Milliken’s Bend, La., were attacked by Walker’s Division
numbering 3,000 men. The garrison
consisted of three colored regiments: The
Ninth Louisiana, Eleventh Louisiana, and First Mississippi. In addition, there were 200 men of the
23d Iowa (white) who had been escorting prisoners up the river, and were on
their return to the front. The
regiments were small, many of the men, and most of the officers, being absent
on recruiting service or other duty. When
attacked the garrison was driven back to the river, where two gunboats came to
their assistance. The troops then
made a counter charge, regaining possession of their works and capturing
several prisoners. The fighting
was desperate in the extreme, many of the combatants on each side falling by
bayonet thrusts or blows from clubbed muskets. The loss, as officially stated by the Assistant Secretary of War, who
was then in Vicksburg, amounted to: Regiment Killed Wounded Total
The next action in which colored troops were engaged was the
grand assault on Fort Wagner, July 18, 1863. To the 54th Massachusetts Colored was assigned the honor of
leading the attack, and after the troops were formed on the beach, ready for
the assault, the order of advance was withheld until the Fifty-fourth could
march by and take position at the head of the column.
The assault failed; but, not until the Colonel of the
Fifth-fourth and many of his men had fallen dead on the parapet, or within the
fort. The loss of the regiment in
this affair was—3 officers and 31 men killed, 11 officers and 135 men
wounded (including those mortally so), and 92 men missing; total 272 out of
650 engaged. An impression has
gained ground that no quarter was given to the black troops; and, that the 92
missing or captured men met their death in the fort, after they had
surrendered. But the Official
Records show that 49 of these men died of disease in Confederate prisons, and
that others of the captured men returned at the close of the war, rejoining
their regiment before its muster-out.
One of the severest regimental losses during the war,
occurred in the Eighth United States Colored Infantry, at Olustee, Fla.,
February 20, 1864. It lost here 2
officers and 49 men killed, 9 officers and 180 men wounded, and 63 missing;
total 303. The missing ones were
mostly, dead or wounded men who were left on the field; for, in this action
the Confederates held possession of the ground, General Seymour’s forces
being obliged to retreat, Colonel Fribley of the of the Eighth was among the
killed. The number of the killed was increased by 87 by those who died of
wounds, and certain ones who were erroneously included with the missing. This same regiment distinguished
itself, also, at Chaffin’s Farm.
Upon the opening of the spring campaign in 1864, colored
troops were a common feature of the armies before Richmond. Ferrero’s Division of the Ninth
Corps, and Hinks’ Division of the Eighteenth Corps, were composed entirely
of black regiments. In the first
attack on Petersburg, June 15, 1864, Hinks’ Division achieved a brilliant
success, capturing the line of works to its front, and seven pieces of
artillery. Had the Army of the
Potomac arrived in time to follow up the success of the colored troops,
Petersburg would have been taken then; but, by the time that the Eighteenth
Corps was reinforced, Lee’s army had hurried thither by rail and were filing
into the intrenchments. The
opportunity was lost. In this
assault of June 15th, the casualty lists show that the temporary success of
the Colored Division was dearly obtained. Among the heavier losses were:
Regiment Killed Wounded Missing Total
History of Their Organization
Infantry
143
Cavalry
7
Heavy Artillery
12
Light Artillery
1
Engineers
1
The Losses in Battle and by Disease
9th Louisiana
62
130
192
11th Louisiana
30
120
150
1st Mississippi
3
21
24
23d Iowa (White)
26
30
86
TOTAL
121
301
452
4th U. S. Colored Infantry
15
110
10
135
22d U. S. Colored Infantry
14
116
8
138
Casualties in Ferrero’s Division
Battle of the Mine, July 30, 1864
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Regiment |
Killed |
Wounded* |
Missing** |
Total |
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TOTAL |
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*Includes the mortally wounded
**A large proportion of the missing were killed or wounded
To any one familiar with the extent of regimental losses in action, these figures tell a heroic story.
Hard fighting was also done by colored troops at Chaffin’s
Farm, September 29, 1864, where Paine’s Division (colored) of the Eighteenth
Corps, and Birneys4 Colored Brigade of the tenth Corps—in all,
about 10,000 strong—were actively engaged. These troops participated in the assaults on Fort Gilmer and the
intrenchments at New Market Heights. Among
the regiments sustaining the heaviest losses were the following:
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The Sixth had only 367 officers and men engaged, its loss being over 57 percent. The troops in Paine’s Division were the same ones which carried the works at Petersburg, June 15, 1864.
In the action on the Darbytown Road, Va., October 27, 1864, the Twenty-Ninth Connecticut (Colored) distinguished itself by the efficiency with which it held a skirmish line for several hours, under a strong pressure. Loss: 11 killed and 69 wounded.
Two brigades of colored troops participated in the victory at Nashville, December 15, 1864. The heaviest loss in any regiment on that field occurred in the Thirteenth U. S. Colored Infantry, which, in its assault on Overton Hill, lost 55 killed (including 4 officers), and 166 wounded (includes the mortally wounded); total: 221.
The severest loss at the battle of Honey Hill, S.C., November 30, 1864, fell on a black regiment, the Fifth-fifth Massachusetts, which lost in that action, 29 killed, and 115 wounded; total: 144.
In the closing battle of the war—the victorious assault on Fort Blakely, Ala., April 9, 1865—a colored division bore a conspicuous and honorable part. Among the casualties in that engagement the following are worthy of note:
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In addition to the battles heretofore mentioned, colored
troops were prominently engaged in the following actions:
| Morris Island, S.C. | Yazoo City, Miss. |
| Poison Springs, Ark. | Saline River, Ark. |
| Morganzia, La. | Tupelo, Miss. |
| Bermuda Hundred, Va. | Darbytown Road, Va. |
| Saltville, Va. | Cox's Bridge, N.C. |
| Spanish Fort, Ala. | James Island, S.C. |
| Pleasant Hill, La. | Camden, Ark. |
| Fort Pillow, Tenn. | Jacksonville, Fla. |
| Athens, Ala. | Dutch Gap, Va. |
| Hatcher's Run, Va. | Deveaux Neck, S. C. |
| Fort Fisher, N. C. | Fall of Richmond |
| Liverpool Heights, Miss. | Prairie d'Ann, Ark. |
| Jenkins Ferry, Ark. | Natural Bridge, Fla. |
| Brice's X Roads, Miss. | Drewry's Bluff, Va. |
| Deep Bottom, Va. | Fair Oaks, Va. (1864) |
| Boykin's Mills, S. C. | Wilmington, N. C. |
| Appomattox, Va. |
They rendered effective and meritorious service in many of these engagements, and, in some of them, sustained serious losses.
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1Fox, William F., Lt. Colonel, U. S. Volunteers, Regimental Losses in The American Civil War, 1861-1865. Albany, NY: Brandow Printing Company, 1898. Chapter IV. pp. 52-56.
2Crispus Attucks. His body was placed in Faneuil Hall, and honored with a public funeral. With others who fell, he as buried beneath a stone bearing the words:
“Long as in Freedom’s cause the wise contend,
Dear to your country shall your fame extend,
While to the world the lettered stone shall tell
Where Caldwell, Attacks, Gray, and Maverick fell.”
3 Arnold. History of Rhode Island.
4Brown. Negro in the Rebellion.
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