Black Participation in the Civil War

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Viewing the war as primarily for the abolition of slavery, many free Black volunteered their service during the Civil War in 1861, though it should be noted that initially their service was rejected. According to Mary Frances Berry, author of Long Memory, one Ohio congressman asserted, this is a government of White men, made by White men, for White men, to be protected, defended and maintained by White men. Even in the opening months of the war, fugitive slaves were returned by Northern soldiers to their masters in Southern states.

By 1862, with mounting causalities, the sentiment of Northern White rapidly changed. Keep in mind, this was supposed to be a short war. Some men had promised their wives they would be home quickly. No one, on either side of the war, thought this war was going to last four years. The mindset of the North quickly shifted as the war dragged on. Three things happened in quick succession clearing the way for African-Americans to �ght: 1) White soldiers adopted and readily sang the song Sambo s Right to be Kilt (words below); 2) Lincoln adopted the Emancipation Proclamation; and 3) the passage of the nation s �rst draft bill.

Verse 1 Some tell me 'tis a burnin' shame

To make the naygers �ght, And that the trade of bein' kilt

Belongs but to the white. But as for me, upon my soul!

So lib'ral are we here, I'll let Sambo be shot instead of myself

On ev'ry day in the year.

Verse 2 In battle's wild commotion,

I shouldn't at all object, If Sambo's body should stop a ball

That's coming for me direct; And the prod of a Southern bagnet

So ginerous are we here, I'll resign and let Sambo take it

On every day in the year.

Verse 3 In battle's wild commotion,

I shouldn't at all object, If Sambo's body should stop a ball

That's coming for me direct; And the prod of a Southern bagnet

So ginerous are we here, I'll resign and let Sambo take it

On every day in the year.

Verse 4 The men who object to Sambo

Should take his place and �ght; And it's better to have a nayger's hue

Than a liver that's wake and white. Though Sambo's black as the ace of spades,

His �ngers a trigger can pull, And his eye runs straight on the barrel sight,

From under his thatch of wool.

Chorus On ev'ry day in the year, boys,

And in ev'ry hour in the day, The right to be kilt I'll divide wid him,

And devil a word I'll say.

Mostly Black leaders called for young Black men to enlist. Martin Delaney, and Henry Highland Garnet, both agreed with Frederick Douglass when he said nothing more certain than that the speediest and best possible way to open us to manhood civil rights and elevation is that [Blacks] enter the service. Men responded quickly and in large numbers to their pleas.

Approximately 186,000 Black men fought in about 450 separate battles, in spite of unequal pay and worn-out guns and equipment. Sixteen Blacks were awarded to Congressional Medal of Honor for bravery. Very few became of�cers during the War. A notable example of a Black of�cer was Steven Swails, of the Massachusetts 54th, the regiment highlighted in the movie Glory.

From the Massachusetts Historical Society website, the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment was the �rst military unit consisting of Black soldiers to be raised in the North during the Civil War. The passage of the Emancipation Proclamation provided the

impetus for the use of free Black soldiers. At the time, state governors were responsible for the raising regiments and Massachusetts was the �rst to respond with the formation of the Fifty-fourth Regiment. The formation of the regiment was a matter of controversy and public attention from its inception. Questions were raised as to the black man's ability to �ght in the "white man's war."

Recruitment began in February 1862. Newspaper advertisements and recruiting posters encouraged Black men to enlist. By the end of the �rst week of enlistments, seventy-two recruits were present at camp. However, more men were needed so recruitment began nationwide and in Canada. Over 1,000 men enlisted, enough to ful�ll the needs of the 54th and start the formation of the 55th.