As the nation celebrated Black History Month in February, the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) sought to honor the many African American military veterans whose service has been lost to history or otherwise not sufficiently recognized. Among these are the soldiers who fought as members of the United States Colored Troops (USCT), a group whose contributions were vital in the Union winning the Civil War.
About 186,000 Black soldiers fought against the Confederacy as members of the Union Army, according to US Army records. Early in the Civil War, at a time when the Union did not officially allow Black troops in its ranks, volunteer regiments in Louisiana, South Carolina, and Kansas nonetheless sprung up, some seeing action. Typically, these regiments received only meager federal support.
With Union forces around this time facing heavy casualties, and at the urging of civil rights leaders like Frederick Douglas, President Lincoln signed the Second Confiscation Act and Militia Act in July 1862. This act allowed escaped slaves to volunteer in non-combat positions with the Union, winning their freedom in the process. Five months later, the criteria for service expanded with President Lincoln’s signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, which allowed all Black men to volunteer, as well as to serve in combat roles.
Douglas and other others subsequently encouraged the enlistment of African American troops. Among these were his own sons, who fought as members of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment.
Despite Black men being allowed to join the war effort, military service for them was especially perilous. Black soldiers risked execution or re-enslavement if captured by the Confederacy. In addition, they were often assigned to the most dangerous combat roles. Despite all of this, until 1864, they did not receive pay equal to that of their white counterparts.
Members of the USCT nonetheless fought bravely and effectively, with many contributing invaluable firsthand intelligence as former slaves. A USCT unit’s 1863 raid of Confederate troops near the Florida-Georgia line showed Black troops could succeed where, in an earlier raid, their white counterparts had failed. President Lincoln later said that the Confederacy would not have been defeated without the service of Black Union soldiers.
Approximately 38,000 USCT members were killed in action during the Civil War. With the help of organizations like WWP, they—and their comrades who survived the war—will not be forgotten.
The Key Role That Black Union Soldiers Played in Winning the Civil War
