In April 1864 tragedy befell Union soldiers defending Fort Pillow along the Mississippi River in Tennessee. After capturing the garrison, Confederate cavalry commander Nathan Bedford Forrest and his troops murdered more than two hundred black and white Union soldiers as they tried to surrender. Though Forrest’s men took some prisoners, northerners decried the massacre as a brutal response to the Union army’s decision to arm black soldiers.
This hand-colored tintype portrays an unidentified African American soldier wearing a forage cap with the insignia of the 103rd Regiment’s Company B. (Library of Congress) Even before Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation, some Northerners had entertained the notion of arming slaves or blacks in the United States military. Black men had served in the Union navy since the beginning of the conflict, albeit in the lowest ranks. Likewise, the Militia Act of 1862 allowed for the enlistment of a limited number of African American troops. After the Proclamation, however, the Union army began recruiting black troops in greater numbers. For black men from both the North and the South, serving as a soldier offered an opportunity not only for emancipation but, perhaps, equality. It also carried the possibility of ensuring that the Union army’s goals included liberation along with saving the Union. Despite high hopes of equality, though, black soldiers met with discrimination in the army. They were consigned to menial tasks, and they were paid less than their white counterparts for most of the war.
One soldier, George Buck Hanon, who was serving in Bridgeport, Alabama, wrote that the white officer in his regiment kept the black soldiers “bys hand cuf [sic] ever day and night” though he could not understand the purpose of restricting the movements of African American troops. Hanon bemoaned that when “mens wifes [sic] comes here to see them” the white officer would “not alow [sic] them to come in to they lines” nor would he allow “the men to go out to see them after the comg [sic] over hundred miles.” Unlike white soldiers, whose wives were allowed to pay visits to camps, many black troops were denied the same privilege, due to the racist practices of white officers within the Union army. Similarly, black soldiers faced grave dangers when engaged in combat. Like the victims of the Fort Pillow massacre, other black soldiers were executed by Confederates who were infuriated by the Emancipation Proclamation and the subsequent arming of black soldiers.
Despite the hardships, black troops continued to fight for their freedom. In addition to Hanon and other African American troops serving in Bridgeport, many black soldiers played important roles in the Union victory at the Battle of Fort Blakely, which occurred in April 1865, on the shore of Mobile Bay. This battle remained contentious for decades, as allegations circulated that the black soldiers continued firing on Confederates who had surrendered. (It remains unclear what actually happened.) And as the war’s end neared, the Fifty-first US Colored Infantry traveled from Mobile to Montgomery, Alabama, by boat–a sight to behold for Alabama blacks, who lined the river banks and cheered. Freedom was coming.
One soldier, George Buck Hanon, who was serving in Bridgeport, Alabama, wrote that the white officer in his regiment kept the black soldiers “bys hand cuf [sic] ever day and night” though he could not understand the purpose of restricting the movements of African American troops. Hanon bemoaned that when “mens wifes [sic] comes here to see them” the white officer would “not alow [sic] them to come in to they lines” nor would he allow “the men to go out to see them after the comg [sic] over hundred miles.” Unlike white soldiers, whose wives were allowed to pay visits to camps, many black troops were denied the same privilege, due to the racist practices of white officers within the Union army. Similarly, black soldiers faced grave dangers when engaged in combat. Like the victims of the Fort Pillow massacre, other black soldiers were executed by Confederates who were infuriated by the Emancipation Proclamation and the subsequent arming of black soldiers.
Despite the hardships, black troops continued to fight for their freedom. In addition to Hanon and other African American troops serving in Bridgeport, many black soldiers played important roles in the Union victory at the Battle of Fort Blakely, which occurred in April 1865, on the shore of Mobile Bay. This battle remained contentious for decades, as allegations circulated that the black soldiers continued firing on Confederates who had surrendered. (It remains unclear what actually happened.) And as the war’s end neared, the Fifty-first US Colored Infantry traveled from Mobile to Montgomery, Alabama, by boat–a sight to behold for Alabama blacks, who lined the river banks and cheered. Freedom was coming.