View source for United States Colored Troops

{{Short description|American Civil War military unit}}
{{redirect|USCT|the Senegalese basketball team|USCT Port}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Use American English|date=December 2023}}
{{Infobox military unit
| unit_name = USCT
| native_name = United States Colored Troops
| motto = ''[[Sic semper tyrannis]]''<br />"Thus always to tyrants"
| image = {{multiple image
| border = infobox
| perrow = 1/2/2/2
| total_width = 280
| caption_align = center
| image1 = Come and Join Us Brothers, by the Supervisory Committee For Recruiting Colored Regiments.jpg
| caption1 = USCT recruiting poster
| image2 = Three quarter portrait, young Civil War soldier in kepi. Cased tintype, ninth plate.jpg
| caption2 = Unidentified private
| image3 = Flag of the 24th Regiment, United States Colored Troops.png
| caption3 = [[24th United States Colored Infantry Regiment|24th US Colored Troops]] banner
| image4 = US Colored Troops medal - 1865 - Smithsonian Museum of American History - 2012-05-15.jpg
| caption4 = U.S. Colored Troops medal{{efn|This U.S. Colored Troops medal was issued by General [[Benjamin Butler (politician)|Butler]] }}
| image5 = Francis Jackson Meriam (not Merriam).jpg
| caption5 = Captain Meriam{{efn|Capt. [[Francis Jackson Meriam]] (pictured), was commander of the 3rd South Carolina Colored Infantry.}}
}}
| alt = multiple images
| dates = May 22, 1863 – Oct 1865
| allegiance = [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]]
| branch = Army
| type = infantry, cavalry, artillery, engineering
| size = 175 regiments; 178,000 men
| battles = [[American Civil War]]
| decorations =
| battle_honours =
| battle_honours_label =
| disbanded = {{Start date and age|October 1865}}
| notable_commanders =
| identification_symbol =
| identification_symbol_label =
}}

'''United States Colored Troops''' ('''USCT''') were [[Union Army]] regiments during the [[American Civil War]] that primarily comprised [[African Americans]], with soldiers from other ethnic groups also serving in USCT units. Established in response to a demand for more units from Union Army commanders, USCT regiments, which numbered 175 in total by the end of the war in 1865, constituted about one-tenth of the manpower of the army, according to historian [[Kelly Mezurek]], author of ''For Their Own Cause: The 27th United States Colored Troops'' (The Kent State University Press, 2016). "They served in infantry, artillery, and cavalry."<ref>Fletcher, Marvin. 2019. "[https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/imh/article/view/27592 For Their Own Cause: The 27th United States Colored Troops By Kelly D. Mezurek]", in ''Indiana Magazine of History'', vol. 113, no. 2, pp. 163-65.</ref><ref>Mezurek, Kelly D. "[https://www.c-span.org/video/?431932-3/us-colored-troops-prisoner-guards U.S. Colored Troops as Prisoner Guards]" (video), in "Emerging Civil War." Washington, D.C.: C-SPAN, August 4, 2017.</ref> Approximately 20 percent of USCT soldiers were [[killed in action]] or died of disease and other causes, a rate about 35 percent higher than that of white Union troops. Numerous USCT soldiers fought with distinction, with 16 receiving the [[Medal of Honor]]. The USCT regiments were precursors to the [[Buffalo Soldier]] units which fought in the [[American Indian Wars]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2016-08-15|title=Black Soldiers in the U.S. Military During the Civil War|url=https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/blacks-civil-war|access-date=2021-01-05|website=National Archives|language=en}}</ref>

The courage displayed by colored troops during the Civil War played an important role in African Americans gaining new rights. As [[Frederick Douglass]] said in an 1863 speech:
{{blockquote|text=Once let the black man get upon his person the brass letters U.S.; let him get an eagle on his button, and a musket on his shoulder, and bullets in his pocket, and there is no power on the earth or under the earth which can deny that he has earned the right of citizenship in the United States.<ref>{{cite speech |last=Douglass |first=Frederick |author-link=Frederick Douglass |title=Speech at National Hall, for the Promotion of Colored Enlistments. |event=Mass meeting held at National Hall, Philadelphia |date=July 6, 1863 |location=National Hall, Philadelphia |url=https://archive.org/details/addressesofhonwd00kell/page/n16/mode/1up |access-date=2023-12-07 |language=English}}</ref>}}

==Background==

===The Confiscation Act===
[[File:Men of Color Civil War Recruitment Broadside 1863.png|thumb|Printed broadside, calling all men of color to arms, 1863]]

The [[U.S. Congress]] passed the [[Confiscation Act of 1862|Confiscation Act]]<ref>Rodriguez, Junius P. ''Slavery in the United States: A Social, Political, and Historical Encyclopedia'', ABC-CLIO, 2007, vol. 2, pg 241</ref> in July 1862, legalizing the practice of Union officers freeing slaves and putting them to work as army laborers. Congress also passed the [[Militia Act of 1862|Militia Act]], which empowered the President to use free blacks and former slaves from the rebel states in any capacity in the army. President [[Abraham Lincoln]] was concerned with public opinion in the four [[Border states (Civil War)|border states]] that remained in the Union, as they had numerous slaveholders, as well as with northern Democrats who supported the war but were less supportive of abolition than many northern Republicans. At first, Lincoln opposed early efforts to recruit [[African American]] soldiers, although he accepted the Army using them as paid workers. In September 1862, Lincoln issued his [[Emancipation Proclamation]], announcing that all slaves in rebellious states would be free as of January 1. Recruitment and training of colored regiments began in full force following the Proclamation in January 1863.<ref>Cornish, ''The Sable Arm'', pp. 29–111.</ref>

==Formation==
{{main|Military history of African Americans in the American Civil War}}

The [[United States War Department]] issued [[General Order Number 143]] on May 22, 1863, establishing the [[Bureau of Colored Troops]] to facilitate the recruitment of African-American soldiers to fight for the Union Army.<ref>Cornish, ''The Sable Arm'', p. 130.</ref>  Regiments, including [[infantry]], [[cavalry]], [[Combat engineers|engineers]], light [[artillery]], and heavy artillery units were recruited from all states of the Union. Approximately 175 regiments comprising more than 178,000 free blacks and [[freedmen]] served during the last two years of the war. Their service bolstered the Union war effort at a critical time.

Initially, the USCT were relegated to menial jobs such as that of laborers, teamsters, cooks, and other support duties. However, even these duties were essential to the war effort.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Henderson |first1=Steward |title=The Role of the USCT in the Civil War |url=https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/role-usct-civil-war |website=www.battlefields.org |date=October 27, 2020 |publisher=American Battlefield Trust |access-date=6 July 2023}}</ref> For example, USCT engineers built [[Fort Pocahontas]], a Union supply depot, in [[Charles City County|Charles City]], [[Virginia]].<ref>Rhea, Gordon C. ''To the North Anna River: Grant and Lee; May 13–25, 1864''; Baton Rouge, LA; [[Louisiana State University Press]], 2000. {{ISBN|0-8071-2535-0}}</ref> Eventually USCT were sent into combat.

The USCT suffered 2,751 combat deaths during the war, and 68,178 losses from all causes. Disease caused the most fatalities for all troops, both black and white.<ref>Cornish, ''The Sable Arm'', p. 288; McPherson, ''The Negro's Civil War'', p. 237</ref> In the last year-and-a-half and from all reported casualties, approximately 20% of all African Americans enrolled in the military died.<ref name=Aptheker/> Notably, their mortality rate was significantly higher than white soldiers:
{{blockquote|text=[We] find, according to the revised official data, that of the slightly over two millions troops in the United States Volunteers, over 316,000 died (from all causes), or 15.2%. Of the 67,000 Regular Army (white) troops, 8.6%, or not quite 6,000, died. Of the approximately 180,000 United States Colored Troops, however, over 36,000 died, or 20.5%. In other words, the mortality ''rate'' amongst the United States Colored Troops in the Civil War was thirty-five percent greater than that among other troops, notwithstanding the fact that the former were not enrolled until some eighteen months after the fighting began.<ref name=Aptheker>Herbert Aptheker, "Negro Casualties in the Civil War", "The Journal of Negro History", Vol. 32, No. 1. (January, 1947).</ref>|author=[[Herbert Aptheker]]}}

[[File:Gordon, scourged back, in uniform, 1863.png|thumb|upright|Escaped slave, [[Gordon (slave)|Gordon]] (also called "Whipped Peter"), in USCT uniform]]

USCT regiments were led by white Union officers, while rank advancement was limited for Black soldiers, who could only rise to the rank of [[non-commissioned officers]]. Approximately 110 Black soldiers did become commissioned officers before the end of the war, primarily as surgeons or chaplains.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/civil_war_series/2/sec14.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150303133842/http://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/civil_war_series/2/sec14.htm | url-status=dead | archive-date=March 3, 2015 | title=National Park Civil War Series: The Civil War's Black Soldiers }}</ref> The Supervisory Committee for Recruiting Colored Regiments in [[Philadelphia]] opened the Free Military Academy for Applicants for the Command of Colored Troops at the end of 1863.<ref>Cornish, ''The Sable Arm'', p. 218.</ref> For a time, Black soldiers received less pay than their white counterparts, but they and their supporters lobbied and eventually gained equal pay.<ref>McPherson, ''The Negro's Civil War'', Chapter XIV, "The Struggle for Equal Pay", pp. 193–203.</ref> Notable members of USCT regiments included [[Martin Delany|Martin Robinson Delany]] and the sons of abolitionist [[Frederick Douglass]].

The process for white officers aiming to lead USCT units was considered more protracted and perhaps rigorous than for ordinary Union officers. This was because it was assumed that leading Black soldiers would require a better officer than those leading white troops. At the end of their studies, those men who wished to lead Black troops had to pass an examination administered by [[Silas Casey|Brig. Gen. Silas Casey's]] staff in Washington. After a short period of examinations in mid-1863, only half of the men who had taken the exam passed.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fry |first1=Zachery A. |title=Philadelphia's Free Military School and the Radicalization of Wartime Officer Education, 1863-64 |journal=Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography |date=October 2017 |volume=141 |issue=3 |pages=278–279 |url=https://journals.psu.edu/pmhb/issue/view/3128/55 |access-date=6 July 2023}}</ref>

===Volunteer regiments===
[[File:African American soldier in Union uniform with wife and two daughters (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright=.8|left|Sgt. Samuel Smith of the 119th USCT, in uniform, with his family]]

Before the USCT was formed, several volunteer regiments were raised from [[free people of color|free black]] men, including [[freedmen]] in the South. In 1863 a former slave, [[William Henry Singleton]], helped recruit 1,000 former slaves in [[New Bern, North Carolina]], for the [[First North Carolina Colored Volunteers]]. He became a sergeant in the 35th USCT. Freedmen from the [[Freedmen's Colony of Roanoke Island|Roanoke Island Freedmen's Colony]], established in 1863 on the island, also formed part of the Free North Carolina Colored Volunteers (FNCCV) and subsequently the 35th.<ref name="CCM">[http://www.carolinacountry.com/storypages/ourstories/freedmen/freedmen.html "The Roanoke Island Freedmen's Colony"]; ''Carolina Country Magazine'', date?, accessed November 10, 2010</ref> Nearly all of the volunteer regiments were converted into USCT units.

In 1922 Singleton published his memoir (in a [[slave narrative]]) of his journey from slavery to freedom and becoming a Union soldier. Glad to participate in reunions, years later at the age of 95, he marched in a [[Grand Army of the Republic]] (GAR) event in 1938.

{{Clear|left}}

===State volunteers===
Six regiments were considered regular units, rather than auxiliaries. Their veteran status allowed them to get federal government jobs after the war, from which African Americans had usually been excluded in earlier years. However, the men received no formal recognition for combat honors and awards until the turn of the 20th century. These units were:
* [[5th Regiment Massachusetts Colored Volunteer Cavalry]]
* [[54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment|54th Massachusetts (Colored) Volunteer Infantry Regiment]]
* [[55th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment|55th Massachusetts (Colored) Volunteer Infantry Regiment]]
* [[29th Connecticut Infantry Regiment (Colored)|29th Connecticut (Colored) Volunteer Infantry Regiment]]
* [[30th Connecticut Volunteer Infantry Regiment]]
* [[31st Infantry Regiment, United States Colored Troops|31st Infantry Regiment (Colored)]]

===1st Louisiana Native Guard ([[Corps d'Afrique]])===
[[File:DutchGapb.jpg|thumb|upright=1|USCT soldiers at an abandoned farmhouse in [[Dutch Gap]], Virginia, 1864]]

The [[1st Louisiana Native Guard (Union)|1st Louisiana Native Guard]], one of many [[List of Louisiana Union Civil War units|Louisiana Union Civil War units]], was formed in [[New Orleans]] after the city was taken and occupied by Union forces. It was formed in part from the Confederacy's former unit [[1st Louisiana Native Guard (CSA)|of the same name]], which had been made up of property-owning [[free people of color]] (''gens de couleur libres'').<ref>This group of [[mixed-race]] people were descended generally from male native-born Spanish and French colonists (called ''Criolla'' or ''Créole'') and African slave women, or free African-American women. After the United States made the [[Louisiana Purchase]] (1803), many Americans moved to Louisiana. They ignored the status of the free Black people, grouping them with the majority of Black people, then mostly slaves. (Today the people of color descended from this group are generally referred to as [[Louisiana Creole]]s.)</ref> These men had wanted to prove their bravery and loyalty to the Confederacy like other Southern property owners by joining Confederate Black soldiers, but the Confederacy did not allow them to serve and [[Right to keep and bear arms|confiscated their arms]].

For the new unit, the Union also recruited [[freedmen]] from the refugee camps. Liberated from nearby plantations, they and their families had no means to earn a living and no place to go. Local commanders, starved for replacements, started equipping volunteer units with cast-off uniforms and obsolete or captured firearms. The men were treated and paid as auxiliaries, performing guard or picket duties to free up white soldiers for maneuver units. In exchange their families were fed, clothed and housed for free at the Army camps; often schools were set up for them and their children.

Despite class differences between free Black people and freedmen, the troops of the new guard served with distinction, including under Captain [[Andre Cailloux]] at the [[Battle of Port Hudson]] and throughout the South. Its units included:
* 4 Regiments of Louisiana Native Guards (renamed the 1st–4th Corps d'Afrique Infantry, later renamed as the 73rd–76th US Colored Infantry on April 4, 1864).
* 1st and 2nd Brigade Marching Bands, Corps d'Afrique (later made into Nos. 1 and 2 Bands, USCT).
* 1st Regiment of Cavalry (1st Corps d'Afrique Cavalry, later made into the [[4th United States Colored Cavalry Regiment|4th US Colored Cavalry]]).
* 22 Regiments of Infantry (1st–20th, 22nd, and 26th Corps d'Afrique Infantry, later converted into the 77th–79th, 80th–83rd, 84th–88th, and 89th–93rd US Colored Infantry on April 4, 1864).
* 5 Regiments of Engineers (1st–5th Corps d'Afrique Engineers, later converted into the 95th–99th US Colored Infantry regiments on April 4, 1864) whose work building [[Bailey's Dam]] saved the Union navy's [[Mississippi River Squadron]].
* 1 Regiment of Heavy Artillery (later converted into the 10th US Colored (Heavy) Artillery on May 21, 1864).

===Right Wing, XVI Corps (1864)===
[[File:Colored soldiers singing "John Brown's Body".jpg|thumb|upright|Colored Troops singing "[[John Brown's Body]]" as they marched into Charleston, South Carolina, in February 1865. Note the attitude of the local population, and the white officers.]]
Colored troops served as laborers in the 16th Army Corps' [[Quartermaster|Quartermaster's Department]] and [[Pioneer (military)|Pioneer Corps]].
* Detachment, Quartermaster's Department.
* [[Pioneer (military)|Pioneer Corps]], 1st Division ([[Joseph A. Mower|Mower]]), [[XVI Corps (Union Army)|16th Army Corps]].
* Pioneer Corps, Cavalry Division ([[Benjamin Grierson|Grierson]]), [[XVI Corps (Union Army)|16th Army Corps]].

===USCT Regiments===
{{Main|List of United States Colored Troops Civil War Units}}

* 6 Regiments of Cavalry [1st–6th USC Cavalry]
* 1 Regiment of Light Artillery [2nd USC (Light) Artillery]
* 1 Independent USC (Heavy) Artillery Battery
* 13 Heavy Artillery Regiments [1st and 3rd–14th USC (Heavy) Artillery]
* 1 unassigned Company of Infantry [Company A, US Colored Infantry]
* 1 Independent USC Company of Infantry [[Southard's Independent Company|(Southard's Independent Company, Pennsylvania (Colored) Infantry)]]
* 1 Independent USC Regiment of Infantry [Powell's Regiment, US Colored Infantry]
* 135 Regiments of Infantry [1st–138th USC Infantry] (The 94th, 105th, and 126th USC Infantry regiments were never fully formed)

;Details
* The 2nd USC (Light) Artillery Regiment (2nd USCA) was made up of nine separate batteries grouped into three nominal battalions of three batteries each. The batteries were usually detached.
** I Battalion: A, B & C Batteries.
** II Battalion: D, E & F Batteries.
** III Battalion: G, H & I Batteries.
* The second raising of the 11th USC Infantry (USCI) was created by converting the 7th USC (Heavy) Artillery into an infantry unit.
* The second raising of the 79th USC Infantry (USCI) was formed from the [[1st Regiment Kansas Volunteer Infantry (Colored)|1st Kansas Colored Infantry]].
* The second raising of the 83rd USC Infantry (USCI) was formed from the [[2nd Regiment Kansas Volunteer Infantry (Colored)|2nd Kansas Colored Infantry]].
* The second raising of the 87th USCI was formed from merging the first raisings of the 87th and 96th USCI.
* The second raising of the 113th USCI was formed by merging the first raisings of the 11th, 112th, and 113th USCI.

==Gallery==
<gallery mode="packed-hover" class="center" widths="160" heights="140" text="" align:"left"="" perrow="5" "="" caption="Select USCT Regimental Banners">
File:Flag of the 3rd United States Colored Troops (obverse).png|3rd US Colored Troops banner {obverse}
File:Flag of the 22nd Regiment, United States Colored Troops.png|22nd US Colored Troops banner
File:26th Regiment USCT colors.png|26th US Colored Troops banner
File:27th US Colored Troops banner.jpg|27th US Colored Troops banner
File:45th US Colored Troops banner.jpg|45th US Colored Troops banner
</gallery>

==Notable actions==
{{main|Skirmish at Island Mound}}
[[File:Auction and negro sales 1864.jpg|alt= |thumb|upright|[[George N. Barnard|George N. Barnard's]] photograph of a slave trader's business on Whitehall Street [[Atlanta]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], 1864.  A United States Colored Troop Infantry [[corporal]] is sitting by the door.]]

The first engagement by African-American soldiers against Confederate forces during the Civil War was at the [[Skirmish at Island Mound|Battle of Island Mound]] in [[Bates County, Missouri]] on October 28–29, 1862. African Americans, mostly escaped slaves, had been recruited into the [[1st Regiment Kansas Volunteer Infantry (African Descent)|1st Kansas Colored Volunteers.]] They accompanied white troops to Missouri to break up Confederate [[guerrilla]] activities based out of Hog Island near [[Butler, Missouri]]. Although outnumbered, the African-American soldiers fought valiantly, and the Union forces won the engagement. The conflict was reported by ''[[The New York Times]]'' and ''[[Harper's Weekly]]''.<ref name="nyt">[https://www.nytimes.com/1862/11/19/news/affairs-west-negro-regiment-action-battle-island-mounds-desperate-bravery-negros.html?emc=eta1 "Affairs In The West.; A Negro Regiment in Action&nbsp;– The Battle of Island Mounds&nbsp;– Desperate Bravery of the Negros&nbsp;– Defeat of the Guerrillas&nbsp;– An Attempted Fraud"], ''The New York Times'', 19 November 1862, accessed 22 February 2016</ref><ref name="tabor">[http://islandmound.tripod.com/casualties.htm Chris Tabor, "Skirmish at Island Mound"], Island Mound website, accessed 12 Oct 2009</ref> In 2012 the state established the [[Battle of Island Mound State Historic Site]] to preserve this area; the eight Union men killed were buried near the battleground.<ref>[http://mostateparks.com/park/battle-island-mound-state-historic-site ''Battle of Island Mound State Historic Site'']; Missouri Department of Natural Resources</ref>

USCT regiments fought in all theaters of the war, but mainly served as garrison troops in rear areas. The most famous USCT action took place at the [[Battle of the Crater]] during the [[Siege of Petersburg]]. Regiments of USCT suffered heavy casualties attempting to break through [[Confederate States Army|Confederate]] lines. Other notable engagements include [[Fort Wagner]], one of their first major tests, and the [[Battle of Nashville]].<ref name="cornish173"/>

Colored Troop soldiers were among the first Union forces to enter [[Richmond, Virginia]], after its fall in April 1865. The 41st USCT regiment was among those present at the surrender of the [[Army of Northern Virginia]] at [[Appomattox Court House National Historical Park|Appomattox]]. Following the war, USCT regiments served among the occupation troops in former Confederate states.

U.S. Army General [[Ulysses S. Grant]] praised the competent performance and bearing of the USCT, saying at Vicksburg that:
{{blockquote|Negro troops are easier to preserve discipline among than our white troops ... All that have been tried have fought bravely.|author=Ulysses S. Grant|source=at Vicksburg (July 24, 1863).<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/wordsofourheroul00gran/wordsofourheroul00gran_djvu.txt ''Words of our Hero: Ulysses S. Grant''], edited by Jeremiah Chaplin, Boston: D. Lothrop and Company, pp. 13–14.</ref>}}

===Prisoners of war===
[[File:African-American Corporal (United States Colored Troops) reading at 8 Whitehall Street, Atlanta slave auction house, Fall 1864, from- 'Auction & Negro Sales,' Whitehall Street LOC cwpb.03351 (cropped).tif|upright=.8|thumb|left|African-American corporal (United States Colored Troops) outside 8 Whitehall Street, Atlanta, a slave auction house; Fall 1864]]

USCT soldiers suffered extra violence at the hands of Confederate soldiers, who singled them out for mistreatment. They were often the victims of battlefield massacres and atrocities by Confederates, most notably at [[Battle of Fort Pillow|Fort Pillow]] in Tennessee, at the [[Battle of the Crater]] in Virginia,<ref>{{cite news | first1=James I. Jr.|last1=Robertson| author-link1=James I. Robertson, Jr.| first2=Willuam| last2=Pegram| author-link2=William Pegram| title='The Boy Artillerist': Letters of Colonel William Pegram, C.S.A.| magazine=[[Virginia Magazine of History and Biography]]| volume=98| number=2 (The Trumpet Unblown: The Old Dominion in the Civil War)| year=1990|pages=242–243}}</ref> and at the [[Battle of Olustee]] in Florida. They were often murdered when captured by Confederate soldiers, as the Confederacy announced that former slaves fighting for the Union were traitors and would be immediately executed.<ref name="cornish173">Cornish, ''The Sable Arm'', pp. 173–80.</ref>

The prisoner exchange protocol based on the [[Dix–Hill Cartel]] broke down over the Confederacy's position on black [[prisoner of war|prisoners-of-war]]. The [[Congress of the Confederate States of America]] had passed a law on May 1, 1863, stating that white officers commanding black soldiers and blacks captured in uniform would be tried as rebellious slave insurrectionists in civil courts — a capital offense with automatic sentence of death.<ref>Williams, George W., ''History of the Negro Race in America from 1619 to 1880: Negros as Slaves, as Soldiers, and as Citizens'', vol. II, New York: G.P. Putnam Son's, 1883, pp. 351–52.</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Congress of the Confederate States of America |url=http://deadconfederates.com/2014/04/15/understanding-fort-pillow-full-and-ample-retaliation/ |title=No. 5. |work=Joint Resolution on the Subject of Retaliation |date=April 15, 2014 |location=May 1, 1863 |access-date=March 6, 2016}}</ref> In practice, USCT soldiers were often murdered by Confederate troops without being taken to court. This law became a stumbling block for prisoner exchange, as the U.S. government in the [[Lieber Code]] objected to such discriminatory mistreatment of prisoners of war on basis of ethnicity. The [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]]'s platform during the 1864 presidential election also condemned the Confederacy's mistreatment of black U.S. soldiers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29621 |title=Republican Party Platform of 1864 |date=June 7, 1864 |author=Republican Party |quote=[T]he Government owes to all men employed in its armies, without regard to distinction of color, the full protection of the laws of war—and that any violation of these laws, or of the usages of civilized nations in time of war, by the Rebels now in arms, should be made the subject of prompt and full redress. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150421080932/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29621 |archive-date=April 21, 2015}}</ref> In response to such mistreatment, General [[Ulysses S. Grant]], in a letter to Confederate officer [[Richard Taylor (Confederate general)|Richard Taylor]], urged the Confederates to treat captured black U.S. soldiers humanely and professionally, and not to murder them. He stated the U.S. government's official position, that black U.S. soldiers were sworn military men. The Confederacy had said they were escaped slaves who deserved no better treatment.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/stream/wordsofourheroul00gran/wordsofourheroul00gran_djvu.txt |title=Letter to Richard Taylor |location=Vicksburg |date=1863 |last=Grant |first=Ulysses |quote=I feel no inclination to retaliate for the offences of irresponsible persons; but if it is the policy of any General intrusted with the command of troops to show no quarter, or to punish with death prisoners taken in battle, I will accept the issue. It may be you propose a different line of policy towards black troops, and officers commanding them, to that practiced towards white troops. So, I can assure you that these colored troops are regularly mustered into the service of the United States. The Government, and all officers under the Government, are bound to give the same protection to these troops that they do to any other troops.}}</ref>
{{Clear}}

==Numbers of colored troops by state, North and South==
The soldiers are classified by the state where they were enrolled; Northern states often sent agents to enroll formerly enslaved from the South. Many soldiers from Delaware, D.C., Kentucky, Missouri, and West Virginia were formerly enslaved as well. Most of the troops credited to West Virginia, however, were not actually from that state.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20180820111916/http://www.wvculture.org/history/ahnews/1103news.pdf 45th United States Colored Troops]</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
! North<ref name="Gladstone, William A. p. 120">Gladstone, William A., ''United States Colored Troops'', p. 120</ref>!! Number !! South<ref name="Gladstone, William A. p. 120"/> !! Number
|-
| Connecticut           ||align=right|   1,764 &nbsp;
| &nbsp; Alabama        ||align=right|   4,969 &nbsp;
|-
| Colorado Territory    ||align=right|      95 &nbsp;
| &nbsp; Arkansas       ||align=right|   5,526 &nbsp;
|-
| Delaware              ||align=right|     954 &nbsp;
| &nbsp; Florida        ||align=right|   1,044 &nbsp;
|-
| District of Columbia  ||align=right|   3,269 &nbsp;
| &nbsp; Georgia        ||align=right|   3,486 &nbsp;
|-
| Illinois              ||align=right|   1,811 &nbsp;
| &nbsp; Louisiana      ||align=right|  24,502 &nbsp;
|-
| Indiana               ||align=right|   1,597 &nbsp;
| &nbsp; Mississippi    ||align=right|  17,869 &nbsp;
|-
| Iowa                  ||align=right|     440 &nbsp;
| &nbsp; North Carolina ||align=right|   5,035 &nbsp;
|-
| Kansas                ||align=right|   2,080 &nbsp;
| &nbsp; South Carolina ||align=right|   5,462 &nbsp;
|-
| Kentucky              ||align=right|  23,703 &nbsp;
| &nbsp; Tennessee      ||align=right|  20,133 &nbsp;
|-
| Maine                 ||align=right|     104 &nbsp;
| &nbsp; Texas          ||align=right|      47 &nbsp;
|-
| Maryland              ||align=right|   8,718 &nbsp;
| &nbsp; Virginia       ||align=right|   5,723 &nbsp;
|-
| Massachusetts         ||align=right|   3,966 &nbsp; ||  ||
|-
| Michigan              ||align=right|   1,387 &nbsp;
| '''Total from the South'''     ||align=right|  93,796&nbsp;
|-
| Minnesota             ||align=right|     104 &nbsp; ||  ||
|-
| Missouri              ||align=right|   8,344 &nbsp;
| At large              ||align=right|     733 &nbsp;
|-
| New Hampshire         ||align=right|     125 &nbsp;
| Not accounted for     ||align=right|   5,083 &nbsp;
|-
| New Jersey            ||align=right|   1,185 &nbsp; ||  ||
|-
| New York              ||align=right|   4,125 &nbsp; ||  ||
|-
| Ohio                  ||align=right|   5,092 &nbsp; ||  ||
|-
| Pennsylvania          ||align=right|   8,612 &nbsp; ||  ||
|-
| Rhode Island          ||align=right|   1,837 &nbsp; ||  ||
|-
| Vermont               ||align=right|     120 &nbsp; ||  ||
|-
| West Virginia         ||align=right|     196 &nbsp; ||  ||
|-
| Wisconsin             ||align=right|     155 &nbsp; ||  ||
|-
| '''Total from the North'''     ||align=right|  79,283 &nbsp; ||  ||
|-
|                       ||
| '''Total'''           ||align=right| 178,895 &nbsp;
|}

==Postwar==
[[File:Harriet Tubman, with rescued slaves, New York Times.JPG|thumb|upright|[[Harriet Tubman]] with family and ex-slaves; sitting at left is Tubman's second husband, Nelson Davis (8th USCT veteran)]]

The USCT was disbanded in the fall of 1865. In 1867, the Regular Army was set at ten regiments of cavalry and 45 regiments of infantry. The Army was authorized to raise two regiments of black cavalry (the [[9th Cavalry Regiment (United States)|9th]] and [[10th Cavalry Regiment (United States)|10th Cavalry]]) and four regiments of black infantry (the [[38th Infantry Regiment (United States)|38th]], [[39th Infantry Regiment (United States)|39th]], [[40th Infantry Regiment (United States)|40th]], and [[41st Infantry Regiment (United States)|41st Infantry]]), who were mostly drawn from USCT veterans. The first draft of the bill that the House Committee on Military Affairs sent to the full chamber on March 7, 1866, did not include a provision for regiments of black cavalry; however, this provision was added by Senator [[Benjamin Wade]] prior to the bill's passing.<ref name="Schubert">{{cite book | last=Schubert |first=Frank N. |title=Black Valor: Buffalo Soldiers and the Medal of Honor, 1870-1898 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/blackvalorbuffal00schu/page/4 4-5] |publisher=Scholarly Resources Inc. |date=1997 |isbn=9780842025867 |url=https://archive.org/details/blackvalorbuffal00schu/page/4 }}</ref> In 1869 the Regular Army was kept at ten regiments of cavalry but cut to 25 regiments of Infantry, reducing the black complement to two regiments (the [[24th Infantry Regiment (United States)|24th]] and [[25th Infantry Regiment (United States)|25th (Colored) Infantry]]).

The two black infantry regiments represented 10 percent of the size of all twenty-five infantry regiments. Similarly, the black cavalry units represented 20 percent of the size of all ten cavalry regiments.<ref name="Schubert"/>

From 1870 to 1898 the strength of the US Army totaled 25,000 service members with black soldiers maintaining their 10 percent representation.<ref name="Schubert"/> USCT soldiers fought in the [[Indian Wars]] in the [[American West]], where they became known as the [[Buffalo Soldiers]], reportedly nicknamed by Native Americans who compared their hair to the curly fur of [[bison]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Wild West Western Facts, Buffalo Soldiers |url=http://www.thewildwest.org/cowboys/wildwestwesternfacts/242-buffalosoldiers.html |website=The Wild West |access-date=3 December 2015 |archive-date=December 8, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208172532/http://www.thewildwest.org/cowboys/wildwestwesternfacts/242-buffalosoldiers.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Awards==
[[File:Sgt Major Christian Fleetwood - American Civil War Medal of Honor recipient - Restoration.jpg|thumb|upright|Sgt Major [[Christian Fleetwood]]. Civil War, Medal of Honor recipient]]

===US Medal of Honor===
[[List of African-American Medal of Honor recipients|Eighteen African-American USCT soldiers]] earned the [[Medal of Honor]], the nation's highest award, for service in the war:<ref>{{cite book | last=Schubert| first=Frank N.| title=Black Valor: Buffalo Soldiers and the Medal of Honor, 1870-1898| pages=[https://archive.org/details/blackvalorbuffal00schu/page/2 2-4]| publisher=Scholarly Resources Inc.| date=1997| isbn=9780842025867| url=https://archive.org/details/blackvalorbuffal00schu/page/2}}</ref>
* Sergeant [[William Harvey Carney]] of the [[54th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry|54th Massachusetts (Colored) Volunteer Infantry]] was awarded the [[Medal of Honor]] for his actions at the [[Second Battle of Fort Wagner|Battle of Fort Wagner]] in July 1863. During the advance, Carney was wounded but still went on. When the color-bearer was shot, Carney grabbed the flagstaff and planted it in the parapet, while the rest of his regiment stormed the fortification. When his regiment was forced to retreat, he was wounded two more times while he carried the colors back to Union lines. He did not relinquish it until he handed it to another soldier of the 54th. Carney received his medal 37 years after the battle.
* Fourteen African-American soldiers, including Sergeant Major [[Christian Fleetwood]] and Sergeant [[Alfred B. Hilton]] (mortally wounded) of the [[4th United States Colored Infantry Regiment|4th USCT]], were awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions at the [[Battle of Chaffin's Farm]] in September 1864, during the campaign to take Petersburg.
* Corporal [[Andrew Jackson Smith (Medal of Honor)|Andrew Jackson Smith]] of the 55th Massachusetts (Colored) Volunteer Infantry was recommended for the Medal of Honor for his actions at the [[Battle of Honey Hill]] in November 1864. Smith prevented the regimental colors from falling into enemy hands after the color sergeant was killed. Due to a lack of official records, he was not awarded the medal until 2001.

===The Butler Award===
Soldiers who fought in the [[Army of the James]] were eligible for the [[Butler Medal]], commissioned by that army's commander, [[Major General|Maj. Gen.]] [[Benjamin Butler (politician)|Benjamin Butler]]. When several slaves escaped to Butler's lines in 1861, at [[Fort Monroe]] in Virginia, Butler was the first to declare any [[refugee]] slaves as [[Contraband (American Civil War)|contraband]], and refused to return them to slaveholders, a standard that slowly became an unofficial policy throughout the [[Union Army]]. Their owner, a Confederate colonel, came to Butler under a flag of truce and demanded that they be returned to him under the [[Fugitive slave laws#1850 Fugitive Slave Act|Fugitive Slave Act]] of 1850. Butler informed him that since Virginia claimed to have left the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]], the Fugitive Slave Law no longer applied, declaring the slaves to be contraband of war.

==Legacy and modern views==
The historian [[Steven Hahn]] proposes that when slaves organized themselves and worked with the Union Army during the [[American Civil War]], including as some regiments of the USCT, their actions comprised a slave rebellion that dwarfed all other slave revolts.<ref>{{Cite web | url= http://southernspaces.org/2004/greatest-slave-rebellion-modern-history-southern-slaves-american-civil-war |first=Steven |last=Hahn |year=2004 |title=The Greatest Slave Rebellion in Modern History: Southern Slaves in the American Civil War |work=southernspaces.org |access-date=August 22, 2010}}</ref> The [[African American Civil War Memorial Museum]] helps to preserve pertinent information from the period.<ref>[http://www.afroamcivilwar.org African American Civil War Memorial and Museum]; organization website</ref>

{{Multiple image
| header            = U.S. Colored Troops
| align             = right
| direction         = 
| total_width       = 350
| perrow            = 2/2
| image2            = 4th United States Colored Infantry.jpg
| caption2          = Company E, 4th US Colored Troops at [[Fort Lincoln (Washington, D.C.)|Fort Lincoln]], November 17, 1865 (from Library of Congress)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/cwp2003000946/PP/| title=District of Columbia. Company E, 4th U.S. Colored Infantry, at Fort Lincoln| work=loc.gov| year=1863}}</ref>
| image1            = WilliamCarney.jpeg
| caption1          = Sgt. [[William Harvey Carney]] Medal of Honor recipient
| image3            = Marker dedicated to the 26th Regiment of the U.S. Colored Infantry in the Civil War.jpg
| caption3          = Marker dedicated to the 26th Regiment of U.S. Colored Infantry in [[Ithaca, New York]]
| image4            = Broken gravestones in the African Jackson Cemetery.jpg
| caption4          = USCT Graves near Piqua, Ohio
}}

===Tributes===
* In 1924, the Grand Army of the Republic unveiled the [[Colored Soldiers Monument in Frankfort]], Kentucky.
* In September 1996, a national celebration in commemoration of the service of the United States Colored Troops was held.
* The [[African American Civil War Memorial]] (1997), featuring ''Spirit of Freedom'' by sculptor Ed Hamilton, was erected at the corner of Vermont Avenue and U Street NW in the capital, Washington, D.C. It is administered by the [[National Park Service]].
* In 1999 the African American Civil War Museum opened nearby.
* In July 2011, the African American Civil War Museum celebrated a grand opening of its new facility at 1925 Vermont Avenue Northwest, Washington, D.C., just across the street from the memorial.<ref>{{Cite web|title=African American Civil War Museum To Hold Grand Opening|url=https://wamu.org/story/11/07/11/african_american_civil_war_museum_to_hold_grand_opening/|access-date=2022-02-10|website=WAMU|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Memorial & Museum History|url=https://www.afroamcivilwar.org/memorial-museum-history|access-date=2022-02-10|website=www.afroamcivilwar.org|archive-date=February 10, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220210185607/https://www.afroamcivilwar.org/memorial-museum-history|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Other===
The motion picture ''[[Glory (1989 film)|Glory]]'', starring [[Denzel Washington]], [[Morgan Freeman]], and [[Matthew Broderick]], portrayed the African-American soldiers of the [[54th Massachusetts Regiment|54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment]]. It showed their training and participation in several battles, including the [[Battle of Fort Wagner, Morris Island|second assault]] on [[Fort Wagner]] on July 18, 1863. Although the 54th was not a USCT regiment, but a state volunteer regiment originally raised from free blacks in Boston, similar to the 1st and 2nd Kansas Colored Infantry, the film portrays the experiences and hardships of African-American troops during the Civil War.<ref>See film review by historian [[James M. McPherson]], "The 'Glory' Story", ''The New Republic'', January 8 and 15, 1990, pp.&nbsp;22–27.</ref> [[Richard Walter Thomas]], black scholar of race relations, observed that the relationship between white and black soldiers in the Civil War was an instance of what he calls "the other tradition": "... after sharing the horrors of war with their black comrades in arms, many white officers experienced deep and dramatic transformations in their attitudes toward blacks."<ref>{{cite book|first=Richard Walter | last =Thomas|title=Understanding interracial unity: a study of U.S. race relations|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3_Z1AAAAMAAJ |date=January 1996|publisher=Sage Publications|isbn=978-0-8039-4602-6|series=Sage series on race and ethnic relations|volume=16|editor-first=John H. | editor-last = Standfield II|page=31}}</ref>

==Similar units==
* [[92nd Infantry Division (United States)]]
* [[93d Infantry Division (United States)]]
* [[366th Infantry Regiment (United States)]]
* [[369th Infantry Regiment (United States)]]
* [[761st Tank Battalion (United States)]]
* [[1st Louisiana Native Guard (CSA)]]

==See also==
{{Portal|American Civil War}}
* [[Corps of Colonial Marines]]
* [[Ethiopian Regiment]]
* [[List of United States Colored Troops Civil War units]]
* [[Military history of African Americans]]
* [[Military history of African Americans in the American Civil War]]
* [[Marching Song of the First Arkansas]]
* [[Native Americans in the American Civil War]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==

=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== General references ===
* Cornish, Dudley Taylor. ''The Sable Arm: Negro Troops in the Union Army, 1861–1865.'' New York: W.W. Norton, 1965.
* Dobak, William A. ''Freedom by the Sword: The U.S. Colored Troops, 1862–1867.'' Washington, DC: Center of Military History, 2011.
* Gladstone, William A. ''United States Colored Troops, 1863–1867.'' Gettysburg, PA: Thomas Publications, 1996.
* [[Thomas Wentworth Higginson|Higginson, Thomas Wentworth]]. [https://books.google.com/books?id=dk8IAAAAQAAJ&q=army+life+in+a+black+regiment ''Army Life in a Black Regiment'']. Boston: Fields, Osgood, & Co., 1870.
* Johnson, Jesse J. ''Black Armed Forces Officers 1736–1971.'' Hampton Publications, 1971.
* Matthews, Harry Bradshaw, ''African American Freedom Journey in New York and Related Sites, 1823–1870: Freedom Knows No Color'', Cherry Hill, NJ: Africana Homestead Legacy Publishers, 2008.
* [[James M. McPherson|McPherson, James M.]], ''The Negro's Civil War: How American Negroes Felt and Acted During the War for the Union.'' New York: Pantheon Books, 1965.
* {{cite book|last=Schubert|first=Frank N.|title=Black Valor: Buffalo Soldiers and the Medal of Honor, 1870-1898|publisher=Scholarly Resources Inc.|date=1997|author-link=Frank N. Schubert|isbn=9780842025867|url=https://archive.org/details/blackvalorbuffal00schu}}
* Smith, John David, ''Lincoln and the U.S. Colored Troops'' (Southern Illinois University Press, 2013). 156 pp.
* [[George Washington Williams|Williams, George W.]], [https://archive.org/details/historyofnegrotr00will ''A History of the Negro Troops in the War of the Rebellion.''] New York: Harper & Brothers, 1887.
* Film review, [[James M. McPherson]], "The 'Glory' Story", ''The New Republic'', January 8 and 15, 1990, pp.&nbsp;22–27

==Further reading==
* Alston, Bradley. [https://www.mdhistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/MdHM-118-1-2-2023_double-issue_FINAL.pdf "Commemorating the 160th Anniversary of the Maryland United States Colored Troops"]. ''Maryland Historical Magazine'', Vol. 118, No. 1-2 (Spring/Summer-Fall/Winter 2023).
* [[Ulysses Lee|Lee, Ulysses]]. ''The Employment of Negro Troops''. Published by the Office of the Chief of Military History, United States Army, Washington, D.C., 1966. 740 pp.

==External links==
{{Commons category|United States Colored Troops}}
* [https://afroamcivilwar.org/usct-historic-trails/ USCT Historic Trail] from the [[African American Civil War Memorial Museum]]
* [https://usctroops.com 19th USCT service record cards] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210727194607/https://www.usctroops.com/ |date=July 27, 2021 }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081016042321/http://www.lwfaam.net/cw/ United States Colored Troops in the Civil War]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100206060508/http://www.forloveofliberty.net/stories/united-states-colored-troops/95 United States Colored Troops] US Army
* [https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/blacks-civil-war "Black Soldiers in the U.S. Military During the Civil War"] at the [National Archives and Records Administration|U.S. National Archives and Records Administration] website
*[https://www.facebook.com/groups/182460225500764/posts/2002704113476357/ USCT Stories]
{{Buffalo Soldiers}}
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[[Category:African Americans in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:African-American military units and formations of the American Civil War| ]]
[[Category:1863 establishments in the United States]]
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[[Category:Military history of Native Americans]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1863]]
[[Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1865]]
[[Category:Slave soldiers]]
[[Category:Fugitive American slaves]]