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... the place that was selected as a meeting and a recruiting place was forced to remove the American flag. At another place the owner was told by the police "we want you damned niggers to keep out of this; this is a white man's war. " Frederick Douglass was the most persistent advocate of arming blacks, perhaps the greatest black leader this country has ever had. " Colored men were good enough to fight under Washington. They are not good enough to fight under McClellan. " He further stated; "the side which first summons the Negro to its aid will conquer. " In the fall of 1861, Governor John Andrews of Massachusetts declared General Hunter, the Commander of the Department of the South, and without permission started recruiting slaves thereby forming the 1 st Regiment of South Carolina Volunteers. This regiment attracted much attention and helped the country to accept black men in the Army.
When President Lincoln and his War Department found out about this regiment, they forced them to disband. It was during the summer and fall 1862, that Lincoln gradually altered his view of the war and issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation in September. In late August the War Department made a radical change, and sanctioned the recruit of blacks with this policy statement " all slaves admitted into military service, together with their wives children, are declared forever free. " It was immediately after this, that Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation and that the U. S. government made enormous efforts to begin raising colored troops, special Order 97 was issued.
On March 1, 1863, there was also a board that convened in Washington, D. C. , this board was "to examine and report upon a system of Tactics for Colored Troops" itt had been prepared by Brigadier General Silas Casey. On May 22 nd 1863 AGO General Order 143 was issued to establish the Adjutant General's office in the bureau "for the record of all matters relating to the organization of colored troops, " also Adjutant General Lorenzo Thomas was sent to the Mississippi Valley to organize and put into effect a recruiting system there. Before the Bureau had been established, and under department authority colored troops had been raised in Massachusetts, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kansas, and one in Mississippi under the Department of the Gulf and Valley. The troops that had been organized in Mississippi were under General Banks, and were named Corps d' Afrique. On June 17 1863 Major George L.
Sterns was appointed recruiting Commissioner for United States Colored Troops, and was headquartered in Philadelphia where colored troops were already being raised. In Maryland there was a number of recruiting stations for colored troops that had been established by October of 1863. The government also authorized governors of other states to raise color regiments. As recruiting measures became more standardized, the more colorful and fanciful names for the colored troops, such as Corps d' Afrique and Zouaves d' Afrique were replaced by United States Colored Troops.
There were examining boards set up in Washington, Cincinnati, St. Louis, New Orleans, Davenport (Iowa), and Richmond (from April 1865) to interview perspective officers mostly white, to be appointed to lead colored troops which was the norm at that time. The last of the colored troops was mustered and on July 15 th 1865, at which time the maximum number of black soldiers at any one time during the war was reached. The following is a distribution: 120 infantry regiments... 98, 938 12 heavy artillery regiments... 15, 662 10 heavy artillery batteries 311 7 calvary regiments 245 Total... 123, 156 Based on the numbers computed in 1865 the entire number of colored troops that were commissioned and had enlisted in the war was 186, 097, and their losses amounted to 68, 178 (except for mustering out).
When the war was over, the Bureau for Colored Troops was renamed the Colored Troops Division. In 1879 it received the remaining business of the Freedman's Branch, and consolidated with the Volunteer Service Division in 1888. On July 16, 1889 it was then transferred with that division to the Record and Pension Division of the War Department. On May 22 nd 1863 Col. Charles W. Foster had been appointed as Chief of the Bureau for Colored Troops, and served in that position during the entire war.
The War Department also set up Slave Claims Commissions (Section 24 of an Act of February 24 th 1864 (15. Slant. 11) ) these were to provide for the enrollment for the draft of "able-bodied male colored persons between the ages of 20 and 45 years, resident in the United States. " These commissions also stated that "a commission in each of the slave states represented in Congress, charge toward each loyal person to hold a colored volunteer male of service to be just compensation, not exceeding 300 dollars, for each such colored volunteer, payable out of the fund derived commutations, and every such colored volunteer on being mustered into the service shall be free. " The Bureau for Colored Troops of the Adjutant General's office, generally supervised the work of these commissions. At the beginning of the Civil War the population in the North and South was very different. In the North there was about 22 million people living there compared to the South that had about nine million people, which included 3. 5 million slaves. At that time the North had around four million men from the age of 15 to 40 years old, and the South had around one million, the approximate age to enlist in the service.
It was the North who was the first to employ black soldiers in 1863, the South did not decide to use blacks as soldiers until the last days of the war. It was obvious that as the war progressed many would lose their lives. At the end of 1862 the war looked bad for the Union side, and its supporters. The Army had been pushed back at Fredericksburg and Vicksburg, and at a tremendous cost had fought the battle of Stone River. It also looked bad for the North, due to the fact that some 65, 000 troops were to be discharged in the summer and fall 1863, also volunteering was at a standstill.
In the South, the Confederates were filling their ranks, and were at their peak for battle. &n...
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Research essay sample on Colored Troops Emancipation Proclamation
