United States Colored Troops

Over 180,000 black men fought for the Union army during the Civil War. Most of them served in the United States Colored Troops (USCT) which came into existence after the Emancipation Proclamation finally provided presidential endorsement for the much-discussed proposals for arming free blacks and former slaves in what had become the great conflict over slavery. USCT training camps in places such as Camp William Penn, located in historic La Mott (Cheltenham, Pa), provided skills and a new sense of identity to black soldiers, despite unequal pay with white soldiers and other forms of continuing discrimination in a segregated military.  More than 11,000 black soldiers mobilized for service from Camp William Penn. (By Matthew Pinsker)
Date Event
U.S. Navy Secretary Gideon Welles authorizes the enlistment of runaway slaves into the naval service
At Port Royal, South Carolina, the 1st South Carolina Colored Infantry receives its regimental colors
The Confederate Congress outlines dire consequences for black Union soldiers and their white officers
Meeting in Washington DC demands protection for black Union prisoners of war
The Army creates the Bureau of Colored Troops to oversee the creation of African-American regiments
Afro-Creole Captain Andre Cailloux falls at the head of his troops in the attack on Port Hudson
African-American troops perform well in the abortive attack on Port Hudson and earn wide praise
The 54th Massachusetts leaves Boston for active service in South Carolina
- Harriet Tubman leads an armed raid against Confederate forces in South Carolina
Black soldiers and naval gunfire drive off a Confederate attack on Union supply lines at Milliken's Bend
Raiding into Georgia, former "jayhawker" James Montgomery burns the town of Darien
On Morris Island, South Carolina, Confederate defenders of Fort Wagner beat back a second heavy attack
The African-American 54th Massachusetts earns fame across the North with its brave attempt to storm Fort Wagner
Sergeant William H. Carney becomes the first African-American to win the Congressional Medal of Honor
In New Orleans, leading Creole citizen Captain Andre Cailloux is given a hero's funeral
General George C. Strong, dead of wounds received at Fort Wagner, is buried at the Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn
In the Senate, a Kentucky senator proposes the immediate discharging of all African-American troops
In Union Square in New York City, the 20th U. S. C. T. receives its colors and departs for New Orleans
Battle of Fort Pillow
In Virginia, three soldiers from the same regiment win the Medal of Honor in the attack on New Market Heights
In Philadelphia, black leaders meet with city transport companies to demand desegregation of their streetcars
In Philadelphia, the Cooper Shop Volunteer Refreshment Saloon closes its doors
- In Memphis, serious riots break out as whites kill, rape, and burn in African-American sections of the city
Two more African-American regiments, the soon to be famous Ninth and Tenth Cavalry, come into being
In Massachusetts, Republicans win smashing victories in the fall state elections.
Lieutenant Henry Wilson, only son of U.S. Senator Henry Wilson, dies at his station in Austin, Texas.
Veterans from across the country meet in Philadelphia at the Colored Soldiers' and Sailors' Convention.
George Luther Stearns, leading abolitionist and member of "the Secret Six' dies of pneumonia in New York City.
Fort Wagner, SC
Fort Pillow, TN
Camp William Penn, PA
Date Title
Recollection by Noah Brooks, April 1863, Army of the Potomac
New York Times, “Negro Regiments to be Raised,” April 1, 1861
Cleveland (OH) Herald, “Cannot Be Accepted,” April 22, 1861
Brigadier General John W. Phelps, Proclamation to "The Loyal Citizens of the Southwest," December 4, 1861
Abraham Lincoln to Reverdy Johnson, Washington, DC, July 26, 1862
Abraham Lincoln to John Dix, January 14, 1863
Entry by Kate Stone, March 22, 1863
The Retaliatory Act, Confederate Congress, May 1, 1863
Ulysses S. Grant to Lorenzo Thomas, June 16, 1863
Boston (MA) Liberator, “Enlistment of Colored Troops,” July 17, 1863
Edward L. Pierce to John Albion Andrew, July 22, 1863
Abraham Lincoln to James C. Conkling, August 26, 1863
Abraham Lincoln to Andrew Johnson, September 11, 1863
Abraham Lincoln, Annual Message to Congress, December 8, 1863
Recollection by Orville Hickman Browning, April 3, 1864, Washington, D.C.
Abraham Lincoln to Albert G. Hodges, April 4, 1864
Albert G. Hodges to Abraham Lincoln, April 22, 1864, Frankfort, Kentucky
John M. Mackenzie to Abraham Lincoln, April 28, 1864, Paducah, Kentucky
Cleveland (OH) Herald, “Justice to Colored Soldiers,” May 2, 1864
Benjamin Brown French to Abraham Lincoln, May 5, 1864, Washington, D.C.
Entry by Kate Stone, September 5, 1864
Editorial, "Grant's Negro Troops," Chicago Tribune, April 8, 1865
Andrew Johnson, "Remarks to the First Colored Regiment of the District of Columbia," October 10, 1865, Washington D.C.
Chicago (IL) Tribune, “Reception of Colored Troops,” November 15, 1865
Philadelphia (PA) North American, "Reception of Colored Troops," November 15, 1865
Bangor (ME) Whig and Courier, “Protection of the Freedmen,” November 22, 1865
Milwaukee (WI) Sentinel, "Generals Meade and Butler on Negro Soldiers," November 25, 1865
New Haven (CT) Palladium, “The Reception,” November 25, 1865
Charles Jones Jenkins to Andrew Johnson, Milledgeville, Georgia, February 15, 1866
How to Cite This Page: "United States Colored Troops," House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College, https://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/node/32496.