United States Colored Troops
Essay
During the American Civil War (1861-65), Philadelphians raised eleven regiments of the United States Colored Troops (USCT). This division of the United States Army, consisting of Black soldiers led by white officers, provided much-needed manpower for federal forces in the final two years of the war.
When the Civil War began, many African Americans across the North sought to enlist, motivated by their belief that their military service would help win the war, end slavery, and entitle them to rights that they were denied—the rights to vote, sit on juries, and testify against whites in court. Most whites opposed blacks serving in the army, believing that defending the republic was an essential element of citizenship reserved for white men only. Also, the federal Militia Act of 1792 prohibited Black men from serving in the militia.
By the summer of 1862, as casualties mounted from combat and disease and as fewer white men enlisted, northern public opinion moved in favor of enrolling Black men in the army. On July 16, 1862, Congress passed the Second Militia Act, which allowed African Americans to be employed as soldiers, and in early 1863, Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton (1814-69) authorized the governors of Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut to organize Black regiments. Massachusetts was the first state to raise two regiments—the 54th and 55th Massachusetts Voluntary Infantry Regiments. About three hundred Black Philadelphians enlisted in these regiments. One company of the 54th was raised in Philadelphia.
In May 1863, the War Department established the Bureau of Colored Troops, which facilitated Black enlistment throughout the country and sent Major George Stearns (1809-67) to Philadelphia to raise Black regiments. The local Union League—founded by elite white Philadelphians to foster support for the Union war effort—established a Supervisory Committee for Recruiting Colored Troops and received Secretary Stanton’s permission to begin raising Black regiments with the aid of local and national Black leaders such as Octavius V. Catto (1839-71), Jacob C. White (1837-1900), and Frederick Douglass (c. 1815-95). Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church and its denominational newspaper, The Christian Recorder, also encouraged Black men to enlist. Federal officials and local leaders (Black and white) campaigned extensively to attract Black recruits in Philadelphia, from Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and other counties in Pennsylvania, and from in Delaware, New Jersey, and New York.
Training at Camp William Penn
Eleven USCT regiments were raised in Philadelphia—the 3rd, 6th, 8th, 22nd, 24th, 25th, 32nd, 41st, 43rd, and 45th, and 127th—totaling 10,940 men. These recruits trained eight miles north of the city at Camp William Penn, where they practiced weaponry, tactical formations and maneuvers, and guard duties. For these soldiers, weekdays began at 6 a.m. with reveille and roll call, followed drills throughout the day and evening, and leading to a dress parade and then taps at 9 p.m. On Saturdays the men cleaned the camp, and on Sundays they assembled for inspection, attended a church service, and participated in dress parades.
Many white men seeking to become commissioned officers in the USCT regiments received training from the Free Military School for Applicants for the Command of Colored Regiments, formed by the Union League’s recruiting committee, which operated from December 26, 1863, through most of 1864. Black men were not admitted to the school because most northern whites believed that Black men were not capable or intelligent enough for command, but an auxiliary school trained blacks as noncommissioned officers.
The first Black regiments from the Philadelphia region, led by their white officers, arrived in the South in the summer of 1863 and participated in many of the major campaigns of the final two years of the war. Their engagements included the assaults on Fort Wagner and Fort Gregg (August 20-September 7, 1863); Richmond-Petersburg Campaign (June 1864-March 1865) in Virginia; the Battle of Olustee, also known as Ocean Pond (February 20, 1864) in the swamps of north Florida; and the Battle of Honey Hill (November 30, 1864) in South Carolina. The 41st Infantry Regiment USCT, which arrived in Virginia in the fall of 1864, contributed to the Union victory in the Appomattox Campaign that culminated April 9, 1865, with the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia under Confederate General Robert E. Lee (1807-70) to Union General Ulysses S. Grant (1822-85) at Appomattox Court House.
Two Medals of Honor
Many local service men in USCT regiments earned recognition for their distinction in battle. Sergeants Alexander Kelly (1840-1907) and Thomas R. Hawkins (1840-70) from the 6th USCT received the Congressional Medal of Honor for their heroism in rescuing the regimental colors while under heavy fire at the Battle of New Market Heights, Virginia (September 28-29, 1864). Kelly was also praised for rallying the men in his company during a period of confusion on the battlefield.
Military service did not guarantee equal treatment for African Americans on the battlefield or at home. For example, African American solders received pay of only ten dollars per month, with three dollars deducted for clothing, while white privates received thirteen dollars per month plus a clothing allowance. Many Black soldiers expressed their dissatisfaction by refusing to accept the reduced rate and went for more than a year without pay. Not until June 15, 1864—when many Black regiments teetered on the brink of mutiny—did Congress pass legislation that equalized the pay of Black and white soldiers and offered back pay to those who refused their pay or were underpaid.
At home, Black troops and African American women who provided aid and comfort to wounded soldiers faced discrimination. During the period of the Civil War, African Americans and their white abolitionist allies battled discrimination on Philadelphia’s streetcars, where African Americans were excluded from riding or forced to ride on the front platforms. After the war, in March 1867, the campaign led to the state legislature prohibiting segregation on all forms of public transportation in the state.
By early December 1865, most of the USCT regiments that had trained at Camp William Penn returned to Philadelphia and received a heroes’ welcome for their service and sacrifice. When the 25th USCT returned to the city, the regiment attended a parade and flag-dedication ceremony at the Union League before being officially mustered out of service. Military service allowed African Americans establish their claims to full citizenship in Pennsylvania.
Lucien Holness is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Maryland-College Park. His research interests include African American and Atlantic history. (Author information current at time of publication.)
Copyright 2016, Rutgers University
Gallery
First Headquarters of the Union League of Philadelphia
Library Company of Philadelphia
The Union League of Philadelphia was organized in 1862 to support the Union cause. The league’s first official meeting was held in rented space in the Hartman Kuhn estate, shown here, on Chestnut Street. While there, the league campaigned for Lincoln’s second term and he visited a few months before the successful election. It was also during the league’s tenure at the Kuhn mansion that the Supervisory Committee for Recruiting Colored Troops was formed and began raising African American military units. Aided by black leaders, churches, and others, over ten thousand men from the Philadelphia area were recruited to the United States Colored Troops. The Union League remained at the Chestnut Street location until its current headquarters on South Broad Street was completed in 1867.
"Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys!"
Library Company of Philadelphia
The 10,950 men recruited to the United States Colored Troops in Philadelphia trained at Camp William Penn, an ad hoc army base in what is now Cheltenham, Montgomery County. The Union League of Philadelphia, founded a year prior to promote the Union cause, raised $100,000 for the establishment of Camp Penn. The land was owned by Union League member Edward M. Davis, son-in-law of prominent Quaker abolitionist Lucretia Mott. Mott owned the adjoining property, a stop on the Underground Railroad, and often watched the men drill from her porch. After the war, Davis sold parcels of the land to both Black and white buyers, and it became one of the first integrated neighborhoods in the United States.
The Free Military School for Applicants for Command of Colored Troops
Digital Collections, New York Public Library
The Free Military School for the Command of Colored Regiments was founded in 1863 on Chestnut Street near Twelfth Street to train white men seeking to become officers in the USCT. White students at the Free Military School attended classes for three hours a day, six days a week. They studied army regulations, military tactics, geography, arithmetic, and history. The men were required to attend drill and dress parade and assisted in training troops at Camp William Penn. Students were only required to stay at the Free Military School for thirty days. After they received their training, the men reported—at a determined date—to a board of examiners, where they were tested on their academic and military knowledge and judged according to their moral, mental, and physical fitness to lead. Most graduates of Philadelphia’s Free Military School performed satisfactory before the examination boards, with 96 percent of men passing, many with honors. Despite its success, the school was forced to close in September 1864 due to a shortage of funds, after less than a year in existence.
Camp William Penn
Historical Society of Pennsylvania
The 10,950 men recruited to the United States Colored Troops in Philadelphia trained at Camp William Penn, an ad hoc army base in what is now Cheltenham, Montgomery County. The Union League of Philadelphia, founded a year prior to promote the Union cause, raised $100,000 for the establishment of Camp Penn. The land was owned by Union League member Edward M. Davis, son-in-law of prominent Quaker abolitionist Lucretia Mott. Mott owned the adjoining property, a stop on the Underground Railroad, and often watched the men drill from her porch. After the war, Davis sold parcels of the land to both black and white buyers, and it became one of the first integrated neighborhoods in the United States.
Regimental Flag of the 3rd United States Colored Troops
Eleven Black regiments were raised in Philadelphia after an extensive recruitment campaign in 1863. Each had its own regimental flag and motto like the 3rd USCT motto, “Rather die free than live to be slaves.” Other mottos included “One Cause, One Country,” “We will prove ourselves men,” or, simply, “Freedom for All.” These flags, along with a standard U.S. flag, would be carried into battle by a designated color guard to help troops distinguish one another in the heat of a battle and minimize friendly-fire incidents. Regimental flags were not unique to the USCT, but were distinct in form. White regiments generally chose images of eagles or variations on the U.S. flag to decorate their regimental colors. By contrast, the USCT flags featured images of African American soldiers and the female figure of Columbia, the personification of the United States.
The eleven USCT regimental flags from Camp William Penn, including this one, were designed by David Bustill Bowser, an artist born in Philadelphia to fugitive slave Jeremiah Bowser. Jeremiah married into the prominent Bustill family, whose patriarch was himself born a slave but purchased his own freedom. Bustill Bowser was the cousin of activist Frederick Douglass, and of artists Sarah Mapps Douglass and Robert Douglass, Jr. who fostered his arts education. Though he was granted prominent commissions during the Antebellum Era and the Civil War, he was unable to repeat his success after the war. He died in obscurity and his regimental flags were destroyed by West Point in the 1940s after being displayed by their military museum. Photographs of seven survive.
Trench Warfare in Petersburg, Virginia
Petersburg, near the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, became an important supply center for the South during the Civil War. From June 1864 until March 1865, Petersburg was targeted by Union forces including several United States Colored Troops (USCT) regiments. Though the Confederates were outnumbered, they were able to form defensive strongholds that stymied Union attacks. Unwilling to give up, the Union troops dug trenches that eventually spanned almost thirty miles to Richmond, as seen in this August 1864 photograph of USCT soldiers. Union troops repeatedly raided and sabotaged Confederate supply trains, engaged in numerous battles, and, through attrition warfare, exhausted the Confederate troops. After ten months, Confederate General Robert E. Lee was forced to retreat from Petersburg and Richmond, and on April 9, 1865, he surrendered at Appomattox Courthouse, ending the war. Today, a monument to the USCT stands in Petersburg.
Thomas R. Hawkins
Ohio native Thomas R. Hawkins enlisted in the 6th USCT (United States Colored Troops) in August 1863 and quickly rose in the ranks to become Sergeant Major. Hawkins fought in the Battle of New Market Heights, where he rescued the 6th USCT’s regimental colors after most of the color guard fell. On February 8, 1870, Hawkins’ heroic action at New Market Heights earned him a Congressional Medal of Honor, the United States’ highest military accolade. Unfortunately, just twenty days later, Hawkins succumbed to cancer. He is one of three soldiers depicted in Don Troiani’s painting Three Medals of Honor (2013), which depicts the battle at New Market Heights, on display at the Union League’s clubhouse.
Alexander Kelly
Alexander Kelly was one of two men from the 6th USCT to receive the nation’s highest military award, the Congressional Medal of Honor. A coal miner from western Pennsylvania, Kelly enlisted in the 6th USCT in August 1863, shortly after the establishment of the Bureau of Colored Troops. Over the next year, he rose to the position of first sergeant. The 6th USCT was engaged in combat at the Battle of New Market Heights near Richmond, Virginia. Kelly, under heavy fire, grabbed the Union flag and carried it to safety, while rallying his downtrodden comrades. Though the battle ended in a stalemate, it caused Confederate leader Robert E. Lee to change his focus and helped the Union Army win in subsequent battles. He was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1865, a few months before he was mustered out of the military. After the war, Kelly returned to western Pennsylvania, where he became a night watchman and adopted homeless and orphaned children with his wife, Victoria. He is one of three soldiers depicted in Don Troiani’s painting Three Medals of Honor (2013), which depicts the battle at New Market Heights. It is on display at the Union League’s clubhouse.
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