Richard M. Reid - Freedom for Themselves (Volume 1 of 3) (EasyRead Super Large 24pt Edition)

FREEDOM FOR THEMSELVES

2008 The University of North Carolina Press
All rights reserved

This book was published with the assistance of
the Fred W. Morrison Fund for Southern Studies
of the University of North Carolina Press.
Designed by Heidi Perov
Set in Fournier and Clarendon
Manufactured in the United States of America
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Reid, Richard M., 1943
Freedom for themselves : North Carolinas Black soldiers in the Civil War era / Richard M. Reid.
p. cm.(Civil War America)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8078-3174-8 (cloth: alk. paper)
1. United StatesHistoryCivil War, 18611865Participation, African American. 2. North CarolinaHistoryCivil War, 18611865 Participation, African American. 3. African American soldiersNorth CarolinaHistory19th century. 4. North CarolinaHistoryCivil War, 18611865Regimental histories. 5. United StatesHistoryCivil War, 18611865Regimental histories. 6. United States. Army. Colored Infantry Regiment, 35th (18641866) 7. United States. Army. Colored Infantry Regiment, 36th (18641866) 8. United States. Army. Colored Infantry Regiment, 37th (18641867) 9. United States. Army. Colored Heavy Artillery Regiment, 14th (18641865) I. Title.
E540.N3R45 2008
973.7'415dc22
2007029358

12 11 10 09 08 5 4 3 2 1

ONE
Raising and Training the Black Regiments

TWO
A Fine, Fighting Regiment

THREE
Issues of Civilized Warfare

FOUR
A Unit of Last Resort

FIVE
Black Workers in Blue Uniforms

SIX
Families of the Soldiers during the War

SEVEN
Service in the Postwar South

EIGHT
Black Veterans in a Gray State

Eastern North Carolina, 1863

Battle of Olustee, Florida, February 1864

Richmond, Virginia, and Environs, 18641865

Roanoke Island, North Carolina, 18621865

Lower Rio Grande, Texas, 18651866

Effects of the Proclamation, Freed Negroes Coming into Our Lines at Newbern, North Carolina, 1863

Col. James C. Beecher

Sgt. Frank Sergt. Bob Roberts, 35th USCT

The Steamer Escort Running the Rebel Batteries near Washington, North Carolina, 1863

Lt. Col. William N. Reed

Battle of Olustee, Fla., 1864

Surg. Henry O. Marcy

Maj. Archibald Bogle

Col. Alonzo Granville Draper

Lt. Col. Abial G. Chamberlain

Recruiting Office for Contrabands on Market Street, Wilmington, N.C., 1865

Recruiting at Newbern, N.C., 1864

The Campaign in North Carolina, Headquarters of Vincent Collyer, Superintendent of the Poor at New Bern, Distribution of Clothing to the Contraband, 1862

Confederate Prisoners in Camp Georgia [at Weir Point], Roanoke Island, 1862

Wilmington Front Street, 1865

USCT veterans from Washington County, N.C., ca. 1900

Civil War veteran William B. Gould and his six sons

In late September 1864 Gen. Benjamin F. Butler wrote to his wife from his headquarters at the intersection of the Varina and New Market roads, just outside of Richmond, Virginia. The day before, the men of Gen. Charles J. Paines all-black Third Division had taken part in an assault on Richmonds outer defenses. Butler had written the letter after riding across the battlefield where the black soldiers under his overall command had attacked the Confederate entrenchments on New Market Heights. He had moved slowly across the field of carnage. The hundreds of bodies still lying there left a lasting impression on the Union general. The bravery and sacrifice of the black soldiers seemed at odds with the treatment they had received from the Federal government. Poor fellows, Butler observed to his wife, they seem to have so little to fight for in this conflict, with the weight of prejudice loaded upon them, their lives given to a country which has given them not yet justice, not to say fostering care. He could better understand why white troops were willing to risk all in the conflict. To us, there is patriotism, fame, love of country, pride, ambition, all to spur us on, but to the negro, none of these for his guerdon of honor. But there is one boon they love to fight for, freedom for themselves, and their race forever. Although Butler had not begun the war as a supporter of black recruitment, by 1864 he was deeply angered that some Northern officials belittled the idea that black troops had the ability or the will to fight well.

Butlers growing respect for the contributions of black soldiers and his resentment of white Northern prejudice echoed the shifting attitudes toward race and slavery during the war years. Both the racial assumptions of white Americans and the Federal policies regarding African Americans underwent enormous change in the four bloody years after the firing on Fort Sumter. In 1861 the Federal government had refused the early offers of black men to enlist. Writers, ignoring historical precedents, argued that African Americans were unfit and unprepared for military service. According to President Abraham Lincoln, in response to the mere news in August 1861 that Gen. John C. Frmont (acting under his declaration of martial law) had freed the slaves of

The enlistment of blacks challenged not only Southern attitudes toward slavery, but also Northern views on what constituted proper race relations and the existence of discriminatory laws in the North. The majority of people in both sections of the nation did not believe that black soldiers could be the equal of white soldiers, and many of these doubters would cling to their prejudices even in the face of contradictory evidence. Eventually, most white Northerners came to accept the practical need and even the desirability of enlisting black soldiers and sailors, but many did so only grudgingly as the war progressed. By the end of the conflict, some 179,000 black soldiers and 9,500 black sailors were in uniform. In the social climate of the era, how well they were perceived to have served depended both on how well they fought and on white Americas willingness to recognize their achievements.

Once black troops entered combat, many of the white soldiers who had initially served alongside them only under protest and with much trepidation changed their minds. After black infantrymen had driven off an attack by Nathan Bedford Forrests Rebel cavalry, their Union commander confessed: I have been one of those men, who never had much confidence in colored troops fighting, but these doubts are now all removed, for they fought as bravely as any troops in the Fort.

But for African Americans, it was not an entirely new epoch. At the same time that a growing number of white Northerners were altering their perceptions of black abilities, others firmly adhered to their existing prejudices. While many regarded the unsuccessful attack on Fort Wagner by the 54th Massachusetts, an African American regiment led by Col. Robert Gould Shaw, as a testimony to black bravery and discipline under fire, others did not. Maj. Henry L. Abbott, an equally prominent Massachusetts officer, felt that Shaw had been sacrificed for an experiment. Abbott regarded the failure at Fort Wagner as proof that black soldiers wont fight as they ought. For I am satisfied that they went back on their officers at the first shot. Such attitudes meant that black soldiers and their officers had to demonstrate their abilities and their courage over and over again.