African American Soldiers Quotes
Just a month earlier Washington had issued a contradictory order. See {614221}. The Continental Congress, under pressure from the Southerners, compromised.
The New England and Middle Atlantic States had recruited and allowed Negroes to serve in their divisions with excellent results. These two Southern states were suffering badly as a result of the British Military dominance and atrocities. Almost all whites who were patriots were already under arms. Hence the recommendation. Despite their precarious position, the Southern States would not follow the recommendation. Many were convinced that the Blacks would never make good soldiers, and the those Southerners who disagreed were terrified that once armed, the Blacks would never submit to slavery and would support slave insurrections of the Black slaves who were not in the military.
Despite the critical need of the war, racism was so extensive in the WWII military that Blacks were relegated to menial duty of cooking, truck driving and construction but were actually not allowed to fight at the beginning despite the fact that many had volunteered. Many whites—especially the southerners—were convinced that Negroes could not fight, that they lacked the courage and commitment. The need for troops in the Pacific theater was so great that in the invasion of Saipan that was so difficult, Black troops were committed to the fight and performed brilliantly. The Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Vandergrift was not only the first Marine 4 star general who was on active duty, but he personally was a recipient of the Medal of Honor. When he spoke, all marines and many others in the service listened. This was the break-though. Negroes in combat was no longer some kind of social experiment for most Marines except the most vitriolic rascists.
The U. S. Navy had Black sailors even before the Civil War. Blacks had shipped out on Northern merchant vessels and whaling ships starting in colonial times. Many Blacks had nautical experience and were welcomed by the Northern Navy and treated very well. The Union Army in contrast was much more ambivalent about Blacks serving. Ironically the Navy was disbanded to save money and when it was reconstituted it was on a racially segregated basis completely foreign to American Naval history. It was the last of the American armed services to integrate and its officer corps has not desecrated as much as the other services.
This Civil War recruiting poster was described by the Free Library of Philadelphia as “Civil War recruitment print targeting African Americans by evoking the freedoms granted by the Emancipation Proclamation. Depicts a montage of symbolic scenes centered around an African American Union soldier triumphantly holding up a sword and an American flag with the banner "Freedom to the Slave." He stands near broken shackles upon a tri-color flag adorned with a coiled snake. The flag is tugged upon by one of three joyous slaves freed by an African American soldier. Other scenes depict an African American man reading a newspaper on a rocking chair near a plow and child, African American children entering a "Public School" near a church, and a regiment of "U.S. Colored Troops" marching across a battlefield strewn with dead bodies.”
The Mystery was for many years the only Black Newspaper in America.
Lorenzo Thomas Adjutant General U.S. Army He was a sergeant with a teaching background when he wrote this letter. He volunteered for the new duty and was commissioned an officer in the 9th Louisiana Volunteer Infantry—one of the Negro Divisions. A few months later he was killed in action.
This quotation is yet another documentation of Blacks fighting and dying for America’s freedom. What is particularly interesting is that the Blacks fought as an integrated fighting unit with white sailors and marines. Most sailors and marines of the day had experience working with free Blacks many of whom served on American whaling ships and merchantmen. Working with Blacks was to them not as unusual and unheard of as typical white landlubbers would perceive. An experienced sailor, Commodore Barney had also likely commanded Black sailors before. Ironically, segregation of the navy and discrimination would become much worse as the politics of Reconstruction played out in America.
Although escaped slaves could not fight for the North, they could be very useful on road building and other military engineering projects needing labor. Every time a slave escaped, it diminished the military engineering labor of the Confederates by one but added to that of the Union. Pinkerton and others however engaged many escaped slaves who volunteered for an incredibly dangerous mission. They returned back to the Southern lines into the slave work gangs, and organized slave escapes of groups of Blacks. In addition, many of them, by observing and overhearing the Confederate soldiers gained information regarding supply and troop levels and movements, and this they brought back to the Union officers. Those that were caught were executed as spies. Escaped slaves were espionage and covert operations agents before they were allowed to be soldiers.
