Climbing Up to Glory (7 page)

If black soldiers survived as prisoners of war, they led a horrendous existence. Both black and white Union captives were often treated in inhumane ways, but the intense racism of Southern whites added an extra dimension of brutality to the care of black prisoners. Confederates placed them in harm's way by forcing them to work under fire in the trenches near Fort Gilmer, on the James River in Virginia. General Butler, with General Grant's permission, ordered an equal number of Confederate prisoners put to work in his own trenches. As a consequence, the black prisoners were withdrawn from the hazardous and illegal activity. Butler rescinded his order and restored his Confederate prisoners to safety.
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No form of degradation was beneath the Confederates. For example, one black soldier wrote that “they give them [black prisoners] nothing but corn-meal and rice, and allow them no tobacco.” If any civilians brought them something to eat, continued the soldier, “the guards would take it from them, and trample it under foot.”
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Several parents of black prisoners wrote to President Lincoln addressing this matter. One of these letters was a heartfelt plea from Hannah Johnson, whose son was a member of the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Infantry: “I know that a colored man ought to run no greater risques than a white, his pay is no greater his obligation to fight is the same.” In a straightforward manner, she wrote: “Will you see that the colored men fighting now, are fairly treated. You ought to do this, and do it at once, Not let the thing run along meet it quickly and manfully, and stop this mean cowardly cruelty.” She concluded, “We poor oppressed ones, appeal to you, and ask fair play. Yours for Christ's sake.”
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The Confederacy's prison camp at Andersonville, Georgia, was a death trap for both black and white Union prisoners. Several thousand died there from disease and malnutrition. At one point, there were 8.5 deaths per hour. At the conclusion of the war, those lucky enough to have survived were released by Confederate officials. The testimony of some of these soldiers reveals the magnitude of their suffering at Andersonville. One of them told W. B. Johnson of the Third U.S. Colored Infantry “that there are 250 acres of land, filled with our Union dead, that died completely from starvation.” Another said he “subsisted on the coarsest of meal, and was glad to grind up the cob with the corn.”
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In addition to harsh treatment if captured, black soldiers had to deal with the biases of Northern whites, who often argued against enlisting black soldiers due to preconceived ideas that they were either drunkards or cowards. Yet few discipline infractions arose among black troops. In fact, drunkenness was not recorded as a problem among black troops. Thomas W. Higginson, for instance, could not recall intoxication in his regiment ever being an issue, in spite of the trauma of war and the men having money to purchase alcohol. In fact, Higginson wrote, “I have never heard of a glass of liquor in the camp nor of any effort either to bring it in or to keep it out.”
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James Shaw, an officer in the Seventh U.S. Colored Troops, agreed: “The regiment seldom, if ever, had a man drunk.”
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Officers in black units in the Department of the Gulf were relieved that black volunteers showed self-control, since army commanders had soon discovered that “no stimulant was more demoralizing than Louisiana rum.”
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Only one black commissioned officer, Lieutenant John O‘Brien of the Thirty-sixth U.S. Colored Troops, was released from the military for drunkenness. While O'Brien was found guilty of drunkenness on duty, he was also charged with disobeying orders, conduct unbecoming an officer, and breach of arrest.
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Gambling among black troops was almost as rare as drinking. In one of the few reported instances of gambling, all of the players lost. The captain of the Fourteenth Rhode Island Heavy Artillery, J. M. Addeman, surprised the group by sneaking up on them and then scooped up both cards and stakes. One of the players ruefully remarked that “it was no use to play against the captain, for he got high, low, jack and the game.”
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The rate of desertion from the military was also much lower for black troops than for whites. However, there were a few reported cases. For example, Joseph Haskins and Robert Beasley, members of the Fifth U.S. Colored Troops, deserted to the enemy, and Warren Hamelton, a young soldier from Louisiana in the Seventy-third U.S. Colored Troops, deserted. In the cases of Haskins and Beasley, the reason may have been mistreatment on the part of officers, or the two may have lacked the necessary discipline to remain in service. In the case of Hamelton, a plausible explanation is concern for the well-being of his mother. Only seventeen years old when he enlisted, Hamelton apparently thought that the government would take care of his mother. When it did not, he deserted.
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Many charges of mutiny were brought up against black troops, although the incidents in question were usually nonviolent protests for legitimate reasons. Nonetheless, punishments were harsh, ending in lengthy jail sentences or execution. Although fewer than one in every thirteen Union soldiers was black, nearly 80 percent of those prosecuted for mutiny were black. In one regiment, members passively resisted because their company commander had searched and discarded their belongings when they were on duty.
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In another case, a brief mutiny occurred in December 1863 at Fort Jackson, Louisiana, where black troops were being brutally treated by racist and incompetent white officers.
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In still other cases, several units of black soldiers stacked arms and refused any further military service until the government paid them the same as white troops. Most of the participants in these events were prosecuted, some severely. For instance, Sergeant William Walker of the Third South Carolina Regiment was court-martialed and shot for leading his men in stacking their arms at the captain's tent and refusing to fight until they received equal pay.
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As expected, black soldiers who assaulted their superiors paid the ultimate price, but these cases were rare. Private Wallace Baker of Company I, Fifty-fifth Massachusetts Infantry, was executed for disobeying orders and violently assaulting his superior officer. A member of Private Baker's regiment sadly wrote, “Private Baker met his death with stoical indifference. The firing party was from our regiment, seven bullets struck the doomed man, and he died instantly, without a struggle.” The soldier also noted, “This had been the first execution of the kind in ours, and I sincerely hope it will be the last.”
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In another example, Samuel Mapps, a soldier in the Twenty-eighth U.S. Colored Infantry, was convicted of trying to murder his captain and was sentenced to die. The job of preparing Mapps to make peace with his God fell on the shoulders of Garland H. White, the regiment's chaplain. Just minutes before his execution, White had an emotional conversation with Mapps:

The order was then given: Ready! Aim! Fire! “It was the saddest spectacle I ever witnessed, and I hope never to witness another the longest day I live,” White concluded. “He was the first colored man shot in this army, to my knowledge, during the war.”
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Why were there so few cases of drunkenness, gambling, desertion, and mutiny among blacks? In the cases of drinking and gambling, black churches may have played significant roles. It was common practice for black churches to condemn drinking, gambling, card playing, and other vices among their members, who might then be socially ostracized and expelled. Moreover, since whites had more money than blacks and more access to alcohol, they developed more of a taste for alcoholic beverages than did blacks. And, of course, with the pressures of war, they would tend to drink even more. For instance, because many white soldiers were better off than their black counterparts, their army status sometimes represented a demotion in life. To blacks, on the other hand, the army represented a promotion. The possibility of a Union victory offered hope to those from Southern states who had until recently been slaves. Some blacks may have also been conservative with their money. After all, they had fought a long and difficult battle to achieve the same pay as white soldiers. Why should black soldiers risk losing their money by gambling?

Some of these reasons also explain why so few blacks deserted and engaged in acts of a mutinous nature. Black soldiers were fighting for more than the freedom of slaves; they were also fighting for the country, for citizenship rights, and for the race. Black soldiers had too much to prove to white society to engage in humiliating and embarrassing activities. Whites had earlier argued that black men should not be allowed to become soldiers because they were cowards and lacked discipline. If they deserted, consumed too much alcohol, or mutinied, would this not confirm what many whites had already been saying about them and were still thinking? It is no wonder why black Civil War correspondent Thomas Morris Chester wrote shortly after Joseph Haskins and Robert Beasley deserted, “The 5th was recruited in Ohio, and to the credit of the loyal colored population of that state, it should be understood that these deserters did not come from that state.”
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Certainly, the views on desertion and mutiny put forth by a soldier in the Fifty-fifth Massachusetts Infantry express those of most blacks: “Would it add to the splendid discipline which characterizes this regiment? Would it alleviate the sufferings of our wives and children at home, or increase or hasten our chances of relieving them? Finally, would it elevate us either mentally, morally or socially, or hasten the time when we shall get our rights under this government?”
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The answer to all these questions was “no.”

It is easy to discern the reasons why enslaved individuals of African descent would don the “Union blue” and fight, but it is more difficult to ascertain why free blacks, particularly those in the North, would take up arms against the Confederacy. After all, although they led a tenuous existence, at least they enjoyed some of the basic privileges of free men and women. They were stationed in the safety and security of the North, several hundred miles out of harm's way. What difference would it make to them if the Confederacy won the war and retained the institution of slavery? The answer was that in the minds of free black Union soldiers, it would indeed make a difference. Although most were not formerly slaves themselves, some had escaped from slavery and had left family members and friends still in bondage. And since they thought that slavery was morally unjust and an indignity that no race deserved to have thrust upon it, many of these black soldiers believed that they had an obligation to fight for emancipation. Furthermore, most also were of the opinion that freedom for the slaves and citizenship rights for free blacks in the North were connected; one could not have the latter without the former. Therefore, freeing the slaves would promote the interests of free blacks.

Many blacks reasoned that if this opportunity to remove the shackles from slaves was missed, there would be a real likelihood that life would get worse for them. Thus, Sergeant Charles W. Singer of the 107th U.S. Colored Infantry would passionately write,” I sincerely and candidly think that every man in the North should, to the fullest extent of his abilities, aid and further the cause of freeing the slaves now held in bondage by Southern tyrants.” And, reminding his audience that the emancipation of the slaves and citizenship rights for Northern free blacks were linked together, and painting a bleak picture in the event of a rebel victory, Singer asserted, “We should not forget the fact that the free colored man's elevation is at issue, as well as the slave's.” He then posed the following question: “Suppose the rebel army was as far North as the Union army is South; what would be the result?”
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In his estimation, the homes of blacks would be burned down, and elderly and defenseless parents of black soldiers would be barbarously treated.
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Echoing similar sentiments, Corporal James Henry Gooding of the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Infantry exclaimed: “Slavery will not die without the aid of our race to kill it—language cannot depict the indignity, the scorn, and perhaps violence, that will be heaped upon us, unthought of law will be enacted, and put in force, to banish us from the land of our birth.”
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Therefore, Northern free blacks had a moral obligation to help avoid this impending catastrophe by taking up arms against the South. In fact, Gooding believed so strongly in this racial obligation that he wrote, “Let the young women drive all those young loungers off to the war, and if they won't go, say ‘I'm no more gal of thine.' ”
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It should not come as a surprise that black soldiers also considered themselves as role models. They were determined to exhibit positive attitudes and character so as not to bring shame upon the race. In most cases, they refused to be openly critical of one another, fearing that to do so would reflect negatively. However, on one occasion, some black soldiers apparently suggested that the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Infantry fought courageously, while the Fourteenth U.S. Colored Infantry was disorganized and lacking in direction during battle. In a passionate letter, an anonymous soldier implored all blacks in the armed services to “bear in mind that the brave deeds of one colored man or any one colored regiment, reflects credit on the race and goes in the balance. Let us rejoice, therefore, in each others successes.”
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Blacks were being granted a golden opportunity to stand up and be counted as real men. If one black man succeeded, then the whole race made great strides. But if one failed, so too did the entire race.

If black soldiers were fighting for citizenship rights in addition to the defense of their race, then they must have believed fervently in the Union cause and thus thought that a Union victory would ensure these rights. They certainly did, and some to the extent that they regarded themselves as “soldiers of God.” For instance, First Sergeant Isaiah H. Welch could remark with a clear conscience: “I pray God the time will soon come when we, as soldiers of God, and of our race and country, may face the enemy with boldness.” And “for my part, I feel willing to suffer all privations incidental to a Christian and a soldier.”
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In fighting for the Union cause, black soldiers were fighting for their country, and that country had to be saved from ruin by ruthless pro-slavery forces. Welch called upon family members whose sons had been killed in battle to acknowledge that they had perished for a just and noble cause.
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Although black soldiers were willing to make sacrifices for the Union and believed that they would receive equal rights for their efforts, they were not bleary-eyed dreamers. Some were aware of pitfalls, such as how whites defined citizenship rights, for a large number regarded equal rights as meaning social equality. And, to them, social equality meant that black men would have access to white women, and vice versa. Indeed, many whites throughout the country were obsessed with the notion of black male sexual potency and reasoned that black men desired white women. Since black soldiers were keenly aware of this white obsession, they took pains to point out the beauty and desirability of black women when they spoke of equal rights. For instance, James Henry Hall, a soldier in the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Infantry declared: “We do not covet your wives nor your daughters, nor the position of political orator. All we ask is the proper enjoyment of the rights of citizenship, and a free title and acknowledged share in our own noble birthplace.”
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The sad reality is that not only would they be denied these rights to some extent in the post-Civil War period, but in the present day blacks are still no more than second-class citizens. They are first-class citizens only in the most superficial way.