Yearly Archives: 2010

“A Gross Injustice”

African American soldiers in the United States Colored Troops originally did not receive equal pay. Some northerners demanded that Congress take action and change the policy. This editorial, which was published in Harper’s Weekly on February 13, 1864, asked readers to consider the issue:

  • “But the point for every honest man to ponder is this: We invited the colored man to fight for us: they have shown themselves brave, clever, and obedient, and we refuse to pay them what we pay other soldiers. Not to speak again of the sheer breach of faith and wanton injustice of such conduct, a distinction like this, even if it were honorably made, tends to maintain a feeling of caste which would be fatal to the army. All that we ask is fair play for every man who will risk his life for the country; and against foul play…we shall not fail to protest as earnestly and persistently as we can.”

Congress eventually instituted equal pay in June 1864.

(Courtesy of the House Divided Project – “A Gross Injustice,” Harper’s Weekly, February 13, 1864, p. 98: 2.)

32nd USCT Regiment

The 32nd USCT Regiment was organized in March 1864 at Camp William Penn outside Philadelphia. After training was completed, the regiment was sent to South Carolina in late April 1864. These men participated in a number of engagements while assigned to the Department of the South.

  • “Towards the close of November [1864], General Foster, in command of the Department [of the South], was directed by General Halleck to make a demonstration in the direction of Pocotaligo, for the purpose of diverting attention from General Sherman’s front, who was now approaching the sea. Foster could spare but five thousand troops for this purpose, and with these, ascending the Broad River in transports to Boyd’s Neck, he landed and hurried forward a force under General J. P. Hatch, to break the Charleston and Savannah Railroad. The Thirty-second was in Hatch’s command. On the morning of the 30th, Hatch encountered a rebel force under command of General Gustavus W. Smith, at Honey Hill, three miles from Grahamsville, in a commanding position behind breast works. Hatch immediately attacked, and though pushing his advance with obstinacy and bravery, he was compelled to fall back, sustaining heavy losses .The Thirty-second had nine killed and forty two wounded.”

After Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered in April 1865, this regiment remained in South Carolina on “garrison duty.” The 32nd USCT returned to Philadelphia in mid-August 1865. You can read the full summary of the 32nd USCT Regiment’s actions during the Civil War as well as see the complete muster roll here.

(Courtesy of Google Books – Samuel P. Bates, History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5 (Harrisburg: B. Singerly, 1871), 5: 1047-1065.)

43rd USCT Regiment

After being assembled at Camp William Penn, the 43rd USCT Regiment, composed mainly of Pennsylvania recruits, was assigned in April 1864 to the Ninth Corps of the Army of the Potomac.  Continuing on through Washington, where the African-American regiment “attracted special attention,” the regiment became involved in the Wilderness Campaign in rural Virginia.  On July 30, 1864, at the Battle of the Crater during the Siege of Petersburg, the regiment stepped in after the confusion of the explosion caused the division leading the charge to take cover:

  • “The consternation created by the horrors of the explosion, enabled Ledlie’s Division to advance to, and take shelter in, the crater without serious loss… Finally when the enemy had fully recovered from his fright, had brought supports to cover the threatened point, and was fully prepared to repel further assaults, the Colored Division was ordered to advance.  It was a forlorn hope; but the division moved gallantly forward, in the face of a decimating fire, and passing to the right of the crater, charged towards the crest beyond.  Here so deadly was the fire of infantry and artillery which it met, that it was soon swept back in disorder amongst the debris of the demolished fort, though it succeeded in bringing in some prisoners, Captain Albert D. Wright taking, with his own hands, a rebel battle flag.  Little protection was afforded even here, the enemy soon getting the range, and mercilessly slaughtering the helpless victims huddled together.  A charge made upon them by the enemy, was bloodily repulsed; but it was madness to attempt to hold the position, and almost certain destruction to attempt to go back, every inch of the ground being raked by the enemy’s concentric fire.”

The regiment remained around Petersburg, doing fatigue duty and also fighting in the Battle of Hatcher’s Run in October 1864.  Later, the War Department reassigned the regiment, and it was employed on the front lines in active duty around Richmond (especially at Dutch Gap Canal) until the fall of the Confederate capital.

You can read the full summary of the 43rd USCT Regiment’s actions during the Civil War as well as see the complete muster roll here.

(Courtesy of Google Books – Samuel P. Bates, History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5 (Harrisburg: B. Singerly, 1871), 5: 1081-1105.)

6th USCT Regiment

The 6th USCT Regiment was composed mainly of Pennsylvania men, and was organized at Camp William Penn between July and September 1863.  In October, the regiment was assigned to the Army of the James and stationed near Yorktown, Pennsylvania.  The regiment was also part of a plan to release Union prisoners from Belle Isle near Richmond, Virginia.  After a grueling march in early February 1864, the Union forces arrived to find the Confederate forces prepared to meet them, and the battle was lost.  Afterwards, the regiment was posted near Petersburg building earthworks which Confederate forces attacked in May, prompting a successful counterattack in June 1864:

  • “On the 15th of June, the Sixth, together with the Fourth, Fifth, and Twenty second Colored, attacked the left of the rebel earth works in front of Petersburg, and by a determined charge carried the position, resting at midnight within the enemy’s strong fortifications. Early on the morning of the 16th, the colored soldiers of the Army of the James, hailed for the first time, the battle flags of the Army of the Potomac, a division under General Birney, marching in to their relief. The capture of these strong works by the colored troops, was well calculated to inspire respect among the veterans, now rapidly arriving from the Wilderness campaign, for none knew better than they how to appreciate valor. Until near the close of August the Sixth was kept almost constantly on duty in the trenches in front of Petersburg.”

On September 29, 1864, the 6th USCT Regiment fought in the Battle of Chapin’s Farm, which resulted in disastrous casualties for the regiment (of the 367 men entering the battle, 210 were killed, wounded, or missing by the end).  After this battle, the regiment was sent to North Carolina, where it served until the Confederate surrender in April 1865.

You can read the full summary of the 6th USCT Regiment’s actions during the Civil War as well as see the complete muster roll here.

(Courtesy of Google Books – Samuel P. Bates, History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5 (Harrisburg: B. Singerly, 1871), 5: 943-964.)

45th USCT Regiment

After being assembled at Camp William Penn in the summer of 1864, the 45th USCT Regiment was sent to Washington, DC, where it had the distinct honor of being the only African-American regiment in the procession for the second inauguration of President Lincoln.  In September 1864, the regiment was moved to Petersburg, Virginia, where it participated in the Siege of Petersburg.  The regiment took part in skirmishes at Fort Harrison and the Battle of Darbytown Road, and remained stationed on picket duty at Fort Harrison until the spring 1865.  When the spring campaign opened, the regiment was ordered into active duty with the Army of the Potomac, and it participated in the Battle of Hatcher’s Run.  The regiment was present for the fall of Petersburg, and followed the Confederate forces to Appomattox Court House, where it was present for the Confederate surrender on April 9, 1865.

You can read the full summary of the 45th USCT Regiment’s actions during the Civil War as well as see the complete muster roll here.

(Courtesy of Google Books – Samuel P. Bates, History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5 (Harrisburg: B. Singerly, 1871), 5: 1106-1124.)

24th USCT Regiment

The 24th USCT Regiment was organized at Camp William Penn on February 17, 1865.  In May, it was stationed at Camp Casey in Virginia outside of Washington, DC; then in June it was moved to Maryland to guard Confederate prisoners.  The regiment’s final assignment was preserving order and distributing supplies in and around Roanoke, Virginia between July and September 1865.

You can read the full summary of the 24th USCT Regiment’s actions during the Civil War as well as see the complete muster roll here.

(Courtesy of Google Books – Samuel P. Bates, History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5 (Harrisburg: B. Singerly, 1871), 5: 1011-1025.)

25th USCT Regiment

After being organized in January 1864, the 25th USCT Regiment was deployed to Texas, although it never reached its intended destination.  The steamer that carried the regiment was caught in a storm and sprung a leak, and the men barely kept her afloat long enough to dock safely in the North Carolina harbor.  The regiment arrived in New Orleans in May 1864 just as the Confederates were gaining the upper hand in the Red River Campaign; therefore, instead of continuing on to Texas, the regiment was sent to Florida for garrison duty.  In January 1865, the government ordered the 25th USCT Regiment into active duty as part of an effort to organize a division composed entirely of African-American troops.  However, the regiment was deemed too inexperienced to take part in any active field operations, and its numbers dwindled as a result of an outbreak of scurvy due to poor nutrition.

Colonel Frederick L. Hitchcock said of the 25th USCT Regiment:  “I desire to bear testimony to the esprit du corps and general efficiency of the organization as a regiment, to the competency and general good character of its officers, to the soldierly bearing, fidelity to duty, and patriotism of its men.  Having seen active service in the Army of the Potomac prior to my connection with the Twenty-fifth, I can speak with some degree of assurance.  After a proper time had been devoted to its drill, I never for a moment doubted what would be its conduct under fire.  It would have done its full duty beyond question.  An opportunity to prove this the Government never afforded and the men always felt this a grievance.”

You can read the full summary of the 25th USCT Regiment’s actions during the Civil War as well as see the complete muster roll here.

(Courtesy of Google Books – Samuel P. Bates, History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5 (Harrisburg: B. Singerly, 1871), 5: 1026-1046.)

41st USCT Regiment

The 41st USCT Regiment was organized at Camp William Penn in the fall of 1864. This regiment participated in several engagements in Virginia:

  • “On the 27th of March [1864], in connection with the Twenty fourth Corps, under command of General Ord, to the Second Division of which it now belonged, it move to join the Army of the Potomac, arriving at Hatcher’s Run on the 29th. It was immediately ordered upon the front, where it threw up breastworks and skirmished with the enemy. On the 2d of April, it was engaged before Petersburg, losing one killed and eight wounded, and at evening moved in pursuit of the rebel army, following the line of the South Side Railroad. The pursuit was pushed with little interruption until the regiment reached Appomattox Court House, where, on the 9th, while upon the skirmish line, Captain John W Falconer was mortally wounded, dying on the 23d.”

After Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox on April 9, 1865, the 41st USCT regiment was sent to Texas. The regimented was stationed there until the men were mustered out of service at Brownsville, Texas, on November 10, 1865. You can read the full summary of the 41st USCT Regiment’s actions during the Civil War as well as see the complete muster roll here.

(Courtesy of Google Books – Samuel P. Bates, History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5 (Harrisburg: B. Singerly, 1871), 5: 1066-1080.)

8th USCT Regiment

The recruiting for the 8th USCT Regiment began in September 1863 at Camp William Penn, and the regiment was deployed to Florida on its first assignment in February 1864.  After a time of looting supply lines and taking prisoners, the regiment finally encountered resistance at the Battle of Olustee.  This battle incurred some of the heaviest losses (percentage-wise) of the Civil War, and the 8th USCT played an integral part:

  • Without awaiting the arrival of the rest of his force [General Truman] Seymour put the Seventh New Hampshire in position on the right of the road and the Eighth Colored upon the left and pushed them at once into action.  The Eighth though scarcely a month from camp and with hardly any skill in handling a musket boldly advanced in face of a withering fire from the enemy’s strong and well chosen lines… but still it stood firm.  For three quarters of an hour the action raged with unabated fury these raw troops maintaining their ground without the least shelter with a courage worthy of veterans.  Several color bearers were shot down and many officers fell but it preserved an unflinching front.  At this juncture the enemy whose lines greatly overreached the Union front charged upon the unprotected left flank of the Eighth threatening its capture.  Seeing that the ground could be no longer held General Seymour ordered the regiment to retire.  It was executed in good order the men firing heavily as they went…. The loss in the Eighth was very severe.”

The Union brigade was repulsed by the Confederate forces, and eventually retreated almost to Jacksonville.  The 8th USCT regiment was ordered to Virginia in August 1864, where it was on active duty on the Petersburg front and participated in some minor skirmishes.  The regiment remained stationed around the James River until the fall of Petersburg in the spring of 1865.

You can read the full summary of the 8th USCT Regiment’s actions during the Civil War as well as see the complete muster roll here.

(Courtesy of Google Books – Samuel P. Bates, History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5 (Harrisburg: B. Singerly, 1871), 5: 965-990.)

22nd USCT Regiment

The 22nd USCT Regiment was organized in January 1864 at Camp William Penn in Pennsylvania.  The regiment joined the Army of the James, Eighteenth Corps near the end of that month, and was assigned to construct earthworks along the James River for protecting supply lines.  In June,  the Eighteenth Corps participated in the siege of Petersburg, for which the 22nd USCT regiment received great acclaim:

  • “The Twenty second headed the charge in this assault and captured six of the guns taken by the division and two of the four forts.  The victory was gained however at a fearful cost to the regiment.  Its loss was one officer Emery Fisher and seventeen men killed and five officers and one hundred thirty eight men wounded and one missing Lieutenant Colonel Goff among the severely wounded.  Its conduct on this occasion was warmly commended at corps and army headquarters.”

During the Siege of Petersburg, the regiment also participated in the Battle of Fair Oaks in October, where it was roundly repulsed by Confederate forces and sustained heavy losses.  The regiment was also present at the fall of Richmond in April 1865, and was rewarded for its commendable service by being elected to participate in President Lincoln’s funeral ceremony later that same month.

You can read the full summary of the 22nd USCT Regiment’s actions during the Civil War as well as see the complete muster roll here.

(Courtesy of Google Books – Samuel P. Bates, History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5 (Harrisburg: B. Singerly, 1871), 5: 991-1010.)