In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Ω 8 Ω “We Intended to Fight for the Country” The Limits of Freedom, 1863–1865 A s the authorities in Washington and Richmond bickered, the shattered soldiers in the African Brigade were busy regrouping. Col. Hermann Lieb returned from his recuperation a month after Milliken’s Bend in mid-July to find his regiment in shambles. Both his major and lieutenant colonel were absent, and Lieb reported to Adjt. Gen. Lorenzo Thomas that “the order, discipline, and spirit of the regiment” were in “deplorable condition .” Numerous line officers were also absent, some due to illness or wounds, others for unspecified reasons. Lt. Adam H. Hill, Lieb wrote, was “entirely unfit for military duty” and worthless to the regiment. Lt. Edwin Cheney and Lt. John Fareweather had similar accusations leveled against them. Second Lt. Edwin C. St. Clair deserted twenty days after Milliken’s Bend. Capt. Corydon Heath was still listed as missing, and it would be another month before Lieb learned of his fate. Capt. Elisha DeWitt was absent on parole, and Capt. William Skillen was still recovering from his many wounds. Lieb made his point graphically—of thirty-five officers, seventeen were killed, missing, sick, or otherwise absent or unfit for duty. Virtually half of his officer corps was incapacitated . Despite this situation, Lieb wrote to General Thomas and reiterated Thomas’s own proviso that only (white) men whose hearts were in the work should become officers in the Colored Troops. To prove his point, Lieb recommended that five men’s appointments to his regiment be revoked.1 Lieb had mixed reviews of the enlisted men and echoed the popular view of many white men that former slaves were compliant and “easy to drill” but required constant attention by their white officers to “do justice to the uniform they wear.” He had to continue recruiting to fill up his regiment, which was understrength from summer sickness and the casualties at Milliken’s Bend. His task was nearly as large as it had been in May, but he was doing what he could to recruit up to full strength. In less than a month, he had added 800 enlisted men to the rolls, even though he had few officers to command them. milliken’s bend 150 His regiment would soon be redesignated as a heavy artillery unit—requiring even more men to fill the rolls.2 As summer passed into fall, Thomas ordered Hawkins—now back with the brigade from sick leave—to scour the area for black men who were serving as laborers to private individuals and firms not associated with the government, instructing him that all “able bodied negroes as may be found suitable will at once be enrolled into organizations of African Descent.”3 It wasn’t until two months after the fight at Milliken’s Bend that the 9th Louisiana Infantry, African Descent, was finally and formally mustered into the U.S. service. Less than six months before, these men had been slaves, and on August 8, 1863, they stood clothed in the uniform of the U.S. Army—not yet full citizens (that would take the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution in 1868) but certainly free men—or at least as free as any enlisted man in either army could be. Colonel Lieb soon let them know that freedom in a uniform had its limits. He issued a stern order in which he outlined his expectations of the men, and their duties and responsibilities. Lieb emphasized in every paragraph the importance and necessity of obedience to orders and respect for officers. He put special emphasis on the crime and penalty of desertion; soldiers could be shot if caught. Perhaps Lieb was telling his soldiers this for their own good. Some units, including perhaps the 9th Louisiana, had had difficulty with soldiers straying off to nearby plantations, hospitals, or contraband camps to visit their families. Former slaves who had run away to Union lines might be tempted to run again if they found their conditions unsatisfactory. Lieb also reminded the men that their freedom had been purchased at a terrible price, by “the blood of thousands of white soldiers.” Incredibly, he made no mention of the regiment’s harrowing fight at Milliken’s Bend, where so much of their own blood had been spilled.4 As the hot summer dragged on, more men in the 9th Louisiana died, this time from disease. Lieb petitioned for more medical aid, but none came. One surgeon assigned to duty with...

Share