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211 ChAPter 17 the u.s. Colored troops tip the Balance Give us a flag, all free, without a slave. —soNG of NeGRo solDieRs Despite vicious derogation of their efforts that began during the war and has persisted in Civil War historiography, the military abolitionists played an important role in that they were willing to recruit and lead Negro troops, thus providing the union with an extra 10 percent of manpower that may have been the key to victory. the Birneys were invaluable leaders because they had been raised with slaves on their father’s Alabama plantation and understood, perhaps better than most other Northern officers, how to motivate black soldiers. the flood of former slaves and freedmen to the union Army deprived the Confederacy of services that were vital to the military effort. lincoln’s decision to use Negro troops was long delayed. A history of the war explains, “But, at the time of the Civil War the Negro was closely associated in the public mind with the political causes of the strife. the prejudice and opposition against the use of colored troops was so strong that the war was half finished before they were organized to any extent.”1 some historians theorize the Negroes “freed themselves” by refusing to work any longer for their masters, by escaping to union lines, and by joining the union Army. When the decision to enlist Negroes was finally made, as a noted abolitionist William Birney was among the first union officers named to head the recruiting efforts. the 186,000 Negroes who ultimately served in the united states Colored troops strengthened the union Army immeasurably as manpower grew short. 212| Chapter 17 David Birney’s instincts about refusing to return fugitive slaves were upheld when on 13 March 1862 president lincoln issued an order forbidding any union officer from returning a fugitive slave. A history of the Negro troops summarizes how union policies regarding slaves morphed into their enlistment: “from the beginning of the war Negroes had been a subject of debate. even before Bull Run, on May 26, 1861, General B. f. Butler had declared that all fugitive slaves would be considered as contraband of war. Congress, however, decided in August that all slaves confiscated should be held subject to the decision of the united states courts.”2 War Department General orders No. 1, issued on 2 January 1863, authorized enrollment of colored men in the army and navy; the order came the day after lincoln had issued the emancipation proclamation. “No soldier hailed its appearance with more joy than General [David] Birney,” his biographer wrote. “He had long hoped for it, and believed that its publication would strengthen the strong man and animate the weak. He had buckled on his sword, because he believed that this rebellion was begun by men whose principal object was to perpetuate the curse of slavery upon our land, while he had determined that, so far as lay in his power, as a man and as a soldier, the curse should be removed.”3 the war department finally issued General orders No. 143 on 22 May 1863 establishing a special bureau for organization of black enlisted troops. With the Confederacy opposed to arming slaves, the union had a field day enlisting black troops from southern states, including south Carolina, Alabama , Mississippi, louisiana, Arkansas, and tennessee. Negro units had grown from 58 to 140 regiments by 1863, providing over 100,000 blacks in uniform. More than 1,500 whites applied to the screening boards in Washington , Cincinnati, and st. louis for appointment as officers to lead black troops in combat. only 517 were found qualified; the other nearly 1,000 were rejected for physical or mental shortcomings. Whites were eager for appointment as officers leading black troops, because obviously by this time the willingness of Negroes to fight had been proven in such battles as island Mounds, Missouri, on 28 october, 1862; Milliken’s Bend, louisiana, on 7 June 1863; and fort Wagner, south Carolina, on 18 July 1863. ten days after the battle of Cedar Mountain, Virginia, on 9 August 1862, New york newspaper publisher Horace Greeley published his famous letter to lincoln, “the prayer of twenty Millions,” urging lincoln to free the slaves as a means of weakening the Confederacy.” lincoln’s response, concluding with the words “a personal wish that all men everywhere could be free,” has been interpreted as preparing the nation for a momentous announcement. on 22 september 1862 the emancipation...

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