"The Spirit of the Age"

The Sixty-second U.S. Colored Infantry is perhaps best known for its commitment to educate the mostly illiterate slaves who joined its ranks in late 1863 and early 1864. In reading various accounts of the regiment's history, I am impressed with the African American men and the strides they made to better themselves and the white officers who linked leadership to literacy and education to citizenship.

These officers were more than men of their time. They were visionaries who contributed to the immediacy of a brutal and bloody war with a long view to addressing the future needs of what most assuredly would be a dramatically changed society in peacetime. This brings to mind the engraving of the eagle pictured here, with arrows and an olive branch gripped in it talon. It was scanned from the enlistment paper of a slave who joined the army in 1864. It represents the extremes that these men faced.

Last week I read through the original regimental order book of the Sixty-second, part of the collection of the National Archives. Preserved in this volume are all the handwritten general and special orders issued by the staff officers. Page after page, I was struck by the commitment of these men to the betterment of freed slaves.

General Order No. 36, transcribed here, caught my attention, for it illustrates both the weakness of man and the strength of human character. I like the phrase "the spirit of the age," which acknowledges this unique moment in history that transformed a race and rebuilt the very foundation of our modern democracy.

Hd. Qrs. 62nd Regt. U.S. Cold. Inf.
Brazos Santiago, Texas
November 9th 1864
General Orders
No 36

The Lieut. Col. Comdg. has learned with regret that several officers of this command have been in the habit of abusing men under their command by striking them with their fists or swords, & by kicking them when guilty of very slight offenses. This is as unmanly and unofficer like as it is unnecessary. An officer is not fit to command who cannot control his temper sufficiently to avoid the habitual application of blows to enforce obedience. Men will not obey as promptly an order who adopts the customs of the slave driver to maintain authority as they will him who punishes by a system consistent with the character and enormity of offenses and the spirit of the age. The time for enforcing authority with the sword is in case of willful disobedience of orders, mutiny, or cowardice in action, which in the ordinary course of events, will rarely occur.

While censuring the officers referred to, their commander makes allowance for the fact that, generally, the men who have received such punishment have been of the meanest type of soldiers; lazy, dirty & inefficient and provoking to any high spirited officer. But he is satisfied never-the-less that such treatment will not produce reform in them, while it has an injurious effect on all good men, from its resemblance to their former treatment while slaves.

By order of
Lieut. Colonel David Branson
Comdg. Regt.
R.B. Foster
1st Lt. & actg. Adjt.

Colored Troops in Non-Combat Roles: A Question of Military Necessity?

The most common explanations I've read or heard pertaining to the deployment of African American regiments in non-combat roles are racial bias by white soldiers who believed black men would not make good fighters, or that federal armies in desperate need of manpower used them to garrison occupied areas in the South.

A letter in the National Archives offers another reason for using colored regiments in support roles, and offers an explanation why.

On Oct. 9, 1864, Brig. Gen. James Lowry Donaldson, the Chief Quartermaster of the Military Department of the Cumberland, sat down in his Nashville, Tenn., office and penned a reply to a letter he had received a day earlier from Col. Reuben D. Mussey, a strong advocate of enlisting black troops and using them on the front lines. Mussey at the time was actively engaged in recruiting and organizing men from Tennessee and Georgia for colored regiments. His role often put him at odds with the top general in the region, William T. Sherman, who did not support the U.S. government's position on raising African American forces.

Col. Mussey fired off a letter of protest to Donaldson after he learned that colored troops were diverted to assist the quartermaster's department. Donaldson's four-page reply:

Colonel,

Your communication of the 8th inst. relative to the two Regiments of U.S.C.I. [U.S. Colored Infantries] now reporting to the Chief Quartermaster of the Dept., and requesting a statement of the duties they are assigned to and how they have discharged it has been received.

In reply I have the honor to state as follows: Last Winter and Spring when the whole resources of the North West [of the Department of the Cumberland] were being poured in upon this Depot, by both rail and river, in order to accumulate, if possible, a six months supply for Genl. Sherman's Army, in anticipation of the Summer Campaign [which ended in the capture of Atlanta], the Q.M. Dept. found itself at its wits-ends to receive and handle the vast amount of all kinds of stores that soon thronged our lines and streets. We made extra exertions to secure stevedores and laborers from the North, and speedily ran up our force of employees from six or eight thousand (6,000 or 8,000) to twelve and fifteen thousand (12,000 & 15,000) but with all our efforts we were still short of men and, as a derrier resort [last resort], I called on the Major Genl. Comdg. for one or two Colored Regts to report to me for such fatigue and guard duty as I might find necessary.

I did not want to do this, for I believe in Colored Troops and think they should take the Field and fight the same as White ones, but I know there were Colored Regts in the Dept. not yet fit for the Field and that, for obvious reasons, they had more work in them than I could get out of any other troops.

General [George H.] Thomas approved of my Requisition, and late in March sent me the 15th Regt. U.S.C. Inft., Col. T.J. [Thomas J.] Downey Comdg., and soon after, in April, the 17th Regt. U.S.C.I., Col. W.R. [William R.] Shafter Comdg., these two Regts. at that time did not number over 1,500 effective men, but they at once proved to be a great assistance to me.

They furnished me details for Fatigue purposes exceedingly large for such an effective strength, and no men ever worked better or more cheerfully. Their Officers all readily saw the necessity of hearty cooperation in order to be prepared here to sustain Genl. Sherman when he moved, and that the Colonels Comdg. especially deserve my warmest thanks.

Subsequently, when supplies were well here for the Summer and Nashville had been denuded of troops in order to concentrate every thing at the Front, I relieved these Regts from all Fatigue duty, and since then have used them only for guard purposes.

At present the 15th Regt. is stationed on the line of the Edgefield and Kentucky R.R., guarding it from Nashville for a distance of some 40 miles, with Hd. Qrs. at Springfield Tenn. At Springfield they have thrown up quite respectable and serviceable fortifications, and at various other points they are now engaged in the construction of Block Houses.

The 17th Regt. has its Hd. Qrs. here at Nashville, several of its Companies are doing duty as guards to Public Store Houses &c here, and the balance I have sent to various points, up and down the Cumberland [River] from 10 to 20 miles from Nashville, to protect Govt. Wood Choppers and guard Govt. wood piles. At times I have found it necessary to detail some of them, temporarily, as guards for Govt. Steamers, to protect them from Guerrillas on the river, and they have always conducted themselves, so far, admirably.

The effective strength of both Regts. is thus fully consumed by our necessary operations here, and about here, and so far I have nothing but praise for both of them.

The Regts. are both well disciplined, and exceedingly soldierly in appearance and conduct, and no better troops could be desired any where, considering their opportunities.

The prejudice they awakened at first among some here has disappeared, if not died out, and I ask no better guards or garrisons for any purposes of the Q.M. Dept. then those furnished me.

I have only to add further, that they have discharged well all the duties to which I have found it necessary to assign them, and that, so far as my observation extends, here the Organization of "Citizens of African Descent" into U.S. Troops has, in this Military Department at least, proved an eminent and entire success. God grant that the problem of Human Slavery on this Continent may thus, at last, receive its solution, and the race so long down-trodden and oppressed be thus permitted to repay "the proud man's contumely and the oppressors wrong," by fighting to the death their rebellious masters beneath the flag of Freedom and the Union.

I find this letter of interest not only for its explanation, but for what it suggests about the officers involved: Donaldson must have been aware of the conflict between Mussey's advocacy of and Sherman's negative position on black troops, and had to have known that Sherman would readily agree to his request. Mussey's obvious concern that Donaldson's request would fuel Sherman's desire to keep African Americans off the front lines of his army are well founded. Donaldson takes the high road in declaring his support for colored troops in the field, then falls back on the tired excuse that the black soldiers "had more work in them" than others, and describes how cheerfully they fulfilled their labors. Donaldson goes on to praise the two regiments in the highest terms, but then qualifies his comments with the caveat that they are only as good as the opportunities available to them (not including a combat role).

I suspect Mussey was not at all assuaged by this reply. Leading the charge for racial equality, Donaldson's conservative attitude as implied in his explanations likely infuriated and frustrated Mussey further. However, his protest letter did produce a thoughtful, careful response from Donaldson.

Notes: Donaldson's quote "the proud man's contumely and the oppressors wrong," appears on page 393 of The Works of Vicesimus Knox, D.D., Vol. II (London: B. Bensley, 1824). Donaldson's letter is contained in Letters Received, Colored Troops Division, entry 360, file M-750-(CT)-1864, Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1780s-1917, Record Group 94, at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.

"You Can Whip the Whole World"

In December 1864, Maj. Gen. Quincy Adams Gillmore, pictured here, conducted an inspection of the post at Helena, Arkansas. During his visit, the troops marched in review for him. Two African American regiments, the Fifty-sixth and Sixtieth U.S. Colored Infantries, participated in the event.

An observer, James M. Alexander, watched the soldiers on parade as he stood near an artillery battery. He recalled an incident that occurred at the conclusion of the review. His account appeared in a letter published in the December 31, 1864, edition of The Christian Recorder. "There was an old colored man present, who had recently made his escape from the interior of this State, and who had been a silent spectator of the scene. As the General and his staff rode off, the artillerymen fired a salute. The old man advanced to the soldier nearest him, threw up his arms in amazement, and enthusiastically exclaimed, "Gentlemen, it's no use talking. You can whip the whole world."

I can imagine the old man's excitement, coming out of slavery and seeing others like him marching in precision along the path to freedom.

Photo of Maj. Gen. Gillmore from the Library of Congress.

Visit to Fort Fisher

This weekend, Anne and I drove to visit our old friend Linda and see her new home in Wilmington, N.C. Went to the beach on Saturday, and stopped by Fort Fisher. It's a spot I've wanted to see since researching a Massachusetts soldier who participated in the successful capture of the fort and its garrison in January 1865.

I enjoyed touring the small, informative museum — the centerpiece of which is an electric map. I've been a sucker for electric maps since seeing the twinkling lights display at Gettysburg when I was a boy. Sadly, the Gettysburg map is not part of the new visitor center. The map at Fort Fisher is complete with gunboats, accurate topographical features, and contemporary voices that bring the battle to life.

I was especially interested to learn about the role of the Twenty-seventh U.S. Colored Infantry. It participated in the capture of the remaining Confederates who fled the fort after it was occupied by federal troops. I've yet to uncover an image of a member of the Twenty-seventh, but am hopeful one will surface.

The map and surrounding museum exhibits is a perfect warm-up for the walking tour around the ruins of the earthen fort structure overlooking the beach and Atlantic Ocean. I took the panorama photo shown here standing in front of the Confederate memorial looking north towards the remains of the fort. Note the storm clouds to the left of the monument. They belong to Hurricane Bill.