MANA Presents Excerpts From "The Early American Black Soldier" by Marcus Howard

In honor of Black History Month, Dr. Fairy Hayes-Scott, owner of MarketingNewAuthors.com (MANA), reads excerpts from, "The Early American Black Soldier" by Marcus Howard. 

The article is one of many in the book, Bare Essentials: A Handbook for Beginner Writers, 19th ed., by Dr. Fairy Hayes-Scott. The handbook is very wide in its scope teaching students and writers to correct their grammar, write strong essays, research themes, and research papers. The handbook also contains poetry and photos to tickle the imagination. Visit MANA's website at MarketingNewAuthors.com to learn more about the book. 

Follow along with the audio, the entire essay is below: 

The Early American Black Soldier

by Marcus Howard

American history, sometimes, gives a distorted image of the African American during the War of the Rebellion. The image is of a Black family sitting on the plantation veranda, spitting watermelon seeds, and singing old Negro spirituals while old Thomas is playing his banjo, all waiting for the Union soldier to liberate them, “glory hallelujah.” 

The truth of the matter is the African-American soldier was responsible to a large degree for his own liberation. However, the forces within the military establishment improperly prepared and inflicted military injustices on the Black soldier. Therefore, the early American Black soldier was improperly prepared for battle, suffered military injustices, but, still, met the challenge and triumphed.

First, the military establishment did not properly prepare the Black soldier for battle. The Union was reluctant to make the African American a soldier. When it, finally, did, the military did not give its Black soldiers training equal to their white counterparts (Meyer 207). Often equipment issued to the African-American troops was inferior. Some of it was condemned. At the battle of Milliken’s Bend Louisiana, the Black soldier was given weapons one day before the attack by the Confederate Army.

As for the arms and supplies, Brigadier General Daniel Ullman wrote a letter in December, 1863, complaining that his Negro soldier had just been sent into battle with arms which were almost entireable [sic] unserviceable. After inspecting several Negro companies stationed in Mississippi, Lorenzo Thomas, adjutant general, made this report: “This regiment like most of this class of soldier, have the old flintlock muskets, altered to percussion, which have been in use for a long time.” (Johnson 284)

These muskets were in serious disrepair. Quite frankly, no soldier should have been using them: "'The muskets of the regiment were condemned once, and have been condemned by an inspector a second time’” (284).

The quality of the medical attendants for the Black soldier was just like their equipment—inferior. “In colored units there was a serious shortage of surgeons” (Quarles 203).

Most often the medical staff was white. They did not want to serve with the African-American troops; therefore, the medical staff that did serve had qualifications that were of low or substandard quality (203). The African-American soldier suffered high casualties from the lack of training, inadequate equipment, and inadequate medical attention.

Next, the Black soldier faced problems not endured by his white counterpart. He was paid ten dollars a month with a three dollar deduction for clothing. The white soldier was paid a total of thirteen dollars per month, ten dollars for pay and an additional three dollars for clothing. This was a source of resentment with some units until they would not take any pay until it was equal with that of white soldiers (Fay & Crane 88).

The African-American soldier, also, was assigned disproportionately heavy labor and fatigue duty. The federal government’s original plan was to use Black troops mainly for garrison duties. However, after proving themselves in battle, the policy remained only because of the anti-black feeling (McPherson 196). 

Black soldiers faced extreme consequences if captured. Jefferson Davis, Confederate President, and the Confederate Congress developed a plan to deal with the white commanders of Black troops and the Blacks who engaged in “any military enterprise, attack or conflict shall be deemed inciting servile insurrection, and if captured be put to death or punished at the discretion of the court” (William 309). Unfair pay, a disproportionate amount of fatigue duty, and fatal experiences as prisoners were some of the military injustices faced by Black soldiers.

However, the Black soldier triumphed. The African-American soldier had labored on fatigue duty. He could march and parade splendidly. However, could he fight? 449 battles and campaigns the Black soldier fought in answered that question. His performance during these battles was impressive, a powerful weapon for the Union, and even a greater weapon for the Black man’s liberation (Glattaar121). “There were sixteen all-Black regiments, making a total of 186,000 Blacks in the Union Armies…Sixteen Black soldiers earned the Congressional Medal of Honor for bravery in battle” (Foner 45).

Black soldiers, also, were, finally, allowed to fight for the South. The final act that broke slavery in the United States was a bill passed by Jefferson Davis and the Confederate Congress to enlist Black soldiers in the Confederate Army on March 13, 1865 (Wesley & Romero 113-114). African-American soldiers secured respect by fighting in Union battles and campaigns, becoming Medal of Honor winners, and being enlisted by the South.

The hardships applied to the Black soldier only focused his determination. Although the Black soldier was unprepared for war and suffered unjust policies, he defied the military and civilian establishment to succeed. Many American history books seem to have lost the contribution and participation of Black people in the Civil War. 

The African-American soldier was fighting for the preservation of his family and himself. He did suffer mental torture over pay, fatigue duty, and the possibilities of being captured. The Black soldier felt it was better to fight and die as a step toward equality and freedom. Unfortunately, too many American citizens have failed to honor and memorialize those Black patriots who gave so much and received so little.

Works Cited

Cornish, Dudley T. The Sable Arm. W.W. Norton, 1956.

Fay, David, & Elaine Crane. The Black Soldier, William Morrow & Co., 1971.

Foner, Jack D. Black and the Military in American History. Praeger, 1974.

Glattaar, Joseph T. Forged in Battle. The Free Press, 1990. 

Johnson Publishing Co. Ebony Pictorial History of Balck American. Southwestern Co., 1971.

McPherson, James M. The Negro’s Civil War. Vintage, 1965. 

Meyer, Michael, ed. Frederick Douglass: The Narrative and Selected Writings. Modern Library, 1984. 

Quarles, Benjamin. The Negro in the Civil War. Little, Brown, 1953.

Wesley, Charles, & Patricia W. Romero. Negro American in the Civil War. Publishers Co., 1977.

Williams, George W., L.L. D. A History of the Negro Troops. Negro Universities Press, 1888. 

—Marcus Howard, English 101

[Works Cited entries are following the 8th edition MLA format.]