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United States Colored Troops

Who were the United States Colored Troop -  U.S.C.T.

The United States Colored Troops made up over ten percent of the Union or Northern Army even though they were prohibited from joining until July 1862, fifteen months into the war. They comprised twenty-five percent of the Union navy. Yet, only one percent of the Northern population was African American. Clearly overrepresented in the military, African Americans played a decisive role in the Civil War.

In July of 1862, Congress passed the Militia Act of 1862. It had become an “indispensable military necessity” to call on America’s African descent population to help save the Union. A few weeks after President Lincoln signed the legislation on July 17, 1862, free men of color joined volunteer regiments in Illinois and New York. Such men would go on to fight in some of the most noted campaigns and battles of the war to include, Antietam, Vicksburg, Gettysburg, and Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign.

On September 27, 1862, the first regiment to become a United States Colored Troops (USCT) regiment was officially brought into the Union army. All the captains and lieutenants in this Louisiana regiment were men of African descent. The regiment was immediately assigned combat duties, and it captured Donaldsonville, Louisiana on October 27, 1862. Before the Emancipation Proclamation was issued, two more African descent regiments from Kansas and South Carolina would demonstrate their prowess in combat.

After the Emancipation Proclamation was issued on January 1, 1863, the War Department publicly authorized the recruiting of African Americans. The first regiment raised with such authority was the 54th Massachusetts Infantry. (Leading many to report that it was the first African descent regiment.) By the end of 1863, General Ulysses S. Grant viewed the African descent population armed with the Proclamation as a “powerful ally.”

Lincoln signed the District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act into law on April 16, 1862. The bill immediately freed enslaved people in the district and compensated former slave owners who were loyal to the Union up to $300 for each freeperson, according to the U.S. Senate Historical Office — just under $8,886 per person in 2023.

Number of Enlisted of US Colored
Troops (USCT) by State

The 209,145 names are drawn from official records of the Bureau of US Colored Troops (USCT) at the National Archives and engraved on the Wall of Honor of the African American Civil War Memorial, Washington, D.C. Following are the numbers of enlistees attributed to the states in which they enlisted:

Locating United States Colored Troops Records

Fold3 is a subscription-based website that specializes in providing access to military records, including documents, photos, and personal stories related to the military service of individuals. It is a valuable resource for genealogists, historians, and anyone interested in exploring military history or tracing their ancestors’ military service.

 

 

How to locate USCT Units on fold3

After the Civil War

United States Colored Troops

Additional Research Tools

  • National Park Service - The Civil War
  • American Battlefield Trust - The Role of the USCT in the Civil War
  • United States Colored Troops Collection Highlight
  • Black Soldiers in the U.S. Military in the Civil War
  • Kentucky U.S. Colored Troops Project
  • United States Colored Troops - Military Wiki
  • National Archives - Black Men in Navy Blue During the Civil War
  • Ensyclopedia Virginia - The United States Colored Troop
  • United States Colored Troops - Wikipedia
  • Index of Slave Compensation Claims by Former Slave Owner
  • Documenting United States Colored Troops Veterans
  • African American Civil War Soldiers - Database
  • Naval History and Heritage Command
  • Black Civil War Soldiers - History.com