What if... African American troops did not take up arms during the ACW

yankee hoorah

First Sergeant
Joined
Feb 21, 2014
Location
Maryland
I've always been under the impression that Colored infantry helped turn the tide of the war in Union favor.
Would the war have still been a Federal victory if we had no USCT?
 
I would not want to say "It could not have happened", but it would probably require raising that many more white troops - a possibility, but not a given.
 
Secretary of War Simon Cameron authorized Gen. Sherman to employ fugitive slaves as Union soldiers if needed. It took some time before the USCT was an effective fighting force. They certainly helped win the Civil War for the Union.

Although it would have been possible for the Union to raise the needed troops without using the USCT, it might have caused political difficulties. In some areas the draft was not well received and the need for an additional 200,000 soldiers to replace the USCT could have cased Lincoln to not get reelected.The political fallout is hard to judge. In other words the Union had the manpower and could have drafted a couple of hundred thousand more soldiers, but there is no way to know if they would have made as good as soldiers as the USCT and how the additional draft was viewed politically is hard to know.
 
It's nothing to take lightly, but it puts their numbers relative to the numbers facing the Confederacy overall in better perspective, so I think it's worth it.

I'd not want to try fighting the last couple years of the war without them for the reason bill stated - he might be overstating it, but its still there.
 
Secretary of War Simon Cameron authorized Gen. Sherman to employ fugitive slaves as Union soldiers if needed. It took some time before the USCT was an effective fighting force. They certainly helped win the Civil War for the Union.

Although it would have been possible for the Union to raise the needed troops without using the USCT, it might have caused political difficulties. In some areas the draft was not well received and the need for an additional 200,000 soldiers to replace the USCT could have cased Lincoln to not get reelected.The political fallout is hard to judge. In other words the Union had the manpower and could have drafted a couple of hundred thousand more soldiers, but there is no way to know if they would have made as good as soldiers as the USCT and how the additional draft was viewed politically is hard to know.

One important consideration to add here, though, is the degree of motivation. If reluctant white men were drafted to fill this need, their level of motivation would have been suspect, to say the least. The black troops, however, were highly motivated. They were fighting to free their race from bondage in the South, and to prove themselves to the racists of the North.
 
Last edited:
As far as relating to the Union's numerical edge, though - out of a million and a half to two million individuals enlisted in blue (not counting the navy), blacks represent about 10% of that.

Three quarters of a million or so Confederates are still badly outnumbered.
http://www.civilwarhome.com/armysize.html

It's important to note though that these black troops came into service at the end of the war, when many of the most motivated white troops were dead, disabled, imprisoned, or had returned home. The vast majority of the 180,000 black troops didn't see action until 1864 or later. That's more than the combined number of effective troops on both sides at the Battle of the Wilderness, in the Spring of 1864.

I think the black troops had a huge impact. No way of knowing whether the Union could have won without them, but it's certainly questionable.
 
Last edited:
It's important to note though that these black troops came into service at the end of the war, when many of the most motivated white troops were dead, disabled, imprisoned, or had returned home. The vast majority of the 180,000 black troops didn't see action until 1864 or later. That's more than the combined number of effective troops on both sides at the Battle of the Wilderness, in the Spring of 1864.

I think the black troops had a huge impact. No way of knowing whether the Union could have won without them, but it's certainly questionable.

My main disagreement is that I think it's not "180,000 highly motivated blacks" vs. "180,000 draftees who would almost as soon desert as fight". I think the black troops gave a marvelous account of themselves given a chance (a thing that should have happened more - and I'm saying this purely as a matter of making use of some fine regiments, not as the principle of equality for the sake of equality - as meaningful as that is, it has nothing to do with the issue of wastefulness) - thus liking your post noting their motivation - but I don't think the alternatives would be as poor as some are saying here.

Less motivated than the 1861-1862 volunteers? Probably. But not 1916 Russian conscripts, either. There's a fairly decent chance of them largely still being volunteers, and no more the bottom of the barrel than the cream of the crop.
 
Last edited:
With the Federal armed forces numbering nearly 2.8 million I doubt the addition of 100,000 USCTs made much of a difference.

First off, it was 180,000 troops and not 100,000. But even 180,000 is still not that much compared to 2.8 million, as you pointed out. But I think you need to look at the quality of the service of the Black Civil War soldier moreso than the quantity.

When the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect (long before the Federal soldier draft), it clarified once and for all that Blacks would be enlisted into the Army. Northern Blacks would no longer be turned away; and men escaping from slavery would have the opportunity for military service and combat against their former oppressors. Debate why the war was fought if you want to but there is no question why the USCT soldier fought the war.

I think their greatest impact was psychological. USCT soldiers certainly made a difference to the Confederacy, who chose to not treat them as soldiers at all; instead, murdering them when they tried to surrender after the Union defeats of Olustee, Fort Pillow Poison Springs and the Crater. But to be fair, over 100 soldiers were treated as POWs after Olustee and sent to Andersonville.

But if you want to talk about quantity, remember that 180,000 soldiers is the size of two Civil War armies. And to the 900,000-1,000,000 who fought for the Confederacy, 180,000 is not that small of a number.
 
First off, it was 180,000 troops and not 100,000. But even 180,000 is still not that much compared to 2.8 million, as you pointed out. But I think you need to look at the quality of the service of the Black Civil War soldier moreso than the quantity.

When the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect (long before the Federal soldier draft), it clarified once and for all that Blacks would be enlisted into the Army. Northern Blacks would no longer be turned away; and men escaping from slavery would have the opportunity for military service and combat against their former oppressors. Debate why the war was fought if you want to but there is no question why the USCT soldier fought the war.

I think their greatest impact was psychological. USCT soldiers certainly made a difference to the Confederacy, who chose to not treat them as soldiers at all; instead, murdering them when they tried to surrender after the Union defeats of Olustee, Fort Pillow Poison Springs and the Crater. But to be fair, over 100 soldiers were treated as POWs after Olustee and sent to Andersonville.

But if you want to talk about quantity, remember that 180,000 soldiers is the size of two Civil War armies. And to the 900,000-1,000,000 who fought for the Confederacy, 180,000 is not that small of a number.

So you would increase total Federal strength by an additional 100,000?

Most USCTs, like most white Southern unionist troops, served in support roles and never came in contact with Confederate forces but you could make the point that it freed up white Federals that did.

http://www.civil-war.net/pages/troops_furnished_losses.html
 
So you would increase total Federal strength by an additional 100,000?

Most USCTs, like most white Southern unionist troops, served in support roles and never came in contact with Confederate forces but you could make the point that it freed up white Federals that did.

http://www.civil-war.net/pages/troops_furnished_losses.html
180,000 black men served the US during the ACW. It didn't take long for some to minimize the service of the USCT. For someone so gungho about honoring the black man serving the CS I would have expected you to applaud and be interested in honoring the much greater number serving the US. But alas that is asking too much.

The fact is even had the war continued past Appomatox Grant would have had access to more fresh and motivated troops in the coming months than the ANV and in fact the entire CS had available to them the entire year. Enough in fact to completely replace the AoP in the field. Those who want to play a numbers game seem to forget that the US outnumbered the CS partly because of the USCT.

As it is African American soldiers made a very real contribution to the US war effort, no matter how some... people try to minimize it. They certainly gave better service than those attempting to minimize them.
 
180,000 black men served the US during the ACW. It didn't take long for some to minimize the service of the USCT. For someone so gungho about honoring the black man serving the CS I would have expected you to applaud and be interested in honoring the much greater number serving the US. But alas that is asking too much.

The fact is even had the war continued past Appomatox Grant would have had access to more fresh and motivated troops in the coming months than the ANV and in fact the entire CS had available to them the entire year. Enough in fact to completely replace the AoP in the field. Those who want to play a numbers game seem to forget that the US outnumbered the CS partly because of the USCT.

As it is African American soldiers made a very real contribution to the US war effort, no matter how some... people try to minimize it. They certainly gave better service than those attempting to minimize them.

Someone had to man the picks, shovels and axes.
 
Someone had to man the picks, shovels and axes.

You seem to have misunderstood the topic (unless of course this is yet another attempt to change it). We're talking about the Union army here, not the Confederate army.

"... upon that same 29th September, Richmond came nearer being captured, and that, too, by negro troops, than it ever did during the whole war, and but for the devotion and bravery of two decimated brigades, Bushrod Johnson's old Tennessee brigade and the Texas brigade, consisting of about three hundred (300) men each, the Yankees must have carried everything before them and captured Richmond."

- CSA Private Charles Johnston, endorsed by General J. A. Early

Source: https://books.google.com/books?id=Qbw-AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA438&lpg=PA438
 
Last edited:
Someone had to man the picks and axes.
You seem to have misunderstood the topic (unless of course this is yet another attempt to change it). We're talking about the Union army here, not the Confederate army.

"... upon that same 29th September, Richmond came nearer being captured, and that, too, by negro troops, than it ever did during the whole war, and but for the devotion and bravery of two decimated brigades, Bushrod Johnson's old Tennessee brigade and the Texas brigade, consisting of about three hundred (300) men each, the Yankees must have carried everything before them and captured Richmond."

- CSA Private Charles Johnston, endorsed by General J. A. Early

Source: https://books.google.com/books?id=Qbw-AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA438&lpg=PA438

I don’t mean to take an iota of credit away from the USCTs that did serve in a combat role, I’m only saying that given their low battle related death rate compared to their extraordinary high death rate from disease, most of them didn’t serve in combat.
http://www.civil-war.net/pages/troops_furnished_losses.html
 
I don’t mean to take an iota of credit away from the USCTs that did serve in a combat role, I’m only saying that given their low battle related death rate compared to their extraordinary high death rate from disease, most of them didn’t serve in combat.
http://www.civil-war.net/pages/troops_furnished_losses.html

True. And there were two reasons for that. One was certainly the racism of many Union officers, soldiers, and government leaders. But the other is that the Confederates had vowed to enslave them if captured, and were known to ruthlessly murder them when captured, which caused some Union officers to hesitate putting them in that position. Nevertheless, black troops actually fought for the Union cause on many battlefields, and did so valiantly, and according to many, with greater fervor than the white troops at that stage of the war.
 
Last edited:
I don’t mean to take an iota of credit away from the USCTs that did serve in a combat role, I’m only saying that given their low battle related death rate compared to their extraordinary high death rate from disease, most of them didn’t serve in combat.
http://www.civil-war.net/pages/troops_furnished_losses.html
Yes, you do mean to marginalize and minimize them. Where the USCT served in a combat role they served every bit as ably as any white troops. Where they served in a non combat REMF role more modern men like you and I made them look good. From their baptism of fire at Milikens Bend, and before, they served well and consistantly gave CS troops a black eye. Enough so that those on the receiving end knew they'd been in a fight. You can try to discoungt and denigrate those roles but places like Milikens Bend, Ft Wagner, Ollustee, Nashville etc proved the USCT could fight with as much courage and lay down their lives as well or better than any white soldier.

The French and British military had been aware of this for decades as they had black men under arms in their armies since before 1812 and the had proven themselves time and time again. Something the CS never admitted and the US was too foolish to understand.
 
Back
Top