27th USCT-A Black Regiment From Ohio

Albert Blackman:

albert blackman.JPG
 
A quarter of the officers had no prior military experience before joining the 27th.

At least five of the officers were immigrants. One each came from Poland, Germany, and England. Two were from Ireland.

Irish-born Lt. Col. John W. Donnellan eventually took command of the regiment.

Source of stats: Mezurek, Kelly D.. For Their Own Cause: The 27th United States Colored Troops (Civil War in the North) (Kindle Location 1841). Kent State University Press. Kindle Edition.
 
In April, the 27th moved by rail and steamer to Virginia to join Burnside's IX Corps of the Army of the Potomac. Along the way, men in Pittsburg had thrown stones at one of the companies and in Baltimore they had been cheered by a crowd. On April 25 they marched past Lincoln who reviewed them from a balcony at the Willard Hotel in Washington.

They were placed in Ferrero's Fourth Division, an almost all-black division. Ferrero had not had military experience before the war, apart from teaching West Pointers how to dance. He was an early joiner of the Union army and quickly rose to command a regiment. He had a generally good record from 1861 through 1863.

From: For Their Own Cause:

Pvt. Zephaniah Stewart wrote to his wife that between Camp Delaware and the “sitty wher our president is,” he had “seen more than I ever seen in my life before.”
Mezurek, Kelly D.. For Their Own Cause: The 27th United States Colored Troops (Civil War in the North) (Kindle Locations 2068-2070). Kent State University Press. Kindle Edition.
 
In May, 1864, Ferrero brigaded the 27th with his First Brigade under Joshua Siegfried. On May 4th and 5th Ferrero's division moved towards the Wilderness. The black regiments were near the fighting at the Wilderness and Spotsylvania, but were in the role of guarding supply trains against possible cavalry attacks. Over the next week, the regiment encountered fire from pickets and guerrillas. The 27th was not in an advantageous position. Its commander Lt. Col. Blackman was back in Ohio on a recruiting mission and three of its companies had not yet joined it. In early June, the 27th and the other regiments helped to liberate 500 slaves. After this, the 27th was finally moved to the front at Petersburg.
 
Thanks for putting a regiment to the stories which stuck with me, from The Crater- what mofederal is speaking of. Too many years ago, plunged into the Civil War with " Battles and Leaders ". Had ancestors at Petersburg so general interest but was not prepared for the accounts. Wish I could remember which one recounted as an officer, the USCT at The Crater. Read account after account of men facing death unflinching. He speaks of men being sent into death, sneers at those who sent them and sure made sure the world knew what the USCT did that day.

Hate to get the name wrong so must look it up. " Battles and Leaders " is really long- The Crater and the USCT should be one of our most re-told stories. No idea why it isn't.
 
From Kelly Mezurek:

Burnside informed Ferrero that the 4th Division would lead the charge, with the 43rd USCT in front, and that he should begin immediately to prepare the men. Burnside chose the black troops because he believed that they were the most rested of his army. He thought that his white troops were too drained by their losses from battle, picket duty, and illness. Of course, the African American soldiers were just as worn down, and, more significantly, they had less experienced officers, making Burnside’s reasoning questionable. He defended such criticisms by arguing that the blacks would only enter first and that tested white troops would actually perform the most important task of capturing Petersburg after the USCT had secured Cemetery Hill. Burnside instructed Ferrero to inform Siegfried and Col. Henry G. Thomas, commander of the 2nd Brigade of the 4th Division, of the upcoming event. In preparation for the attack, Ferrero wrote to the assistant adjutant general that Lieutenant Colonel Blackman was needed, as “no field officer of the regiment is
with it,” and that “an officer has to be detailed from another regiment to perform his duties.” On July 14, the War Department sent word to the superintendent of volunteer recruiting services in Ohio that the secretary of war had requested that Governor Brough release Blackman from recruiting duty and send him to the front with any new enlistees that he could bring.50

On July 17 an impatient Ferrero sent word to the IX Army Corps headquarters that his men, who were supposed to help lead the assault, needed time to rest and prepare for their important role. He explained to his superiors that the 4th Division had been performing an enormous amount of fatigue duty, often at night. Not only were the men exhausted, but the non-ending toil had left him little time to train them. The complaint was not an attempt to get out of the upcoming battle; it was a plea to participate. Ferrero firmly reminded Burnside of the leader’s promise to finally engage the entire division of black troops in a planned military action. Yet the only training Ferrero could fit in during the demanding construction schedule was to pull out one regiment a day to drill in the two weeks before the planned assault—although Lt. Robert Beecham of the 23rd USCT remembered only three to four hours of instruction. Capt. Albert Rogall made four references to 27th’s “preparations for a big fight” in his journal during the weeks before the explosion at the Battle of the Crater, but the military inexperience of the blacks became painfully clear when they practiced with their weapons. One surgeon reported that in a single day he had to perform seven thumb operations after the training began.


Mezurek, Kelly D.. For Their Own Cause: The 27th United States Colored Troops (Civil War in the North) (Kindle Locations 2399-2419). Kent State University Press. Kindle Edition.
 
When did Black regiments finally receive Black officers or could elect from their own group? Why was that held up? Did the US Army not believe Blacks could be good officers?

And thank you Pat for posting all this about the USCT troops. I never knew a thing about them or their bravery and kind of how they are forgotten until you started posting about them. Fantastic story (or stories) that deserve to be in front of the CW narration.
 
While the original plan called for Ferrero's black division to lead the attack on the Confederate lines after miners detonated an explosion under their fortifications, Meade decided to have a white division spearhead the attack. Ledle's brigade was picked. As may of you know, he was one of the least qualified to lead this action. Ferrero's men would follow Ledlie's and Wilcox's brigades.
 
On July 30, 1864 the men of the 27th were awakened and told to have breakfast. At 4:45 AM the explosion was detonated and the massive Crater was created. Union artillery opened fire at 5:30AM. At 6:00AM the 27th moved into the covered way that was used as an approach to the battle. They stayed there for an hour. At 7:30AM, the 27th got the order to go into battle. Because the divisions that had gone in earlier had become a confused mass at the Crater, the black regiments were blocked by their own comrades and only made progress around 8AM. The 43rd USCT led the way, followed by two other black regiments, with the 27th fourth in line. The 27th went into their first real battle without their commander.
 
The black regiments initially moved left toward Cemetery Hill. Heavy fire, and lack of strong leadership, led them to drift right towards the Crater. The men of the 27th moved past the Crater on its left side, and pushed on to the Confederate trenches. Mahone's counterattack drove back those black troops who had advanced past the Confederate trenches. Captain Wright, who assumed command, was able to keep some discipline in the regiment and led most of the men out of the trap at the Crater, with the result that the 27th did not suffer the catastrophic casualties that other regiments that sought shelter in the Crater did.
 
At 9:45AM Meade called off further advances, essentially conceding the failure of the attempt. Fighting, however, would continue throughout the day as Union troops caught in the Crater attempted to extricate themselves.

According to Kelly Mezurek:


battlefield led to twelve soldiers killed in action, two more who died later as a result of their injuries, and sixty-four wounded. In the confusion that followed, over thirty men were initially reported as missing in action, all but eight of whom were later accounted for by their officers. The other twenty-two, who had been taken to hospitals, eventually returned to their companies. Records confirm that rebels captured at least six men who became prisoners of war. The black regiment from Ohio also lost three officers killed, two wounded, and one taken prisoner of war. On August 8 the number of casualties grew when Capt. Alfred W. Pinney died after surgeons amputated his injured arm.

Mezurek, Kelly D.. For Their Own Cause: The 27th United States Colored Troops (Civil War in the North) (Kindle Locations 2654-2659). Kent State University Press. Kindle Edition.
 
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