Islamic Civil War soldiers

[major bill]

With Eid ul-Fitr soon approaching I was wondering if anyone had any good sources for Moslems serving in the Civil War. Has anyone seen a good guess on how many Civil War soldiers were Islamic? Maybe a hundred or a thousand?

 

[theoldman]

With Eid ul-Fitr soon approaching I was wondering if anyone had any good sources for Moslems serving in the Civil War. Has anyone seen a good guess on how many Civil War soldiers were Islamic? Maybe a hundred or a thousand?

That is an interesting question. I have never seen it discussed not only in relation to the CW but in relation to American History in general. Good luck with your research on this one. If or when you get an answer or answers, I hope you post them.

 

[jgoodguy]

I'd speculate that some of the USCT were Muslim as enslaved descendents of Muslim blacks.

Nicholas Said, 1836-1882 served in the Union Army, but as free black.

Despite being enslaved or indentured for much of his life, Mohammed Ali ben Said (later renamed Nicholas Said) traveled to five continents, learned to speak seven languages, served princes and diplomats, fought in the Union Army, and recorded the story of his life in his own words. Said was born in northern Africa, the thirteenth of his mother's nineteen children, and the son of a general in the Bornou army. When he was 12 or 13 years old, Said's father and three of his brothers were killed by an invading army from Bagirmey, and he went to live with Malam Katory, who taught him to write and speak Arabic. Approximately two years later, Said was enslaved by a "marauding tribe" and transported by horseback across the desert. From that day on, he served a series of masters, including Arabs, Turks, Russians, and a married couple from Dutch Guiana (now Suriname). After traveling the world for over twenty years, Said settled in St. Stephens, Alabama, where his narrative ends. His Autobiography was published in 1873, and according to one scholar, he died in 1882.

At 224 pages, Said's Autobiography is the longest extant slave narrative by an enslaved African Muslim. It is also the only North American slave narrative to describe travels on five continents. However, certain facts about Said's birth and childhood have been contested by scholars. Although he claims he was born in "about the year 1836" (p. 9), historians Allan D. Austin and Tabish Khair estimate Said's actual birth date as 1831 or 1833. Said also states that he was born in "Kouka, the capital of the Kingdom of Bornou, in Soudan" (p. 9), but contemporary maps suggest that the capital city he describes as being "30 miles southward of the great lake Tzad" was probably located up to 1800 miles northeast of present-day Lake Chad, within what is now southeastern Libya (p. 26). An 1867 Atlantic Monthly article (cited by Allan Austin) claimed that Said served in a "colored [Union Army] regiment" from 1863-1865 and that he later "fell captive to woman [and] married at the South," although the version of Said's autobiography reproduced here omits those events. Indeed, for much of Said's life story we must rely solely on his account. This text clearly reflects a voracious intellect, a passion for travel and cultural interchange, and a dedication, as Said concludes his final chapter, to "do as much good as possible to [one's] fellow-man in this world" (p. 213).

 

[Civilwarcrow]

With Eid ul-Fitr soon approaching I was wondering if anyone had any good sources for Moslems serving in the Civil War. Has anyone seen a good guess on how many Civil War soldiers were Islamic? Maybe a hundred or a thousand?

Read on this some time ago,can't recall the book,may be one or two blacks slaves that joined the Union army that practiced Islam. Not many,if any Moslem immigrants in the US at the time of the Civil War,subject to correction..It would be interesting to know more..

 

[Civilwarcrow]

http://www.worldcat.org/title/musli...-1812-civil-war-world-war-i-ii/oclc/227828953

 

[Copperhead-mi]

Baghdad Bob

 

[major bill]

American merchant ships sailed the world. Certainly some captain would find himself in the Middle East or Indonesia and short a good carpenter or sail maker or such. At least a few captains must have hired Islamic sailors. When the ship came back to America a few Muslims must have stayed here. I know I have read of Islamic Civil War soldiers, I just can not remember where.

 

[major bill]

I found one in my home state of Michigan.

There are recorded instances of Muslims in the United States military during the American Civil War. Muhammad Ali ibn Said (also known as Nicholas Said), formerly enslaved to an Arab master, came to the United States in 1860 where he found a teaching job in Detroit. In 1863, Said enlisted in the 55th Massachusetts Colored Regiment in the United States Army and rose to the rank of sergeant. He was later granted a transfer to a hospital department, where he gained some knowledge of medicine. His Army records state that he died in Brownsville, Tennessee in 1882

 

[jgoodguy]

There is a CWT thread Muslims in Early American Wars.

Baghdad Bob

As moderator. Please keep to topic.