Rebforever
Lt. Colonel
- Joined
- Oct 26, 2012
Does anyone have any numbers about how many Black Union Solders returned to the South after the 13th Amendment?
Does anyone have any numbers about how many Black Union Solders returned to the South after the 13th Amendment?
I am having great difficulty finding the logic in your explanation. There was still great hostility in the South and one would think the untamed West would offer the most opportunity. The great urban centers of the North, although not entirely inviting/welcoming, probably provided a safer environment, all told.I haven’t seen any statistics, but probably most returned to the South since they would have been unwelcomed in most areas outside the South after the war.
I am having great difficulty finding the logic in your explanation. There was still great hostility in the South and one would think the untamed West would offer the most opportunity. The great urban centers of the North, although not entirely inviting/welcoming, probably provided a safer environment, all told.
Pretty interesting. It looks like some of the enslaved soldiers got caught in a real Catch-22, where they got their freedom for enlisting but their families didn't, and though they hoped for a quick end to slavery, if they were in a state where it didn't happen, they had an enslaved family stuck back home for a while.
Pretty interesting. It looks like some of the enslaved soldiers got caught in a real Catch-22, where they got their freedom for enlisting but their families didn't, and though they hoped for a quick end to slavery, if they were in a state where it didn't happen, they had an enslaved family stuck back home for a while.
The members of the 54th/55th that I've been coincidentally following for a different research project have such different lives--doing nicely as born-free blacks who left the south years ago, residents of Massachusetts, established as caterers, barbers, or other small-businessmen, and receiving not only equal pay but a bounty for enlisting...
To be fair, the question in the OP is how many returned to the south, which I took to mean those who were residents of the south immediately before enlisting. So those like I mentioned, who were once residents of the south years ago but had established themselves for years in Massachusetts, or in Ohio like you mentioned, wouldn't count, as they would "return" to their homes in Mass or Ohio after discharge (which the ones I was following did, though a couple sons went together to Oregon).
But those who enlisted from Kentucky, Missouri, etc. etc. might return to Kentucky or Missouri after being discharged, and they're the focus of the question in the OP. At least that's how I'm understanding it? Is that right?
Yeah, poor souls. Or take the 5th USCT, recruited almost entirely from Ohio. Here are their occupations BEFORE they enlisted:
farmer - 53%
laborer - 22%
barber - 4%
blacksmith - 3%
boatman - 2%
waiter - 2%
cook - 1%
carpenter - 1%
cooper - 1%
mason - 1%
others: engineer, servant, painter, teacher, minister, doctor
'Only 6 of the men claimed no occupation.'
Source: Versalle F. Washington, EAGLES ON THEIR BUTTONS: A BLACK INFANTRY REGIMENT IN THE CIVIL WAR, - p. 14
Of course none of them were nearly as well off as they would have been in the South, where over 90% of them would have been happily enslaved. And no doubt the South would have rolled out the Welcome Wagon for them if they came back after having served in the Union army.
Yeah, poor souls. Or take the 5th USCT, recruited almost entirely from Ohio. Here are their occupations BEFORE they enlisted:
farmer - 53%
laborer - 22%
barber - 4%
blacksmith - 3%
boatman - 2%
waiter - 2%
cook - 1%
carpenter - 1%
cooper - 1%
mason - 1%
others: engineer, servant, painter, teacher, minister, doctor
'Only 6 of the men claimed no occupation.'
Source: Versalle F. Washington, EAGLES ON THEIR BUTTONS: A BLACK INFANTRY REGIMENT IN THE CIVIL WAR, - p. 14
Of course none of them were nearly as well off as they would have been in the South, where over 90% of them would have been happily enslaved. And no doubt the South would have rolled out the Welcome Wagon for them if they came back after having served in the Union army.
I just purchased Versalle Washington's book, it looks interesting. The Massachusetts regiments get a lot of recognition, deservedly so, but the 5th USCT deserves as much recognition.
- Alan
Does anyone have any numbers about how many Black Union Solders returned to the South after the 13th Amendment?
Does anyone have any numbers about how many Black Union Solders returned to the South after the 13th Amendment?
Does anyone have any numbers about how many Black Union Solders returned to the South after the 13th Amendment?
I can't explain it any better, Alan.Reb,
Which of the following are you inquiring about:
A) Northern black veterans who had migrated from the South prior to war, and returned to the South after their service
- or -
B) Southern black veterans who stayed in the South after the Amendment was passed
- or -
C) both (A) and (B)?
- Alan