In general, newspapers, politicians, and army leaders alike were hostile to any efforts to arm blacks. įor the Confederacy, both free and enslaved black Americans were used for manual labor, but the issue of whether to arm them, and under what terms, became a major source of debate within the Confederate Congress, the President's Cabinet, and C.S.

Throughout the course of the war, black soldiers served in forty major battles and hundreds of more minor skirmishes sixteen African Americans received the Medal of Honor. Both Northern Free Negro and Southern runaway slaves joined the fight. Later in the war, many regiments were recruited and organized as the United States Colored Troops, which reinforced the Northern forces substantially during the conflict's last two years. Approximately 20,000 black sailors served in the Union Navy and formed a large percentage of many ships' crews. The 186,097 black men who joined the Union Army included 7,122 officers and 178,975 enlisted soldiers. 1863–65Īfrican Americans, including former slaves, served in the American Civil War. Samuel Smith ( 3rd United States Colored Cavalry Regiment) with wife and daughters, c.

Who has a larger navy in the civil war