Freedom by the Sword - US Army Center Of Military History

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Freedom by the Sword: The U.S. Colored Troops, 1862–1867
thirty-one of the new regiment’s thirty-five officers came from within the corps. Local
availability was a principle that guided officer appointments in the Colored Troops
throughout the war. 27
In the immense volunteer army of the Civil War, regimental commanders
as well as state governors could have a good deal to say about officer appointments.
Their personal preferences were influential in staffing the Colored
Troops. In one instance, the new colonel of the 3d U.S. Colored Cavalry objected
to the officers he had been assigned and asked for others from his old
regiment, the 4th Illinois Cavalry, to replace them. His request was granted. In
North Carolina, the officers of “Wild’s African Brigade”—the 35th, 36th, and
37th USCIs—were overwhelmingly from Massachusetts. They had been nominated
by their leader, Brig. Gen. Edward A. Wild, who was himself from that
state. Ten of the company officers of the 1st South Carolina —exactly one-third
of the original captains and lieutenants—came from the 8th Maine Infantry, a
white regiment that happened to be serving in the Department of the South,
where the 1st South Carolina was organized. 28
A fragmented and contradictory command structure impeded the appointment
process. Col. Thomas W. Higginson, a Massachusetts abolitionist who commanded
the 1st South Carolina, described one such instance. Brig. Gen. Rufus Saxton had
charge of plantations in the Sea Islands that had been abandoned by secessionist
owners and was responsible for those black residents who had stayed on the land.
Saxton “was authorized to raise five regiments & was going successfully on,” Higginson
wrote, when Col. James Montgomery arrived from Washington
with independent orders . . . entirely ignoring Gen. Saxton. At first it all seemed
very well; but who was to officer these new regiments? Montgomery claimed
the right, but allowed Gen. Saxton by courtesy to issue the commissions &
render great aid, the latter supposing [Montgomery’s to be] one of his five regiments.
Presently they split on a Lieutenant Colonelcy—Gen. S. commissions
one man, Col. M. refuses to recognize him & appoints another; the officers of
the regiment take sides, & the question must go to Washington. All the result of
want of unity of system.
The problem existed wherever Union armies went. The War Department had to
improvise a force that many civilian officials and soldiers of every rank thought
was more of a gamble than an experiment. 29
To select officers for the Colored Troops and confirm appointments in the
new regiments, examining boards convened in Washington, Cincinnati, St. Louis,
and a few other cities. Maj. Charles W. Foster, head of the adjutant gen-
27 OR, ser. 3, 3: 121; Maj A. F. Rockwell to Capt H. S. Nourse, 8 Apr 1865, Entry 352, RG 94,
NA. See also Thomas’ report to the secretary of war in OR, ser. 3, 5: 118–24.
28 Col E. D. Osband to Brig Gen L. Thomas, 10 Oct 1863 (O–4–AG–1863), Entry 363, RG 94, NA;
Brig Gen E. A. Wild to Maj T. M. Vincent, 4 Sep 1863, lists of officers, E. A. Wild Papers, U.S. Army
Military History Institute (MHI), Carlisle, Pa.; William E. S. Whitman, Maine in the War for the Union
(Lewiston, Me.: Nelson Dingley Jr., 1865), p. 197.
29 Col. T. W. Higginson to Maj. G. L. Stearns, 6 Jul 1863, Entry 363, RG 94, NA. On the fragmented
authority among officers organizing regiments of Colored Troops, see OR, ser. 3, 3: 111–15.