Eye for an Eye: The Role of Armed Resistance ... - Freedom Archives

newly freed Black community and a threat to the old Confederates . Large num-
bers of white Union soldiers demanded to be released from service since many
were enlisted from the start of the conflict in 1861 . This left large numbers of
Black troops, many of whom had entered the conflict in or after 1863, to occupy
their former oppressors in the South. In June 1865, there were 122,179 Blacks in
the U .S . Army, most being stationed in the South .' Within the Black community
there was a clear understanding of the role of Black troops in defeating the Con-
federates and crushing chattel slavery . Martin Delany, speaking to a newly freed
community on Saint Helena's Sea Island, South Carolina, stated, "I want you to
understand that we would not have become free, had we not armed ourselves and
fought for our independence. . . We have now two hundred thousand of our men
well drilled in arms and used to warfare, and I tell you it is with you and them that
slavery shall not come back again. . ."" Reflected in Delany's message was the
anticipation of the Black community of the continued presence of armed Black
people as freedom fighters . The Black periodical the New Orleans Tribune , which
served as a vehicle for land redistribution and voting rights, called for Black
soldiers to put forces of white reaction in line . The editor of the Tribune stated :
It would probably be sufficient to send a few companies of colored
troops to the worst parishes . The presence of our armed brothers,
wearing the United States uniform, would do a great deal toward
bringing the slaveholders to their senses . The Black regiments
carry with them the vivid and forcible image of the revolution, i .e .
of the elevation of the downtrodden race to the level of citizens .16
Black troops attached a special role to their duty on the land they and their ances-
tors had toiled for free for centuries as captive laborers . In many instances Black