Both Grant and Sherman were against African-American recruitment early during the Civil War. Both commented with racial overtones regarding the possible results of employing freedmen as line soldiers. Bummer is not aware of Sherman having any “colored troops” under his direct command, other than pioneers and teamsters. Lincoln was hesitant concerning his Emancipation Proclamation and its impact on the border states. In addition, other Eastern bastions of immigrant labor were concerned that the Emancipation would impact their post war employment. The racial mentality ran deep in the north and much of the population was torn between what their faith taught and propaganda dictated.
When Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation became the Law of the Land, the South retaliated, the Civil War became a conflict about slavery and its abolishment. Grant and Sherman both endorsed the edict and a wave of excitement swept through the Union.
The proclamation, did not eliminate racism, in either the civilians or the military leaders of the North. Grant recognized the impact of Lincoln’s decree on the South. He knew that approximately 200,000 additional colored troops could be added to his forces, while the South would not be able to match or even come close to this increased troop strength. The effects of this influx of African-American soldiers would affect the outcome of the Civil War and generate some of the most inhumane and dastardly events in American History.
Bummer
“Who would be free themselves must strike the blow….I urge you to fly to arms and smite to death the power that would bury the Government and your liberty in the same hopeless grave. This is your golden opportunity.”
“Once let the black man get upon his person the brass letter, U.S., let him get an eagle on his button, and a musket on his shoulder and bullets in his pocket, there is no power on earth that can deny that he has earned the right to citizenship.”
Frederick Douglass
