Profiles in Courage |
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When the Civil War began in April 1861, President Abraham Lincoln called for 90-day volunteers to put down the insurrection. 75,000 patriotic men enlisted. But as the war dragged on, it became clear that many more volunteers would be needed to replace the dead and wounded. The President issued more calls for volunteers, but fewer men answered each time. The true horror of war had begun to sink in. The Union Government then began to offer cash bonuses for enlistment, and instituted a draft. The first draft law was enacted on July 17, 1862. A more comprehensive one, the Enrollment Act, followed on March 3, 1863. But there were still not enough men to replace those lost in battle. After having initially resisted the idea, President Lincoln authorized the Army, in his Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863, to begin enlisting free African-Americans. Later that year, he authorized the Army to begin enlisting slaves as well.
Six U.S. Colored Troops regiments were organized in Maryland in 1863 and 1864. Each regiment had about one thousand men, organized into ten companies of about one hundred men each. The officers were white. The enlisted men were black. The 7th, 9th, 19th, and 30th regiments, a total of about 4,000 men, were organized and trained at Camp Stanton in Benedict, Maryland during the late fall and winter of 1863-64. The 4th and 39th regiments were organized and trained in Baltimore. |
Measles, cholera, smallpox, typhoid, and similar diseases were rampant among the 4,000 men training at Camp Stanton. Measles was the most common disease. During February 1864, 357 men were sick with disease. 50 of the cases were measles. There was a small field hospital at Camp Stanton, but many of the sick men were sent to army hospitals in Baltimore and Annapolis. Some never returned.
Most of the men in the 19th Regiment were runaway slaves, but the regiment also included a few draftees, substitutes, and free men who voluntarily enlisted.
The Union Army established a number of recruiting stations in Maryland for walk-in enlistments, but also used roving army recruiting parties to enlist slaves directly from the farms. Many of these mobile recruiting parties included newly enlisted former slaves wearing their new Union Army uniforms and bearing arms. It was a thrilling sight for the slaves on the farms to see, but a maddening sight for their owners. Lieutenant Eben White of the 7th Regiment was murdered while recruiting slaves on a plantation near Camp Stanton. Privates Benjamin Brown and Alexander Green of the 19th Regiment were also shot and killed while on recruiting service.
The Government offered $300 compensation to any slaveholder who signed a manumission document freeing the slave, signed an oath of loyalty to the Union, and had the loyalty oath verified by known loyal citizens. Few Southern Maryland slave owners filed compensation claims. Most of those who did were refused compensation on account of disloyalty.
A number of slaves enlisted under a different name than their given name. Some gave the enlisting officer a different name out of fear of being recaptured by their former owners. Others gave a different name because they wanted to replace their slave name with a name of their own choosing. Others gave their regular name, but the enlisting officer either misheard it or wrote it down incorrectly. Most slaves, but not all, were illiterate and couldn't tell if the enlisting officer was recording their name correctly or not.
Training proceeded during the winter of 1863-64, but the men didn’t spend all their time at Camp Stanton. Company D was based in Easton, Maryland during March 1864 to help recruit and enlist slaves in Maryland’s Eastern Shore counties. Companies E, F, H, and K were based at Birney Barracks and McKim’s Hospital in Baltimore during March and April 1864. Company G spent part of March and April 1864 recruiting in Western Maryland and across the border into what would soon become West Virginia, around Harper’s Ferry, Martinsburg, Shepardstown, and Charlestown.
The 7th, 9th, and 30th regiments left Camp Stanton in March 1864. The 19th Regiment left at the end of April. The men marched to Baltimore, where they boarded ships which took them to Annapolis. The Regiment became part of the newly-constituted Ninth Army Corps under General Ambrose Burnside.
The Ninth Army Corps consisted of four divisions. The Fourth Division under Brigadier-General Edward Ferrero consisted of two brigades, each containing four regiments of U.S. Colored Troops. The 19th Regiment was part of the Fourth Division’s 2nd Brigade under Colonel Henry G. Thomas.
The Ninth Army Corps marched from Annapolis to Washington, D.C., where they were reviewed by President Lincoln as they passed in front of the Willard Hotel. The soldiers then continued across the Long Bridge over the Potomac River and into Virginia where it joined up with General Ulysses S. Grant’s Army of the Potomac. As Grant fought his way south towards Richmond and Petersburg during May and June 1864, the 19th Regiment saw action at the battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Topolotomy Creek, North Anna, Cold Harbor, and Old Church. Arriving at Petersburg, the 19th Regiment joined other Union troops in the trenches outside that besieged city. During the siege of Petersburg, the regiment saw action at the battles of Weldon Railroad, Poplar Grove Church, and Hatcher’s Run.
The 19th Regiment’s largest battle was as part of the Union Army’s July 30, 1864 assault against Confederate forces outside Petersburg, Virginia. Many of its men were killed or wounded. The assault was known at the time as the Battle of Cemetery Hill or the Battle of the Mine, but in later years became popularized in books and movies as the Battle of the Crater.
The fall of Petersburg was imminent at the beginning of April 1865. The 19th and other regiments were sent from Petersburg to Richmond on April 1, 1865. General Robert E. Lee pulled his Confederate troops from both Petersburg and Richmond on the night of April 2, 1865, retreating westward towards Appomattox. At 6 a.m. on April 3, 1865, the 19th Regiment was in the first wave of Union soldiers entering and capturing Richmond. Captain James H. Rickard, commanding Company G, wrote in his company report that day:
Most of the men in the 19th Regiment were runaway slaves, but the regiment also included a few draftees, substitutes, and free men who voluntarily enlisted.
The Union Army established a number of recruiting stations in Maryland for walk-in enlistments, but also used roving army recruiting parties to enlist slaves directly from the farms. Many of these mobile recruiting parties included newly enlisted former slaves wearing their new Union Army uniforms and bearing arms. It was a thrilling sight for the slaves on the farms to see, but a maddening sight for their owners. Lieutenant Eben White of the 7th Regiment was murdered while recruiting slaves on a plantation near Camp Stanton. Privates Benjamin Brown and Alexander Green of the 19th Regiment were also shot and killed while on recruiting service.
The Government offered $300 compensation to any slaveholder who signed a manumission document freeing the slave, signed an oath of loyalty to the Union, and had the loyalty oath verified by known loyal citizens. Few Southern Maryland slave owners filed compensation claims. Most of those who did were refused compensation on account of disloyalty.
A number of slaves enlisted under a different name than their given name. Some gave the enlisting officer a different name out of fear of being recaptured by their former owners. Others gave a different name because they wanted to replace their slave name with a name of their own choosing. Others gave their regular name, but the enlisting officer either misheard it or wrote it down incorrectly. Most slaves, but not all, were illiterate and couldn't tell if the enlisting officer was recording their name correctly or not.
Training proceeded during the winter of 1863-64, but the men didn’t spend all their time at Camp Stanton. Company D was based in Easton, Maryland during March 1864 to help recruit and enlist slaves in Maryland’s Eastern Shore counties. Companies E, F, H, and K were based at Birney Barracks and McKim’s Hospital in Baltimore during March and April 1864. Company G spent part of March and April 1864 recruiting in Western Maryland and across the border into what would soon become West Virginia, around Harper’s Ferry, Martinsburg, Shepardstown, and Charlestown.
The 7th, 9th, and 30th regiments left Camp Stanton in March 1864. The 19th Regiment left at the end of April. The men marched to Baltimore, where they boarded ships which took them to Annapolis. The Regiment became part of the newly-constituted Ninth Army Corps under General Ambrose Burnside.
The Ninth Army Corps consisted of four divisions. The Fourth Division under Brigadier-General Edward Ferrero consisted of two brigades, each containing four regiments of U.S. Colored Troops. The 19th Regiment was part of the Fourth Division’s 2nd Brigade under Colonel Henry G. Thomas.
The Ninth Army Corps marched from Annapolis to Washington, D.C., where they were reviewed by President Lincoln as they passed in front of the Willard Hotel. The soldiers then continued across the Long Bridge over the Potomac River and into Virginia where it joined up with General Ulysses S. Grant’s Army of the Potomac. As Grant fought his way south towards Richmond and Petersburg during May and June 1864, the 19th Regiment saw action at the battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Topolotomy Creek, North Anna, Cold Harbor, and Old Church. Arriving at Petersburg, the 19th Regiment joined other Union troops in the trenches outside that besieged city. During the siege of Petersburg, the regiment saw action at the battles of Weldon Railroad, Poplar Grove Church, and Hatcher’s Run.
The 19th Regiment’s largest battle was as part of the Union Army’s July 30, 1864 assault against Confederate forces outside Petersburg, Virginia. Many of its men were killed or wounded. The assault was known at the time as the Battle of Cemetery Hill or the Battle of the Mine, but in later years became popularized in books and movies as the Battle of the Crater.
The fall of Petersburg was imminent at the beginning of April 1865. The 19th and other regiments were sent from Petersburg to Richmond on April 1, 1865. General Robert E. Lee pulled his Confederate troops from both Petersburg and Richmond on the night of April 2, 1865, retreating westward towards Appomattox. At 6 a.m. on April 3, 1865, the 19th Regiment was in the first wave of Union soldiers entering and capturing Richmond. Captain James H. Rickard, commanding Company G, wrote in his company report that day:
"Advanced on the enemy’s works at 6 AM. Found they had evacuated Richmond."
President Lincoln visited Petersburg on April 3, 1865, and Richmond on April 4, 1865. On April 9, 1865, General Lee surrendered his army to Union General Ulysses S. Grant about 50 miles west of Richmond at Appomattox Courthouse. All remaining Confederate Army units still in the field surrendered over the course of the next two weeks, and the great Civil War was over.
But military service was not over for the men of the 19th Regiment. Their term of enlistment was three years. Unlike most white regiments that had been formed earlier in the war, the men of the 19th Regiment had served barely half their three-year enlistment when the war ended. Instead of disbanding the regiment as the men had hoped, the government sent the 19th Regiment and other U.S. Colored Troops regiments to formerly-Confederate Texas to maintain the peace and guard the border with Mexico. The Mexican-American War (1846-1848) had given the United States control of Texas, establishing the Rio Grande River as the Mexican-U.S. border.
On June 1, 1865, the 19th Regiment boarded the military steamers J.W. Everman and Cumbria for a three-week voyage to Texas. The steamers sailed from Fortress Monroe, Virginia down the Atlantic coast, around the tip of Florida, across the Gulf of Mexico to New Orleans, and finally arrived at Brazos Santiago, Texas on June 24, 1865. For the next year and a half, the regiment’s base of operations was at Brownsville, Texas, but its companies were posted at a number of different encampments along the Rio Grande River. These included Edinburg, Santa Maria, Rancho Arenal, Rancho Costinas, and Rancho Barracas. Living conditions were abysmal. Almost everyone became seriously sick at one time or another from scurvy, malaria, cholera, dysentery, and other diseases.
Several soldiers died while the 19th Regiment was in Texas. They were buried in the military's National Cemetery at Fort Brown in Brownsville, Texas. In 1911, National Cemetery was closed and the remains of the soldiers buried there were moved to the Alexandria National Cemetery in Pineville, Louisiana.
The 19th Regiment was finally disbanded on January 15, 1867 at Brownsville, Texas. The men marched to the port town of Brazos de Santiago on January 20th where they boarded the Army steamer St. Mary. They stopped in New Orleans for three days, and then continued their voyage, arriving at Fortress Monroe, Virginia on February 4th. They were delayed there for two days by ice in the Chesapeake Bay, but resumed their voyage on February 6th, arriving in Baltimore the next day, February 7, 1867. The men of the 19th Regiment disembarked, received their final pay and discharge papers a few days later, and then went home. Free men at last.
While the ten companies of the 19th Regiment had begun at Camp Stanton with almost 100 men each, their strength at disbandment in Texas three years later was: Company A - 71; Company B - 74; Company C - 63; Company D - 73; Company E - 72; Company F - 71; Company G - 69; Company H - 68; Company I - 73; Company K - 65.
50 men of the 19th Regiment were either killed in action or died from their wounds. A larger number died from disease. Many of those who survived their service with the 19th Regiment suffered for the rest of their lives from their battlefield wounds or the effects of malaria, scurvy, cholera, chronic dysentery, typhoid fever, acute rheumatic fever, pneumonia, measles, blindness, hearing loss, and other illnesses contracted during their service.
The entire number of men enlisted and commissioned in the U.S. Colored Troops during the Civil War was 186,097. They served in 120 Infantry Regiments, 12 Heavy Artillery Regiments, 10 Heavy Artillery Batteries, and 7 Cavalry Regiments. By the time the war was over, 68,178 of these brave men were lost from all causes.
But military service was not over for the men of the 19th Regiment. Their term of enlistment was three years. Unlike most white regiments that had been formed earlier in the war, the men of the 19th Regiment had served barely half their three-year enlistment when the war ended. Instead of disbanding the regiment as the men had hoped, the government sent the 19th Regiment and other U.S. Colored Troops regiments to formerly-Confederate Texas to maintain the peace and guard the border with Mexico. The Mexican-American War (1846-1848) had given the United States control of Texas, establishing the Rio Grande River as the Mexican-U.S. border.
On June 1, 1865, the 19th Regiment boarded the military steamers J.W. Everman and Cumbria for a three-week voyage to Texas. The steamers sailed from Fortress Monroe, Virginia down the Atlantic coast, around the tip of Florida, across the Gulf of Mexico to New Orleans, and finally arrived at Brazos Santiago, Texas on June 24, 1865. For the next year and a half, the regiment’s base of operations was at Brownsville, Texas, but its companies were posted at a number of different encampments along the Rio Grande River. These included Edinburg, Santa Maria, Rancho Arenal, Rancho Costinas, and Rancho Barracas. Living conditions were abysmal. Almost everyone became seriously sick at one time or another from scurvy, malaria, cholera, dysentery, and other diseases.
Several soldiers died while the 19th Regiment was in Texas. They were buried in the military's National Cemetery at Fort Brown in Brownsville, Texas. In 1911, National Cemetery was closed and the remains of the soldiers buried there were moved to the Alexandria National Cemetery in Pineville, Louisiana.
The 19th Regiment was finally disbanded on January 15, 1867 at Brownsville, Texas. The men marched to the port town of Brazos de Santiago on January 20th where they boarded the Army steamer St. Mary. They stopped in New Orleans for three days, and then continued their voyage, arriving at Fortress Monroe, Virginia on February 4th. They were delayed there for two days by ice in the Chesapeake Bay, but resumed their voyage on February 6th, arriving in Baltimore the next day, February 7, 1867. The men of the 19th Regiment disembarked, received their final pay and discharge papers a few days later, and then went home. Free men at last.
While the ten companies of the 19th Regiment had begun at Camp Stanton with almost 100 men each, their strength at disbandment in Texas three years later was: Company A - 71; Company B - 74; Company C - 63; Company D - 73; Company E - 72; Company F - 71; Company G - 69; Company H - 68; Company I - 73; Company K - 65.
50 men of the 19th Regiment were either killed in action or died from their wounds. A larger number died from disease. Many of those who survived their service with the 19th Regiment suffered for the rest of their lives from their battlefield wounds or the effects of malaria, scurvy, cholera, chronic dysentery, typhoid fever, acute rheumatic fever, pneumonia, measles, blindness, hearing loss, and other illnesses contracted during their service.
The entire number of men enlisted and commissioned in the U.S. Colored Troops during the Civil War was 186,097. They served in 120 Infantry Regiments, 12 Heavy Artillery Regiments, 10 Heavy Artillery Batteries, and 7 Cavalry Regiments. By the time the war was over, 68,178 of these brave men were lost from all causes.
