Civil War Essay

African Americans have served proudly in all of American great wars. In the years following the Civil War, thousands of former slaves moved westward in search of better employment. Most found better employment in the United States Army. Black soldiers enlisted for five years and earned $13.00 a month, far more than they could earn as a civilian. In 1866, through legislation, the United States Congress authorized the creation of six regular Army regiments only for Black Men. The six units were identified as the 9th and 10th calvary and the 38th, 39th, 40th, and 41st infantry. By 1869, due to the downsizing of all troops, the regiments were cut down to two infantry units and two calvary units.

In the summer of 1866, a year after the Civil War and nearly six months after the 13th Amendment abolished slavery, the United States required the largest peace time military in its history. After showing their worth during the Civil War, the emancipation made it possible for hundreds of thousands of new recruits. The Army Reorganization Act of 1866 provided the funding for 30 new regiments, of these newly formed regiments, six were composed of African Americans as I stated in the earlier paragraph. The law had nothing to do with the Civil Rights Act that was passed earlier that year, but legislators clearly saw a connection between citizenship and military service. It is … either a burden or a privilege to serve in the Army,’ Henry S. Lane, a senator from Indiana, told the Senate, ‘and … the colored people are equally entitled to bear the burden or equally entitled to participate in the privilege.’

Within weeks, orders were sent to Maj. Gens. William T. Sherman and Philip H. Sheridan to organize four of the six upcoming regiments. In Sherman’s Military Division of Missouri, the 38th infantry organized near St. Louis at Jefferson Barracks and the 10th calvary organized at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas. Sheridan’s Department of the Gulf provided the 9th calvary and the 39th infantry. These two regiments were organized