Looking Back: Honoring the Lost During the Civil War

By: Leah Jenkins, Assistant Researcher

Despite the Civil War beginning in April of 1861, it would take a whole year until African Americans were allowed to serve. The Emancipation Proclamation allowed for Black Union recruitment, adding to Union power and support. Volunteers across the Nation appeared, and Black leaders like Fredrick Douglass encouraged conscription in hopes of eventual full citizenship. In May 1863, the Bureau of Colored Troops helped further encourage the number of volunteers. Roughly 179,000 Black men served in the Army and 19,000 in the Navy. Around 40,000 men perished in the four-year period. Nearly 80 Black men were commissioned officers, and by the end of the war, 25 Black soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor.

Honoring the fallen ranged from holidays to small celebrations and memorials. Codified in 1868, Memorial Day celebrated and honored the lives lost in the Civil War. Several groups celebrated the fallen prior to 1868, including the citizens of Charleston, South Carolina. The city was the site of the Confederate Prisoners of War prison at the Washington Race Course and Jockey Club. During the sack of Charleston in 1864, freed enslaved individuals dug up the mass Union graves at the POW prison and honored them with proper graves. The next year, nearly 10,000 free enslaved individuals congregated together at the gravesite to parade around the track. Memorials continue to be constructed, including the African American Civil War Memorial, which celebrates the United States Colored Troops (USCT). Located in Washington D.C, the names of 290,145 USCT are etched into the Wall of Honor and commemorated by the Spirit of Freedom Sculpture.

References:

• https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/blacks-civil-war

• https://www.nps.gov/afam/learn/historyculture/index.htm

• https://www.cmohs.org/news-events/history/honoring-the-african-american-recipients-of-the-civil-war/

• https://www.history.com/news/memorial-day-civil-war-slavery-charleston