Were there Africans in the Union Army? And Could they free slaves?

Question

I just saw the movie Shenandoah for school but there were African soldiers on the Union side. is that accurate or what? and also could they free the slaves? i mean wouldn't it be kinda illegal for them to do that?

and if there were, were they integrated?

Answer 1

it was a few regiments in the Union Army lead by white officers..

Answer 2

Yes there were African American soldiers on the Union side, but the units were not integrated. Their units were probably led by white generals, such as Shaw, who along with most of the African American men in his regiment died in a famous charge (the name of which I forgot).

The Union Army at first was not allowed to really free the slaves, but later a law was made that labeled slaves "contraband," and therefore letting slaves escape their southern owners was possible. Of course, then came the Emancipation Proclamation, which didn't really free the slaves, since the slaves who were declared free were the ones NOT under Lincoln's authority at the time.

Answer 3

There were about 180000 blacks enlisted in the Union army, not including runaway slaves that were hired by the various army divisions, corps to work on roads, defensive emplacements etc.

Despite what one answer said and the rantings of neo-confederate revisionists, no blacks were allowed to enlist and fight for the confederacy(until like april, 1865). Several slave owners brought their slaves with them when they joined the army and they were used as cooks etc. Some confederate armies used slaves, as did the union armies use the freed slaves, to build roads, dig trenches, etc, but bigotry alone would have kept ARMS out of slaves hands.

There were 10500 fights(from cavalry raids on supply wagon trains up to Gettysburg in terms of fighting men taking part) and only 500 of those included blacks. Despite the instances of Glory and the Crater, the majority of black units were used to replace troops in isolated, union controlled back areas that were free of large scale combat, the army placed them in rear areas in order to release white troops to fight at the front.

Despite the fact that blacks fought valiantly in the army during the American Revolution and fought in the US Navy throughout the time between 1777-1865, the majority of whites, even in the Union, did not believe that blacks COULD or WOULD have the ability or desire to fight.

Obviously, today, we know that to be untrue, but when you are talking history, you can't place your values TODAY onto the actions of people in the past, that would be an anachronistic rendition of history and distort it completely.

No soldier, white or black, had the right to FREE slaves, neither did captains, majors, or generals. In FACT, the President of the United States would not have had that power had the rebels not started a war. According to the USC, the President has WAR POWERS which entitle him to much broader power to conduct and win wars and so Lincoln then had the power to do anything which would hurt the rebels and help the union cause, including, the freeing of slaves who were assisting the southern rebellion.

When Union troops marched through an area, slaves would pack up their meager belongings and their family and follow behind until they reached union controlled area, where they would be handed off to the Provost Marshals who would take them to a safe location to take care of them, to get them working, or to move them to safer locations.

The soldiers did NOT free the slaves, they were freed by the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th amendment.

whale

Answer 4

The other writers are basically correct. It is good to remind people that the slaves didn't passively await being freed but took up arms when they could and helped to forcibly end slavery.
As to the second part of your question on whether soldiers could free slaves, the answer is not legally before the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect Jan.1, 1863.
Since most union soldiers whatever their race or attitude towards non-whites still refused to return fugitive slaves to their masters, a shrewd politician turned soldier named Benjamin Butler came up with a plan in early 1862, whereby slaves were declared "contraband of war" allowing the army to confiscate anything that could assist the rebel war effort giving the practice the cover of legality. Union soldiers referred to fugitive slaves as "contrabands" for the rest of the war.

Answer 5

sure was accurate, and over 65,000 served in the war for the Union. try the movie "glory" made in the 1990s, it is a true story of Blacks serving in the Union army, and fighting the confederacy. as to could they free slaves? Lincoln had already done that as oof 1 january 1863, and Blacks where not able to serve until afte that date. but of cousrse most soutrners ignored Lincolns ammancipation Proclomation, and when Union troops marked int othe south, and came acros slaves, they where set free, and most tagged along with the army working in kitchens and doing laudry and such, in fear of being captured by confederate soldeirs and being returned to ther masters or killed. BUt Blacks where not allowed to be officers, and Officers are the ones who did the freeing, they gave the ordersm not the enlisted men, white or black in such issues. So the aswer is no in that regard. And it wasn't Illegal for anyone to free aslave, since the Federal goverment had abolished it. Blacks also fought at the battle of the crater at Petersburgh. but most of the 65,000 served in the quatermaster corps,which means supply as well as digging graves, building roadways and bridges (labor for the engineers), and other physical jobs, it may seem unfair, but most had no education what so ever, and thats hard to realize today, but most where glad to serve in the Union, no matter the task, and there where whites doing the sam jobs, with the same stripes for the same pay, so it wan't unfair, they volenteered anyways.

Answer 6

There were whole Black regiments in the Union Army. Their officers were all White. The Blacks were paid about 2/3 that of their White counterparts. Their supplies and sleeping quarters were usually second rate. After the war, the units were disbanded and many moved west to become cowboys.

Answer 7

i think there wer quite a few Africans in the Union Army. free ing slaves wasnt too common i dont think, but it did happen. it wasnt illegal or anything. and some slaves were semi-free. they could hire themselves out , on their time off, and keep the money they made. quite a few of them were skilled potters, smiths, masons, whatever. some bought their freedom. not all slave owners were especially cruel , by the standards of the time. the South would have given up slavery eventually, on their own.

Answer 8

The movie Glory was based on a Massachusetss regiment made up entirely of free black men.... yes there were African/Americans on both side of the conflict. Those on the Confederate side felt a form of loyalty to the plantation owners and often fought with them. Not right, but it did happen.

Answer 9

There were 180,000 African-American soldiers made up of freemen and former slaves. Please read.