The movie Glory! is a fine film that
documents what may have been the most memorable moment of black soldiering during the Civil War.
The 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment was one of the first Negro fighting units in the war,
and they were decimated following their near suicidal frontal assault on Ft.
Wagner.
Several other battles included Negro troops, but neither of
them resulted in positive results. At the Battle of Fort Pillow, Confederate troops under General
Nathan Bedford Forrest overran the enemy garrison after the Union commander refused to surrender
to a force three times his size. When the Confederates discovered that about one-half of the
Federal troops were Negro soldiers, they massacred most of the survivors of the
attack.
Another battle where Negro troops were involved was at the
Battle of the Crater in Petersburg, Virginia. After the Union troops detonated a large
underground cache of explosives planted under the Confederate lines, Federal troops attempted to
capture the position. Instead of proceeding around the gaping hole left by the blast, the Union
troops marched into the crater. Confederate reinforcements led by Gen. Billy Mahone pinned the
troops inside, and the slaughter began. Two brigades of black troops (who were originally
supposed to lead the charge, but were withheld due to political maneuvering) were ordered into
the crater to reinforce those already inside, but they, too, were decimated by Confederate
artillery and rifle fire.
In the early days of the war, Negro troops
mostly were used in non-combat duty, but by the end of hostilities, tens of thousands of Negro
troops had seen significant action.
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