the first major battle for african american troops in the union army was at first battle of bull run.
the first major battle for african american troops in the union army was at first battle of bull run.
where was the first major battle for african american troops in the union army?
first battle of bull run
lewis henry douglass (1840–1908) was the oldest son of frederick douglass and his first wife anna murray douglass. he was born in new bedford, massachusetts. douglass was well educated and as a boy apprenticed, in rochester, new york, as a typesetter for his father's newspapers "the north star" and "douglass' weekly". he joined the union army on march 25, 1863, only two months after the emancipation proclamation allowed african americans to see combat in the union army. he fought for one of the first official african american units in the united states during the civil war, the famed 54th massachusetts infantry regiment. shortly after joining the army, douglass attained the rank of sergeant major, the highest rank a black man could reach. he took part in the battle of james island, the battle of olustee and the second battle of fort wagner. at the second battle of fort wagner, half of his regiment was killed, but this battle turned the public's attention toward the sacrifices made by african americans in the war. douglass addressed the bravery of the african american troops in a letter to his future wife helen amelia loguen:
lewis henry douglass
during the siege of petersburg, former coal miners in burnside's corps devised an ingenious plan to lift the stalemate by digging a 511-foot tunnel under the confederate lines, and filling the end of the tunnel with four tons of gunpowder. on july 30, 1864, they detonated the explosives, creating a crater some 135 feet in diameter that remains visible to this day. some 250 to 350 confederate soldiers were instantly killed in the blast. the union plan was to exploit the explosion by sending well-rehearsed african-american troops of edward ferrero's division into the gap and driving for critical objectives deep in the confederate rear area. however, maj. gen george meade, the commander of the army of the potomac, ordered a column of white troops to make the lead assault on the crater instead of ferrero's division of african american troops, who were trained specifically for the task. the change in battle formation was approved by general ulysses s. grant. in his later testimony before the committee on the conduct of the war, meade claimed that he changed the order because the white troops were more experienced, not because he lacked faith in the capabilities of the african american troops. burnside, despondent at the change in plans, resorted to a lottery to select a replacement division. ledlie drew the short straw and disaster resulted. his division was the smallest and weakest in the ix corps, and he did not brief his troops beforehand and they entered the crater out of curiosity instead of moving safely around its rim, as ferrero's division had been trained to do. unable to exit the steep sides of the crater, they were slaughtered by confederates firing down on them. over 5,300 union troops were casualties in the ill-fated battle that achieved none of its objectives. most damning for ledlie's reputation was the fact that he did not lead, or even accompany, his men into battle, and a few weeks earlier, during the attacks on confederate entrenchments at cold harbor, he had run and hidden for cover, an event that the enlisted men didn't forget, but which managed to escape burnside's attention. during the battle of the crater, ledlie and ferrero were observed behind the lines in a bunker, drinking liquor.
james h. ledlie