This list is in alphabetical order and composed of Confederate soldiers in RED, and Union soldiers in BLUE.  Note: Many of the Union soldiers were African American (probably freed slaves), as denoted below by segregated units.

The Forced Enlistment and Mistreatment of Southern Blacks Into the U.S. Army

Much is said about ex-slaves who enlisted in the U.S. army to "fight for their freedom." Much evidence is available to dispute the totality of this  statement.  In South Carolina, Brigadier General Rufus Saxton, Military Governor, U.S. Forces at Beaufort, on December 30, 1864, reported to  Secretary of War Stanton:
"SIR: I have the honor to report my doings for the current year, under the special instructions of June 16, 1862, from the War Department: By your instructions of August 25, 1862, I was authorized and instructed to organize and receive into the service of the United States as soldiers "volunteers of African descent" not exceeding 5,000, and to detail officers to command them. The whole number of colored troops recruited in the department, both by myself and others, falls much short of the number contemplated in your instructions.

Several occurrences had led them to doubt our good faith, who professed to come as their deliverers. They were fully aware of the contempt, oftentimes amounting to hatred, of their ostensible liberators. They felt the bitter derision, even from officers of high rank, with which the idea of their being transformed into available soldiers was met, and they saw it was extended to those who were laboring for their benefit. When their own good conduct had won them a portion of respect, there still remained widespread distrust of the ultimate intention of the Government.

In these circumstances the recruiting went on slowly, when the major-general commanding (General Foster) ordered an indiscriminate conscription of every able-bodied colored man in the department. As the special representative of the Government in its relation to them, I had given them earnest and repeated assurances that no force would be used in recruiting the black regiments. I say nothing of this order, in reference to my special duties and jurisdiction and the authority of the major-general commanding to issue it; but as an apparent violation of faith pledged to the freedmen, it could not but shake their confidence in our just intentions, and make them the more unwilling to serve the Government.

The order spread universal confusion and terror. The negroes fled to the woods and swamps, visiting their cabins only by stealth and in darkness. They were hunted to their hiding places by armed parties of their own people, and, if found, compelled to enlist. This conscription order is still in force. Men have been seized and forced to enlist who had large families of young children dependent upon them for support and fine crops of cotton and corn nearly ready for harvest, without an opportunity of making provision for the one or securing the other.

Three boys, one only fourteen years of age, were seized in a field where they were at work and sent to a regiment serving in a distant part of the department without the knowledge or consent of their parents.

A man on his way to enlist as a volunteer was stopped by a recruiting party. He told them where he was going and was passing on when he was again ordered to halt. He did not stop and was shot dead, and was left where he fell. It is supposed the soldiers desired to bring him in and get the bounty offered for bringing in recruits.

Another man who had a wife and family was shot as he was entering a boat to fish, on the pretense that he was a deserter. He fell in the water and was left. His wound, though very severe, was not mortal. An employee in the Quartermaster's Department was taken, and without being allowed to communicate with the quartermaster or settle his accounts or provide for his family, was taken to Hilton Head and enrolled, although he had a certificate of exemption from the military service from a medical officer. I protested against the order of the major-general commanding (General Foster) and sent him reports of these proceedings, but had no power to prevent them. The order has never to my knowledge been revoked.

I found the prejudice of color and race here in full force, and the general feeling of the army of occupation was unfriendly to the blacks. It was manifested in various forms of personal insult and abuse, in depredations on their plantations, stealing and destroying their crops and domestic animals, and robbing them of their money. The women were held as the legitimate prey of lust, and as they had been taught it was a crime to resist a white man they had not learned to dare to defend their chastity.

Licentiousness was widespread; the morals of the old plantation life seemed revived in the army of occupation. Among our officers and soldiers there were many honorable exceptions to this, but the influence of too many was demoralizing to the negro, and has greatly hindered the efforts for their improvement and elevation.

There was a general disposition among the soldiers and civilian speculators here to defraud the negroes in their private traffic, to take the commodities which they offered for sale by force, or to pay for them in worthless money. At one time these practices were so frequent and notorious that the negroes would not bring their produce to market for fear of being plundered. Other occurrences have tended to cool the enthusiastic joy with which the coming of the "Yankees" was welcomed.

When they were invited to enlist as soldiers they were promised the same pay as other soldiers; they did receive it for a time, but at length it was reduced, and they received but little more than one-half what was promised. The questions of the meaning and conflicts of statutes which justified this reduction could not be made intelligible to them. To them it was simply a breach of faith. It is first of all essential to the success of the efforts of the Government in their behalf that the negroes shall have entire confidence in its justice and good faith. These things fill them with doubt and apprehension. They know as yet very little of political mechanism or gradation of authority, and hence every white man is in their eyes the Government.

Their conceptions are too confused to enable them to distinguish clearly between official acts and the wanton outrages of individuals. I had no independent power to prevent or punish these violences and wrongs. The aid and protection in my operations which the commander of the department was instructed to afford were not always promptly or efficiently rendered. " R. SAXTON, Brigadier-General of Volunteers.

Edward L. Pierce, special agent, Treasury Department, wrote Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase on May 12, 1862, from Port Royal Island, South Carolina: "This has been a sad day on these islands. I do not question the purpose which has caused the disturbance, as in many respects it is praiseworthy; but practical injustice and inhumanity may often consist with a benevolent purpose.

Last evening (Sabbath) I received a messenger from General Stevens bringing an order from General Hunter requiring all able-bodied negroes between eighteen and forty-five to be sent early this morning to Beaufort, and from thence to go at once to Hilton Head, where they were to be armed. 

To my question if he had considered the propriety of taking the foreman and plowman away, he replied that he had not until my letter came, and he was willing they should remain. To my question if he intended to enroll these people against their will, he said he did not. To my question if I might so communicate to them, he said he preferred I should not, but he would make the assurance to me.

He said that it would then pass into General Saxton's hands and he might do as he pleased. I told him I yielded full obedience and co-operation, but I trusted he understood how totally his order conflicted with my views. He was gracious, but evidently felt committed to something which must go through. I sought General Benham and conferred with him. The result is that, as far as I can find, he (General Hunter) has not consulted with any of his brigadier-generals and the project was exclusively his own. He has never consulted me, or any of the superintendents, who come in direct contact with these people, as to the plan or their feelings or disposition to bear arms, something of course essential, in order to lay the basis for wise and steady action. A fortnight ago he sent me a letter by James Cashman, a colored man, saying the bearer was authorized to enlist 100 men on Ladies and Saint Helena and desired my co-operation, which I at once gave. Cashman was getting recruits, and had got perhaps twenty-five or fifty. I gave him a circular letter to the superintendents, requesting them to encourage all persons disposed to enlist, however important to the plantations. That original plan of General Hunter I agreed with, and I as much disagree with his last.

General Hunter has been evidently acting in this matter upon certain notions of his own which he has been revolving in his mind, rather than upon any observation of his own or the testimony of others as to the feelings and dispositions of these people, which was of course the first thing to be considered. As a general rule they are extremely averse to bearing arms in this contest. They have great fear of white men, natural enough in those who have never been allowed any rights against them, and dread danger and death. They are to be brought out of this unmanliness with great caution and tact, and the proceedings of to-day, managed as they have been with a singular forgetfulness of their disposition, will only increase their aversion to military service.

I now come to the scenes of today, which have been distressing enough to those who witnessed them. Some 500 men were hurried during the day from Ladies and Saint Helena to Beaufort, taken over in fiats and then carried to Hilton Head in the Martano. The negroes were sad enough, and those who had charge of them were sadder still. The superintendents assure me they never had such a day before; that they feel unmanned for their duties, and as if their work had been undone. They have industriously, as subordination required, aided the military in the disagreeable affair, disavowing the act. Sometimes whole plantations, learning what was going on, ran off to the woods for refuge. Others, with no means of escape, submitted passively to the inevitable decree.

Tomorrow I shall address General Hunter with a more full description, and I will herewith send a copy of the letter, also enclosing the testimony of some superintendents, and to the letter and testimony I ask your attention. The mischief done cannot easily be remedied. The return of these people will not remove it. The arming of these negroes by entirely voluntary enlistments is well, but this mode of violent seizure and transportation even to Hilton Head alone, spreading dismay and fright, is repugnant. It should not be done with white men, least of all with blacks, who do not yet understand us, for whose benefit the war is not professed to be carried on, and who are still without a Government solemnly and publicly pledged to their protection. I have been full in my report on this matter, as General Saxton, not yet arrived, may not have been provided with power and instructions to meet this difficulty. The subtraction of so large a field force leaves but a few more than are necessary to cultivate the provision crop. What shall be done with the 5,000 acres of cotton planted, most of which is up and growing?

Yours, truly, EDWARD L. PIERCE, Special Agent Treasury Department"

The next day at Pope's Plantation, Saint Helena Island, Pierce wrote to U.S. Major General David Hunter: "...scenes transpiring yesterday in the execution of your order...The colored people became suspicious of the presence of the companies of soldiers detailed for the service, who were marching through the islands during the night...They were taken from the fields without being allowed to go to their houses even to get a jacket..." "There was sadness in all. As those on this plantation were called in from the fields, the soldiers, under orders, and while on the steps of my headquarters, loaded their guns, so that the Negroes might see what would take place in case they attempted to get away..." "On some plantations the wailing and screaming were loud and the women threw themselves in despair on the ground. On some plantations the people took to the woods and were hunted up by the soldiers...I doubt if the recruiting service in this country has ever been attended with such scenes before."

On May 13, L.D. Phillips at Dr. Pope's Plantation, also wrote to Pierce: "The whole village, old men, women, and boys, in tears, (were) following at our heels. The wives and mothers of the conscripts, giving way to their feelings, break into the loudest lamentations and rush upon the men, clinging to them with the agony of separation...Some of them, setting up such a shrieking as only this people could, throw themselves on the ground and abandon themselves to the wildest expressions of grief..." "The old foreman [at Indian Hill]...said it reminded him of what his master said we should do...I have heard several contrast the present state of things with their former condition to our disadvantage." "This rude separation of husband and wife, children and parents, must needs remind them of what we have always stigmatized as the worst feature of slavery...Never, in my judgment, did major-general fall into a sadder blunder and rarely has humanity been outraged by an act of more unfeeling barbarity."

Five and a half months later on October 29, Brigadier General Rufus Saxton in Beaufort informed Secretary of War Stanton, "When the colored regiment was first organized by General Hunter no provision was made for its payment, and the men were discharged after several months' service, receiving nothing for it. In the meantime their families suffered...This failure to pay them for their service has weakened their confidence in our promises for the future and makes them slow to enlist."

At the Battle of the Crater the United States Colored Troops were used as cannon fodder by their Yankee commanders. When they retreated under severe fire they were killed by the Union soldiers who had waited for them to absorb the brunt of casualties. George L. Kilmer, an officer of the Fourteenth New York Heavy Artillery, went into the crater with the first wave and reported afterward that when the United States Colored Troops  moved forward to charge the fortifications, some of white soldiers refused to follow them. Pandemonium broke out when the black soldiers could not continue the assault and started to retreat, returning to the crater. "Some colored men came into the crater and there they found a fate worse than death in the charge . . . It has been positively asserted, that white men [Union] bayoneted blacks who fell back into the crater."

At the Battle of Olustee, it was reported by Lieut. M. B. Grant, of the Confederate Engineers "Their force was, at the lowest estimate, twice that of ours. As usual with the enemy, they posted their negro regiments on their left and in front, where they were slain by hundreds, and upon retiring left their dead and wounded negroes uncared for, carrying off only the whites, which accounts for the fact that upon the first part of the battle-field nearly all the dead found were negroes."

The Following is specifically found in "The South Was Right: The criminal, terrorist activities of the United States military during the War for Southern Independence produced massive suffering that was endured by both the black and the white civilian population. In this section we will focus on examples of the suffering endured by black Southerners. The majority of these accounts come directly from the federal government's own official records. It should be noted that, while the official records contain some of the many accounts of atrocities committed by the Northern troops, it is by no means a complete collection. It was not the intent of the Yankee officers who completed these reports to document their crimes. Also, even if an officer wanted to report such crimes, it is very unlikely that his subordinates were eager to include their confessions in their reports. Therefore the official records could not possibly contain the whole story of our people's sufferings.

Late in the war, the Federal authorities admitted that the influence of the United States army upon the black Southern population had produced an undesirable effect. Sarah Debro, a ninety year-old former slave, gave this account in 1937: "I waz hungry most of de time an' had to keep fightin' off dem Yankee mens. Dem Yankees was mean folks."

The following is a small sample of the atrocities committed by Northern troops against black Southerners during the War:

Northern Missouri: On August 13, 1861, Secretary of War Simon Cameron received a letter containing information about United States military forces "committing rapes on the negroes."

Athens, Alabama: The court-martial record of Lincoln's friend, Turchin, dated May 2, 1862, contains information about an attempt to commit "an indecent outrage" on a servant girl. It also notes that a part of the brigade, "quarter[ed] in the negro huts for weeks, debauching the females."

Woodville, Alabama: The activities of the Third Ohio Cavalry in August of 1862 included this entry: "negro women are debauched." 

Memphis, Tennessee: The Yankee soldiers had been fed a steady diet of lies about so-called slave breeding plantations and the familiarity of Southern male slave owners with their female slaves. The reality of a black race with high moral standards was incomprehensible to the Yankee invader. Therefore the Yankee ordered much of his conduct to match his preconceived notions of the accepted social relationships down South. This can be seen in this report from Memphis on April 7, 1864: "The [white] cavalry broke en masse in the camps of the colored women and are committing all sorts of outrage."  

Bayou Grande Cailou, Louisiana: The Sixteenth Indiana Mounted Infantry sent invaders into a civilian area which resulted in the following account: "Mr. Pelton . . . reported that a soldier had shot and killed a little girl and had fired at a negro man on his plantation. I . . . proceeded to the place, where I found a mulatto girl, about twelve or thirteen years old, lying dead in a field. I learned from the negro man . . . that the girl had been shot by a drunken soldier, who had first fired at one of the men ... [who] had witnessed the killing...."59 On November 20, Gen. Robert A. Cameron reported, "I heard by rumor ... one of [Capt. Columbus Moore's] men had attempted to rape a mulatto girl and had shot and killed her for resisting."

Augusta, Georgia: "The colored citizens wander around at all hours of the night, and many in consequence have been robbed and abused by scoundrels dressed as United States soldiers.... The conduct of the Fourth Iowa Cavalry . . . was such as reflects disgrace on both officers and men.... Firing so as to cause a colored woman to lose her arm; likewise committing robberies."

 Covington, Tennessee: Late in 1862, a campaign was conducted in the vicinity of Covington that produced the following official report: ". . . some of the men [of the Second Illinois Cavalry] behaved more like brigands than soldiers. They robbed an old negro man...."

Robertsville, South Carolina: The Yankee did not distinguish between white or black Southerner nor between free black or slave when he released the dogs of war upon our Southern homeland. On January 31, 1865, the following report was issued: "The indiscriminate pillage of houses is disgraceful.... houses in this vicinity, of free negroes even, have been stripped . . . shocking to humanity."

Nashville, Tennessee: "Officers in command of colored troops are in constant habit of pressing all able-bodied slaves into the military service of the United States." The complaint is that officers are in "constant habit," not just given to an occasional infraction.

Huntsville, Alabama: General Ulysses Grant received a communiqué on February 26, 1864, informing him that, "A major of colored troops is here with his party capturing negroes, with or without their consent.... They are being conscripted." Notice that the term used is "capturing negroes," not enlisting or drafting them.

New Bern, North Carolina: On September 1, 1864, Gen. Innis N. Palmer reported to Gen. Benjamin F. Butler about the difficulty he was having convincing Southern blacks to help in the fight for their liberation. He stated: "The negroes will not go voluntarily, so I am obliged to force them.... The matter of collecting the colored men for laborers has been one of some difficulty but I hope to send up a respectable force.... They will not go willingly.... They must be forced to go.... this may be considered a harsh measure, but . . . we must not stop at trifles"  What is slavery? When someone forces another human being to labor against his will. 

Louisville, Kentucky: Major General Innis N. Palmer on February 27, 1865, issued General Order Number 5 confirming the generally accepted theory of the laws pertaining to the enlistment of civilians for military services in an occupied country: "Officers charged with recruiting colored troops are informed that the use of force or menaces to compel the enlistment of colored men is both unlawful and disgraceful."

Fort Jackson, Louisiana: On December 9, 1863, a United States officer at Fort Jackson became angry with two black drummers and fell upon them, beating them with a mule whip. The black soldiers were forced to stand in formation and watch as the white officer mercilessly flogged the young drummers. When the formation was dismissed, the black men, all Union soldiers, rushed the fort's armory, seized their weapons, and with cries of "kill all the damn yankees" began to fire their weapons into the air. Two companies of black Union soldiers joined in and a general revolt against Yankee racial bigotry was underway. With great effort, the white officers persuaded the black solders to end their revolt and return to their quarters.

Craney Island, Virginia: Both black and white Southerners were needlessly subjected to the terror of starvation by terrorist acts of United States troops. From Virginia we find one of many examples of the sufferings borne by black Southerners: ". . . the colored people . . . have been forced to remain all night on the wharf without shelter and without food; . . . one has died, and . . . others are suffering with disease, and . . . your men have turned them out of their houses, which they have built themselves, and have robbed some of them of their money and personal effects."  This communiqué was sent on November 26, 1862. Some Yankee apologists have claimed that the horror against civilians occurred only after many years of bitter war- though we are curious to know how many years of war are necessary to justify any amount of cruel and inhumane conduct against innocent civilians?

Bisland, Louisiana: During the invasion of Cajun Louisiana, the Yankee targeted slaves as part of the loot to be acquired. "Contraband" was a term used to denote slaves enticed or forced away from their masters' plantations. These poor people very often would end up serving in the Federal army or working on a government plantation. When the Confederate forces recaptured the area around Bisland, Louisiana, they discovered the pathetic condition in which these former slaves were forced to live while enjoying the charity of the United States government. One account states that two thousand of these people perished as a result of following, or being forced to follow, the Federal army in retreat. In view of the shallow graves in which many had been hastily placed, the comment was made, "They have found their freedom." The horror of a local sugar house has been described by at least two separate eyewitnesses who were either Confederate soldiers or masters searching for their former slaves. The small house was filled with dead or dying Negroes. Some were "being eaten by worms before life was extinct." The roads "were lined with Negroes half starved, almost destitute of clothing, sick and unable to help themselves; the only question of the poor wretches, who had been two months experiencing Federal sympathy and charity, was the inquiry if their master was coming after them." The Federal army, in spite of its abundance, did not provide for these people. With their fellow Southerners discovering their plight, the Confederate army, short on every necessity, assigned transportation and such food and medicine as it had at its disposal to the salvation of these poor, suffering people. Let it be remembered that it was the compassion of their fellow Southerners and the assistance of the Confederate army that saved the lives of these black Southerners.

References and Details:   

"The Truths of History" by Mildred L. Rutherford, Chapter 16

"The South Was Right" by James R. Kennedy and Walter D. Kennedy, Chapter 4

"The Sable Arm.", by  Dudley T. Cornish page 275

Official Records (War of the Rebellion) CORRESPONDENCE, ORDERS, REPORTS, AND RETURNS OF THE UNION AUTHORITIES FROM JANUARY 1, 1864, TO APRIL 30, 1865.(*)--#42 SERIES III--VOLUME IV [S# 125]

--SERIES III--VOLUME IV [S# 125] CORRESPONDENCE, ORDERS, REPORTS, AND RETURNS OF THE UNION AUTHORITIES FROM JANUARY 1, 1864, TO APRIL 30, 1865.--#42

Official Records (War of the Rebellion) --SERIES III--VOLUME II [S# 123] CORRESPONDENCE, ORDERS, REPORTS, AND RETURNS OF THE UNION AUTHORITIES FROM APRIL 1 TO DECEMBER 31, 1862.--#3

Official Records (War of the Rebellion) --SERIES III--VOLUME II [S# 123] CORRESPONDENCE, ORDERS, REPORTS, AND RETURNS OF THE UNION AUTHORITIES FROM APRIL 1 TO DECEMBER 31, 1862.--#28 

Official Records (War of the Rebellion) -- SERIES I--VOLUME XXXIV/2 [S# 62] UNION CORRESPONDENCE, ORDERS, AND RETURNS RELATING TO OPERATIONS IN LOUISIANA AND THE TRANS-MISSISSIPPI STATES AND TERRITORIES, FROM JANUARY 1, 1864, TO MARCH 31, 1864.--#23 

Official Records (War of the Rebellion) --SERIES I--VOLUME XLV/2 [S# 94] UNION CORRESPONDENCE, ORDERS, AND RETURNS RELATING TO OPERATIONS IN KENTUCKY, SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA, TENNESSEE, MISSISSIPPI, ALABAMA, AND NORTH GEORGIA, FROM DECEMBER 1, 1864, TO JANUARY 23, 1865.--#4 II.--TEMPER OF THE PEOPLE.  

Official Records (War of the Rebellion) --SERIES III --VOLUME IV [S# 125] CORRESPONDENCE, ORDERS, REPORTS, AND RETURNS OF THE UNION AUTHORITIES FROM JANUARY 1, 1864, TO APRIL 30, 1865.--#18

Southern Historical Society Papers 1953. New Series, Vol. 12, Old Series, Vol. L. 1st Confederate Congress--(Fourth Session)--Saturday, January 2, 1864

"Report of Lieut. M. B. Grant, C. S. Engineers, of engagement at Olustee" Official Records (War of the Rebellion) SERIES I--VOLUME XXXV/1 [S# 65] FEBRUARY 5-22, 1864.--The Florida Expedition. No. 18