History

U.S. Census Bureau History: Black Soldiers in the Civil War

Sergeant William Carney, 54th Regiment
Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, ca. 1900.
Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress.

William H. Carney was the first African American awarded the Medal of Honor for his service in the Civil War battle at Fort Wagner near Charleston, SC, in July 1863. Born into slavery in Norfolk, VA, on February 29, 1840, eventually he and his family obtained their freedom and settled in New Bedford, MA. In February 1863, he was one of the first men to volunteer for the 54th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry.

The 54th Regiment was one of the first Black regiments recruited to serve in the Civil War after President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Below are some facts about these regiments and the 1860 Census from the U.S. Census Bureau:

• Over 180,000 Black men served in the Union during the Civil War, accounting for about 10 percent of the Armed Forces. According to the 1860 Census, free Blacks and free persons of mixed racial heritage accounted for less than 2 percent of the U.S. population.
• The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Louisiana Native Guard regiments were Union regiments of Blacks organized in the fall of 1862 in New Orleans, LA. Blacks and persons of mixed racial heritage accounted for nearly half of the population of Louisiana.
• Both the 1st South Carolina Infantry and the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry were officially organized in January 1863. In South Carolina, free Blacks and slaves accounted for over half of the population. In Kansas, they made up less than one-half percent of the population.