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New Citizen Soldiers
along the trail in the Fortress Rosecrans unit of the Stones River National Battlefield, Murfreesboro,
TN ,
USA
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Tennessee State
Historical Marker
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In the months after this fort was built, thousands of men from Middle Tennessee joined eight new federal infantry regiments. Black men in blue coats guarded the railroad that fed Fortress Rosecrans, and helped garrison Nashville and Chattanooga.
By the end of the Civil War, 150 black regiments - called the United States Colored Troops - made up 10 percent of the U.S. Army. Their death toll was high. From 1863-1865, one third of U.S.C.T. volunteers died while in military service.
Once let the black man get upon his person the brass letters, U-S, let him get an eagle on his button, and a musket on his shoulder and bullets in his pockets, and there is no power on earth which can deny that he has earned the right to citizenship in the United States.
Frederick Douglass
From the first shots in 1861 up to mid-1863, Union and Confederate leaders both saw men of color mainly as a pool of labor available to support the war effort. Black men built many fortifications - like the earthen walls where you now stand - for North and South.
Last updated: 2/14/2015 15:17:00 |
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See all Tennessee African American History locations.
Editor Note: StoppingPoints.com does not condone the use of racist terms. In some instances, our guide displays these terms when quoting the text found on historical markers. Please consider the use of antiquated/offensive terms in this context as merely documenting history involving African-Americans and other persons of color, and is in no way intended as an endorsement nor insult.
View other Tennessee Civil War Historical Markers
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