The road to freedom from slavery was a long and hard for the African Americans. In the northern states the Civil War began as a fight against the succession of the Confederate states from the Union. Abraham Lincoln, who was President at this time, wanted to save the nation by bringing the southern states back to the Union, but this “Great Emancipator” ironically did not have much intention of freeing the slaves. His greatest interest lie in preventing a war from occurring. However, even he could not stop the out

African American soldiers continued fighting for other rights. Besides the issue of equal pay, they were offended at the refusal to commission black officers. They began and continued pressuring the government, until finally the War Department gave in to their relentless badgering. They reversed their policy and began commissioning the outstanding black soldiers as officers (Smith 326). The blacks had won yet another battle.

It was hard enough dealing with the Confederates threats of execution, but African American soldiers were constantly being discriminated against by many of the white soldiers in the Union Army. They refused to consider the idea of fight along side a black soldier (Fincher). They said blacks were not equal and it would dishonor them to have to fight along side these Negroes. Because of this, hundreds of Union soldiers left the army (Fincher). Black soldiers were subject to discrimination and petty harassment everywhere they went. Through it all, African Americans still lined up for enlistment. They never backed down and refused to show the white men their weaknesses.

The massacre at Fort Pillow, Tennessee on April 12, 1864, was probably the bloodiest battle the African-Americans took part in (History of African-Americans in the Civil War). General Nathan Bedford Forrest led Confederate troops and held the fort. The fort held 557 black soldiers and a unit of white Tennessee unionist.

In the Battle of Market Heights, Virgina, the African-American division of the Eighteenth Corps, charged up the slopes for an hour-long engagement, after having been pinned down for 30 minutes. During this encounter the division lost many men, but they continued the battle. Of the seventeen men to receive Congressional Medals of Honor, fourteen of them received the honor as a result of their courage in the Battle of Market Heights (History of African-Americans in the Civil War). This battle once again the determination, bravery, and passion of the African American troops. Perhaps the most famous battle fought by an African American troop was the battle at Fort Wagner by the 54th Massachusetts. It was the battle that proved the true bravery of the black soldiers. On July 18, 1863, the regiment, led by Col. Robert Gould Shaw, moved in slowly until the signal to engage came (Fincher). All six hundred men charged the fort. The color bearer fell almost immediately and orders to withdraw were given (Allen 226). However, Sergeant William Carney refused to let that be the end and he carried the colors despite the orders and the multiple bullet wounds to his chest, arms, and legs (Ward). The regiment continued their attack.

On July 17, 1862, Congress “repealed an act of 1792 barring black men from serving in state militia” (Smith 308). A new Militia Act permitted the enlistment of free black men and ex-slaves. Now after the long hard fight to be allowed to serve in the Union Army, African Americans would finally have their chance to prove themselves as worthy soldiers. They would serve America proudly and fight to f

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