"We are ready and would go." - Part 1

After the the Federal Government declared war on the Confederate states, Black men in the North wanted to join the Army in the fight to end slavery. Frederick Douglass spoke for them when he said, "We are ready and would go."

Most White Americans saw Black adults as childlike, lacking mental capacity and discipline. They believed slavery had made Black men dependent and irresponsible. These assumed that a Black man could never fight like a White soldier.  

Surprisingly, the Confederate government of Louisiana had formed a militia consisting of free Black men led by Black officers. But when Union Army Major General Benjamin Butler took New Orleans in the spring of 1862, this Confederate Black militia went to Butler and volunteered to join his forces. Butler transformed them into the First Regiment Native Louisiana Guards led by Black captains and lieutenants. Later he formed two more Black regiments commanded by White officers. These three regiments became the first units of Black troops in the Union Army. 

During the Civil War nearly 180,000 free Black men and escaped slaves volunteered to serve in the Union Army. Black soldiers, including more than a dozen Congressional Medal of Honor winners, fought in 449 battles. More than one-third of them died during the war.