From the outset of the War, both sides fought neither to preserve nor destroy slavery. This issue to both the North and South went far beyond the simple notion of whether slavery should or shouldn't exist. Instead they saw their own economic well-being and individual rights, as well as states' rights and national union as the true meaning of the War. However, there was one group who had no other issue but the abolition of slavery in their mind: black Americans.
Black soldiers had fought in both the American Revolution and the War of 1812, and when the War began, Northern blacks were very willing to fight in hopes that slavery would be destroyed. However, most Northern blacks' enlistment into the army were rejected in the early years of the conflict, and it seemed as though this would be a white man's war. The Navy, on the other hand, had never rejected blacks, and by the War's end, over 10,000 black sailors served in the Unites States Navy (MacPherson, 11).
By early 1862, it was apparent that this would not be a short war, and Lincoln needed all the manpower he could muster. Morale among white enlistees was dropping, and so was the number of men volunteering for the cause. As a result, Lincoln authorized the enlistment of freed slaves in the South Carolina Sea Islands. The first of these regiments was the 1st South Carolina volunteers, with Col. Thomas W. Higginson, an abolitionist from New England, in command. More Southern blacks were recruited in New Orleans in 1862. After Union forces captured the city, nearly 15,000 colored troops were recruited. Many of these men were well-educated, free black's who ancestors were there when the French occupied Louisiana. (Louisiana had the largest free black population in the South). The name of the organized colored regiments was "Corps d'Afrique."
After the black Louisiana troops showed their courage not once, but twice in separate battles in the early summer of 1863, sentiment in the North changed as to how well the blacks would hold up in battle. Up until this time, it was thought that blacks were inferior, and that they would run at the first shot. The Corps d'Afrique proved them dead wrong. The change in sentiment came just in time to see the first Northern black regiment set sail for Hilton Head, South Carolina: the 54th Massachusetts.
The 54th was mustered in February of 1863 by Massachusetts Governor John Andrew. The regiment consisted of some runaway slaves, free blacks from numerous Northern states, and two of Frederick Douglass' sons. All of the officers were to be prominent white men, mostly those sympathetic to Negro rights. Col. Robert Gould Shaw, an abolitionist, was the commander. After four months of training, the 54th left for South Carolina to be attached to a brigade under Col. James Montgomery. Despite being a part of this brigade, the 54th saw little action in its first few weeks there. It was clear that the black troops were to be used mostly for manual labor, and the fighting would be left up to the white soldiers. This did not sit well with Shaw or his troops, and after considerable protest, his regiment got placed on the front lines of battle.
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