What were the brave colored troops truly fighting for? It is quite obvious that they were willing to die for the freedom that they have been so terribly denied over the last two centuries. But there were other steps to freedom that also concerned the men of the 54th and all other colored troops. Such steps involved the overcoming of prejudices and discrimination within a society and military in which they were deemed free by the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863.
Discriminatory acts were highly prevalent in the army in which they served. The federal government placed many restrictions on the black troops, and the role of the colored soldier was highly in question when the first African-American were being mustered for service. One major act of discrimination within the army was in the amount of fatigue duty, or military labor, that senior officers assigned to them (Glatthaar, 182). Whether the officers believed fatigue duty was an undesirable job only to be assigned to the inferior, or that blacks would not have the ability to stand in battle, officers often assigned their black regiments to more than their fair share of such duties.
Another significant injustice was the denial of officer commissions for blacks. Nearly all officers of black regiments were white men, and for two reasons: "(1) At first few African-Americans had the experience necessary to serve as officers, and (2) race prejudice was still so strong in the North in 1863 that public opinion strongly opposed the elevation of blacks to officer's rank." (MacPherson, 95). Of these explanations, the former eventually disappeared with the large number of blacks that eventually enlisted in the army, and the latter became less powerful over time. Despite this dissipation, the government was still extremely slow to promote black soldiers.
There were many protests to this type of discrimination, and some were more direct than others. In the 54th Massachusetts, for instance, some blacks were promoted as far up the ranks as possible. One of Frederick Douglass' sons, Louis, was promoted to sergeant-major. There was one significant instance that showed the government's unwillingness to promote blacks. Massachusetts' Governor Andrew promoted Sgt. Stephen A. Swails to the rank of second lieutenant in early 1864. Andrew's promotion of Swails was based on the nomination of Col. Hollowell and Swails' military record. This promotion, however, was negated by Major General John C. Foster when he refused to accept the commission of the deserving black soldier. Secretary of War Stanton was quick to endorse Foster's decision. It was not until January of 1865 that Andrew persuaded Stanton to promote Swails. Although Andrew's tenacity paved the way for further black promotions, fewer than 100 African-Americans were commissioned during the War in the United States Army. None were commissioned in the Navy (MacPherson, 96).
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