The Confederate Reaction to Black Soldiers 11.5

The Abuse and Murder of Black Troops Confederate leaders didn’t recognize black troops as legitimate soldiers Black soldiers were frequently sold into slavery, abused or murdered rather than be treated as prisoners of war The Confederate Secretary or War ordered that captured black soldiers be executed

The Abuse and Murder of Black Troops After 80 captured members of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment were being tried as slaves in rebellion protests in the North prompted Lincoln to react He issued General Order 11 which threatened to begin executing southern POW’s or sentencing them to hard labor, for every Union soldier that was enslaved or executed In the end the men of the 54th Regiment were sent to POW camps

The Ft. Pillow Massacre The war’s worst atrocity against black soldiers occurred in Tennessee at Ft. Pillow in 1864 Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest ordered his troops to execute a group of black soldiers after they had surrendered Instead of retaliating as was required by General Order 11, Lincoln claimed that punishment would be issued only when these men were captured No one was punished for these murders during or after the war

Liberators, Spies and Guides African Americans supported the Union cause in ways outside of the military as well Robert Smalls, a 23 year old slave, stole a Confederate supply ship and sailed it North to freedom Harriet Tubman organized a spy ring in S. Carolina that helped to destroy plantations and free over 800 slaves, many of whom joined the Union army Many Southern slaves acted as spies for the Union. Drawing maps of Confederate fortifications and relaying information they heard to the Union

Assignment 1. How did Confederate leaders and troops respond to black soldiers in the army? 2. How were captured African American soldiers treated in the South? 3. How did Abraham Lincoln respond to this treatment? 4. What occurred at Ft. Pillow in 1864? How was this act dealt with? 5. Other than on the battlefield, describe the contributions of African Americans to the Union war effort. Be specific