Through the Eyes of an Officer – A Lieutenant of the 114th US Colored Infantry

 

A sketch of US Colored Troops entering the Confederate capital of Richmond once it fell to US Army forces on April 3, 1865.

Joseph Becker, The Soldier in our Civil War a Pictorial History of the Conflict, 1861–1865 (1886)

On to Richmond

It is a great blessing that negro troops garrison Richmond, for they are under good discipline, and are more obedient to orders than white soldiers are.
- Lieutenant Warren Goodale, 114th US Colored Infantry, April 6, 1865

On April 3, 1865, the Confederate capital of Richmond fell to the US Army. Among the first Federal regiments to enter the city were composed of African Americans, including men of the 114th US Colored Infantry (USCI), one of the Black units organized at Camp Nelson. Among the 114th USCI was Warren Goodale, a Massachusetts artilleryman who had just been commissioned as a lieutenant in the Camp Nelson regiment. Many white soldiers in the Federal military desired appointments to USCT regiments for promotions. In letters home in April 1865, Goodale often discussed the soldiers of the 114th USCI and the regiment’s activities in Virginia. Goodale explained, “The troops are more intelligent than I supposed them to be, and are very shrewd.” Goodale found that they “express very bitter feelings toward the rebels,” which is unsurprising given that nearly all of the enlisted men in the 114th USCI had formerly been enslaved in Kentucky.

Goodale praised the discipline of the 114th USCI and African American troops in general, noting that they maintained good order both in Richmond and the surrounding countryside. Although the soldiers were ordered not to steal or forage from Confederate civilians, it was a common practice in the Civil War for troops to seize local livestock to supplement their army rations. Discovering that members of the 114th USCI had taken a pig for a meal one night while performing picket duty near Richmond, Goodale did not reprimand the men. Instead, he encouraged them to be cleverer when they did forage: “I had occasion to tell some of the boys that boys who would eat pig should know enough to put the bones out of the way.”

 

Historic marker in Richmond, VA.

NPS

Victory March Through Petersburg

In the aftermath of Richmond’s capture and the surrender of the Confederate army at Appomattox Court House, the 114th USCI made a triumphant march through Petersburg. According to Goodale, “The streets were lined with negros to welcome our colored troops, and they all looked the picture of joy.” Through their military service, the 114th USCI and the other African American regiments in the US Army contributed to the destruction of slavery, bringing freedom to enslaved people in Virginia and beyond. In sharp contrast to the happiness and relief of the Black population of Petersburg were the Confederate citizens. Goodale reported, “But few whites were out. Some looked down from the windows and it was striking to notice how bitter, and scornful, and hateful they looked.” Clearly, the sight of the African American soldiers from Camp Nelson marching through Petersburg illustrated US victory and emancipation.

The 114th USCI moved through Petersburg once again in the following weeks. The 114th USCI was part of the segregated Twenty-fifth Army Corps, and on each of its marches into the city, it was accompanied by numerous other African American regiments. With over 15,000 Black troops passing through Petersburg, Goodale wrote in letter home in early May 1865, “It must have been a galling sight to the people of that bad city and most of all it must have troubled & vexed them to hear the music. “Yankee Doodle” - “We’ll rally round the Flag” but especially “John Brown” surely annoyed them & that by negro bands.” Goodale praised the performance of the US Colored Troops in these marches, declaring “No troops ever made a better appearance than these, and their marching was perfect. They stepped to the time with a will, and as tho they were in earnest.”

 

Flag of the 25th Army Corps, the only corps in the US Army during the Civil War composed entirely of US Colored Troops. Units of the 25th Corps participated in the siege operations at Petersburg and Richmond, the Appomattox Campaign, and were transferred to Texas after the end of the war.

The Civil War Gazette

Transfer to Texas

For African American soldiers, their service lasted long after the guns fell silent on the battlefields of the Civil War. In June 1865, thousands of Black soldiers were transferred from the Eastern Theater to Texas to perform garrison duty on the US-Mexico border. Goodale remained with the 114^th USCI as it traveled from Virginia to Texas, which included a long journey on the sea. In a letter home, Goodale wrote, “The men have borne the discomforts of the voyage much better than I expected.”

Upon reaching Texas, the 114^th USCI took up their new post at Brownsville, where they would remain for a long time to come. Garrison duty in Texas was unpopular with both the Black soldiers and white officers, as it was lengthy, monotonous, and seemingly pointless because the war was over. Nevertheless, the troops were kept busy, frequently tasked with guard, patrol, and labor duties in and around Brownsville. “The men have but little rest – are worked as hard as when an enemy was before us,” Goodale reported, “They are on duty almost every day.”

 

A Black soldier, identified as a member of the 114th United States Colored Infantry, stands guard on a pontoon bridge that spans the Rio Grande River in Brownsville, Texas, 1866.

Robin Stanford Collection, Southern Methodist University

Service on the Border

The African American troops tried to make the best of the situation. After the unit established a camp near Brownsville in July 1865, Goodale explained:

As the grounds about the camp are gradually cleared offer, and the company streets and grounds are graded the whole appearance and air of the camp & men improves. The men of this Regiment seem very cheerful, tho many are without shoes, and some have scarcely a decent suit of clothes to put on. For a week the Quarter Master of the Regiment has been trying to procure clothing for them, but has not succeeded yet.

As Goodale implied, the 114^th USCI experienced supply problems in Texas, with the men receiving an insufficient amount of clothing and equipment. At times, these shortages left the soldiers more exposed to inclement weather. During a cold and windy rainstorm at a new camp near Brownsville in November 1865, Goodale wrote:

I pity the poor men. They have not yet put up their tents in good shape, for from somebody’s blunder or carelessness, this army is left to do without many things which it needs and ought to have in abundance. If it continues to rain all night as it does now, the camp will be a dirty muddy place by morning. Many of the men will have to sleep on the wet ground if they sleep at all.

A few days later, Goodale was pleased that the regiment did a receive a shipment of pants, shirts, shoes, coats, stockings, blankets, tents, and other supplies. Even though it was only about half of what he wanted for the men, Goodale was “glad enough to get something to keep the poor fellows more comfortable.”

Despite the challenges they faced, the soldiers of the 114^th USCI and the many African American unit stationed in Texas performed their duty and impressed their superiors. After a military review involving more than ten Black regiments in September 1865, Goodale asserted, “It was a grand display considering, and a grand thought that all these brave soldierly men were once yes till quite lately slaves, with few exceptions at least – but are now free. And here was only one Division of the three in the Corps.” During an inspection of the 114^th USCI in November, Goodale was proud to report: the inspecting officer “was pleased to say that the Regiment looked the best of any in the Brigade. No news to us but we are pleased to be told so on such good authority.”

Goodale served in the 114^th USCI until February 1866. For most of the Black soldiers in the regiments dispatched to Texas at the Civil War’s end, however, post-war duty would stretch into 1866 and even longer. Only in April 1867, two years after General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox, was the 114^th USCI mustered out of service and allowed to return home to their families and an uncertain future in Kentucky.