THE 54TH MASSACHUSETTS

History of African Americans in the Civil War

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 With President Abraham Lincoln's issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, approximately 180,000 African Americans comprising 163 units served in the Union Army during the Civil War, and many more African Americans served in the Union Navy. In October, 1862, African American soldiers of the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteers showed the union that they could fight by attacking the Confederates at the battle of Island Mound, Missouri. By August, 1863, 14 Negro Regiments were in the field and ready for service. In actual numbers, African American soldiers  comprised 10% of the entire Union Army.