Limited Success, 1864–65

In May 1864 the American Freedmen’s Inquiry Commission conducted a hearing to examine the effectiveness and conduct of black Soldiers. Among those testifying was the famed Robert Smalls, ¹ who became a hero on 12 May 1862, when he captured and guided a Confederate ship, the Planter, into the hands of a Union Navy ship, the Onward. Some of the testimonies, focused on the question of blacks as officers. Colonel Thomas Wentworth Higginson perhaps gave the most important statement. Colonel Higginson, a clergyman and Massachusetts abolitionist before the war, had raised the honored First South Carolina Volunteers, which held the distinction of being “the first of all the Negro regiments with official military status.” They were officially mustered in on 31 January 1863. ² When asked if black Soldiers were “cool or excited when brought into the presence of danger,” Higginson answered:

I think they will stand if their officers do … If their officers are intimidated they will be and if their officers stand their ground they will also. Q

Do you think it would be [wise] policy to officer colored troops with colored … commissioned officers?

A

I do most emphatically…. I have non-commissioned officers superior in military qualities to perhaps one-half my line officers.

Q

But in another point of view—do you think the men would obey colored officers as readily as white ones?”

A

Just as readily, … ³

Higginson’s testimony, as well as that of others, although not calling for the appointment of black officers, certainly proved that there were some who believed blacks competent to command.