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Re: Black soldiers in white units?
The Navy had a huge gap to fill when they started wartime enlistments with many peactime merchant or river commercial sailors enlisting in the Army rather than the Navy at the start of the war. The Navy was not viewed as the hero's way to go to war, but instead seen as taking the easy way out. On the blockade to a point, but especially in the Western Flotilla (Brown Water Navy) freedmen made a huge proportion of the numbers. I've seen enlistments of over 200 men (former slaves) from Warren County, Mississippi (Vicksburg is the county Seat) and the Parishes across the river in the Louisiana. That does not even count the hundreds from the area that joined the USCT units. If you think about it, those 200 men is a large enough number to man a City Class Gunboat (U.S.S. Cairo had a crew of 175 sailors) with men to spare.
Although African Americans had served in the Navy since the Revolution, from 1839 onwards the Navy allowed them to make up no more than 5% of total recruits each month. Due to the recruiting issues mentioned above the 5% ban was lifted, which allowed hundreds of freedmen in the North enlist and join the war effort (which they were not yet allowed to do in the army). It is estimated that 15 - 20% of Navy recruits during the war were African American.
The Navy had language issues with immigrants as well. It is perhaps well known that roughly 20 - 25% of soldiers in the Union army were foreign born. The Civil War Navy was about 45% foreign born.
There was a quote from a fireman on the Monitor that "on a crew of 40 there is only 8 of us American born." A coal heaver on the Kearsarge wrote that "We only want one or two more to make all nations, Some can hardly speak English. . . . We have got Americans, English, Irish, Scotsh, Welsh, Portugese, Italian, Russian, Dutch, and Belgian."
The Cairo, which had a crew of 175 included 6 from Norway, 8 from Germany, 3 from France, 16 from Ireland (about 20% of the entire Navy was Irish born), 1 from Sardenia, 5 from Scotland, 3 from Denmark, 8 Canadians, 12 from England, 2 from Portugal, 2 from Sweden, and 1 Russian. One can only comprehend the language issues involved with the running of the ships and gunboats in the Navy. I would imagine keeping the Irish and the English from getting after each other required a lot of work as well.
Of the 118,044 sailors that enlisted in the Federal Navy during the war 60-65% were either African American or Foreign Born.
If anyone is interested the above information comes from Union Jacks: Yankee Sailors in the Civil War by Michael J. Bennett & Life in Mr. Lincoln's Navy by Dennis J. Ringle
The Navy had a huge gap to fill when they started wartime enlistments with many peactime merchant or river commercial sailors enlisting in the Army rather than the Navy at the start of the war. The Navy was not viewed as the hero's way to go to war, but instead seen as taking the easy way out. On the blockade to a point, but especially in the Western Flotilla (Brown Water Navy) freedmen made a huge proportion of the numbers. I've seen enlistments of over 200 men (former slaves) from Warren County, Mississippi (Vicksburg is the county Seat) and the Parishes across the river in the Louisiana. That does not even count the hundreds from the area that joined the USCT units. If you think about it, those 200 men is a large enough number to man a City Class Gunboat (U.S.S. Cairo had a crew of 175 sailors) with men to spare.
Although African Americans had served in the Navy since the Revolution, from 1839 onwards the Navy allowed them to make up no more than 5% of total recruits each month. Due to the recruiting issues mentioned above the 5% ban was lifted, which allowed hundreds of freedmen in the North enlist and join the war effort (which they were not yet allowed to do in the army). It is estimated that 15 - 20% of Navy recruits during the war were African American.
The Navy had language issues with immigrants as well. It is perhaps well known that roughly 20 - 25% of soldiers in the Union army were foreign born. The Civil War Navy was about 45% foreign born.
There was a quote from a fireman on the Monitor that "on a crew of 40 there is only 8 of us American born." A coal heaver on the Kearsarge wrote that "We only want one or two more to make all nations, Some can hardly speak English. . . . We have got Americans, English, Irish, Scotsh, Welsh, Portugese, Italian, Russian, Dutch, and Belgian."
The Cairo, which had a crew of 175 included 6 from Norway, 8 from Germany, 3 from France, 16 from Ireland (about 20% of the entire Navy was Irish born), 1 from Sardenia, 5 from Scotland, 3 from Denmark, 8 Canadians, 12 from England, 2 from Portugal, 2 from Sweden, and 1 Russian. One can only comprehend the language issues involved with the running of the ships and gunboats in the Navy. I would imagine keeping the Irish and the English from getting after each other required a lot of work as well.
Of the 118,044 sailors that enlisted in the Federal Navy during the war 60-65% were either African American or Foreign Born.
If anyone is interested the above information comes from Union Jacks: Yankee Sailors in the Civil War by Michael J. Bennett & Life in Mr. Lincoln's Navy by Dennis J. Ringle
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