General Order No. 143 was an 1863 military directive of the United States War Department which authorized the establishment of a bureau regulating the recruitment, training and organization of the U.S. Army's first regiments composed entirely of African-American soldiers.Cornish (1965) p. 130. While state-raised units like the

1st South Carolina Volunteers The 1st South Carolina Volunteer Infantry Regiment (Colored) was a Union Army regiment during the American Civil War, formed by General Rufus Saxton. It was composed of escaped slaves from South Carolina and Florida. It was one of the first blac ...

and the

54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment The 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that saw extensive service in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The unit was the second African-American regiment, following the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry ...

had already begun recruitment and training, the order issued May 22, 1863, directly created a new designation among regular U.S. Army regiments:

United States Colored Troops The United States Colored Troops (USCT) were regiments in the United States Army composed primarily of African-American (colored) soldiers, although members of other minority groups also served within the units. They were first recruited during ...

References

Bibliography

* Cornish, Dudley Taylor. ''The Sable Arm: Negro Troops in the Union Army, 1861–1865.'' New York: W.W. Norton, 1965.

External links

Images of the official order
at Ourdocuments.gov General orders American Civil War documents African-American history between emancipation and the civil rights movement 1863 in the United States 1863 documents {{Reconstruction Era