The Corps d'Afrique was an
African American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
corps
Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was formally introduced March 1, 1800, when Napoleon ordered Gener ...
that served in the
Union Army during the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
.
Creation
On May 1, 1863, General Orders No. 40,
Department of the Gulf
The Department of the Gulf was a command of the United States Army in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War, Civil War.
History United States Army (Civil War)
Creation
The ...
, was issued by Major General
Nathaniel P. Banks
Nathaniel Prentice (or Prentiss) Banks (January 30, 1816 – September 1, 1894) was an American politician from Massachusetts and a Union Army, Union general during the American Civil War, Civil War. A millworker, Banks became prominent in local ...
and stated the intent of forming a corps-sized unit composed of colored soldiers:
''The major-general commanding the department proposes the organization of a corps d'armee of colored troops, to be designated as the Corps d'Afrique. It will consist ultimately of eighteen regiments, representing all arms -- infantry, artillery, cavalry -- making three brigades of two regiments each, and three divisions of three brigades each, with appropriate corps of engineers, and flying hospitals for each division, appropriate uniforms, and the graduation of pay to correspond with the value of services, will be hereafter awarded.''
[''The War of the Rebellion - A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies'', Series I Volume XV (Washington: Government Printing Office), 1886, pp. 716-717.]
Organization
The Corps d'Afrique was formed from the four infantry regiments of the
Louisiana Native Guard raised by Major General
Benjamin F. Butler
Benjamin Franklin Butler (November 5, 1818 – January 11, 1893) was an American major general of the Union Army, politician, lawyer, and businessman from Massachusetts. Born in New Hampshire and raised in Lowell, Massachusetts, Butler was a ...
(before Banks replaced him as commander of the Department of the Gulf) and the five colored infantry regiments raised by Brigadier General
Daniel Ullman
Daniel Ullman, also spelled Ullmann (April 28, 1810 – September 20, 1892), was an American lawyer and politician from New York (state), New York. He also served as a Union Army general in the American Civil War, raising and leading USCT, color ...
.
[''Official Records'', Series I Volume XXVI Part 1, pp. 688-689.] Most of the remainder of the regiments would be formed at
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
.
Though the Louisiana Native Guard regiments had black officers, including
Andre Cailloux and
P. B. S. Pinchback
Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback (May 10, 1837 – December 21, 1921) was an American publisher, politician, and Union Army officer who served as Governor of Louisiana from December 9, 1872 to January 13, 1873. Pinchback is commonly referr ...
, eventually Banks would purge the black officers of the Louisiana Native Guard
[Blassingame, John W. ''Black New Orleans, 1860-1880'', University of Chicago Press, 1976, p. 44] and replace them with white soldiers from other units, primarily from the North. Units created subsequent to General Order No. 40 would be initially staffed with white officers.
First Lieutenant Charles Sauvinet would be the only black officer from the Louisiana Native Guard to retain his commission until the end of the war.
Utilizing both voluntarily enlistment and conscription of freedmen and escaped slaves, the corps eventually grew to over twenty regiments
before being absorbed into the
Bureau of Colored Troops
The Bureau of Colored Troops was created by the United States War Department on May 22, 1863, under General Order No. 143, during the Civil War, to handle "all matters relating to the organization of colored troops." Major Charles Warren Foster ...
in April 1864.
[''Official Records'', Series I Volume XXXIV Part 3, p. 221.]
Units
See also
*
List of United States Colored Troops Civil War units
Infantry
*1st United States Colored Infantry, 1st Regiment Infantry U.S. Colored Troops
*2nd United States Colored Infantry, 2nd Regiment Infantry U.S. Colored Troops
*3rd Regiment Infantry U.S. Colored Troops
*4th United States Colored I ...
*
United States Colored Troops
United States Colored Troops (USCT) were Union Army regiments during the American Civil War that primarily comprised African Americans, with soldiers from other ethnic groups also serving in USCT units. Established in response to a demand fo ...
References
;Attribution
* {{CWR
Military units and formations established in 1863
African-American military units and formations of the American Civil War