General Order No. 143 was an 1863 military directive of the

United States War Department The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, als ...

which authorized the establishment of a bureau regulating the recruitment, training and organization of the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

's first regiments composed entirely of

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

soldiers.Cornish (1965) p. 130. While state-raised units like the 1st South Carolina Volunteers and the

54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment The 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment is 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 Infantr ...

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 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

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 American law 1863 in the American Civil War 1863 documents {{Reconstruction Era