Becoming Soldiers

Becoming Soldiers. . , As soon as the Civil War began, black men volunteered to serve in the United States Army. They were denied. In the spring of 1863, the Federal government finally began enlisting Freedmen. Within months, thousands in Helena had enlisted., "Willing and Desirous to Fight" , The black men who joined the Union army, like all men in all wars, enlisted for different reasons. Robert Houston remembered, "I went into the Union service very willingly... my actions feeling and sympathies have all the time been for the success and maintenance of the Union cause and all the time willing and desirous to fight or do anything else in my power on that behalf.", Freedom for all African Americans , Some men enlisted because army pay enabled them to provide for their families. Some men were coerced. Many black men who enlisted felt every black man should enlist, and pressured those who did not. The army also made forays into the county to collect recruits. But most men enlisted because they wanted to fight for their continued freedom and the freedom of all African Americans., John Harris, 2nd Arkansas A.D. , The story of John Harris is probably typical: "When the Yankees came through, I went to Helena, Arkansas, where I enlisted on May 21, 1863." , Harris enlisted in Co. B, 2nd Arkansas Infantry of African Descent. He was wounded in the Battle of Helena in July 1863. , Arkansas contributed 5,526 black men to the Union effort between 1863 and 1865., Eighty-five percent were from the Delta region., {Photo Caption} , In the spring of 1863, thousands of men like the teamsters above left civilian jobs to enlist in the U.S. army.