During the Civil War, thousands of enslaved blacks deep within the South left their plantations, enlisted, and served as Union soldiers — United States Colored Troops — in the heartlands of the Confederacy.
Were your African American ancestors slaves in Southern states before and during the Civil War? Keep reading below to find out if they served in the Union Army during the Civil War and learn how to discover details about them you might not have access to otherwise with Civil War service records.
Did you know?
- Thousands of blacks (roughly 180,000)—from not only the North but also the South—served during the Civil War as Union soldiers. Union regiments of black soldiers eventually came to be referred to as United States Colored Troops (abbreviated as USCT).
- The majority (52%) of black Union soldiers aka USCT were born, raised, enlisted and stationed in the South, i.e. in Confederate states, which included: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.
Map Union, Confederate, Border states and territories during the Civil War
This color-coded map shows Union, Confederate, Border states and territories during the Civil War.
Table United States Colored Troops (USCT) Enlisted in Confederate States During the Civil War
| Southern/ Confederate State | Number of United States Colored Troops (USCT) |
|---|---|
| Alabama | 4,969 |
| Arkansas | 5,526 |
| Florida | 1,044 |
| Georgia | 3,486 |
| Louisiana | 24,502 |
| Mississippi | 17,869 |
| North Carolina | 5,035 |
| South Carolina | 5,462 |
| Tennessee | 20,133 |
| Texas | 47 |
| Virginia | 5,723 |
| Total from the South | 93,796 |
Black Union soldiers from within the territory of rebellious states came to comprise the majority (52%) of United States Colored Troops, and helped turned the tide in favor of a United States victory, end the Civil War and definitively end the institution of slavery in America, once and for all. Moreover, the Civil War Service Records that documented the enlistment and service of these soldiers, are a hidden treasure, exerting a potentially transformative influence on widely-held understandings of the American Civil War and chipping away at an obstinate brick wall in research related to blacks in America–the overwhelming lack of records from before the year 1870 even identifying black individuals as persons by name.
How to find out if your ancestors served in the Civil War
National Park Service: The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System (CWSS) –
Search For Soldiers Page
You can search for the names of your ancestors in the Civil War Soldier database created and maintained by U.S. National Park Service transcribed from the National Archives’ original documents.
Another way to determine your ancestors served in the Civil War is to search the U.S. Civil War Soldiers, 1861-1865 database on Ancestry.com.
You can also search the NPS Civil War database at Ancestry.com
How to View Civil War Union Records for United States Colored Troops (USCT)
Civil War Union Records for United States Colored Troops (USCT) regiments offer valuable descriptive and biographical information about Colored Troops soldiers. This is especially true for soldiers who were former slaves. For instance, some companies stationed at a Union fort in Natchez, Mississippi recorded “last owned by” information in the remarks section of their company descriptive records. The military records website Fold3.com
offers a variety of Civil War records, including these very Civil War Service Records.
