U.S. War Department General Order 143 Establishing the Bureau of U.S. Colored Troops

Impact

By the end of the Civil War in April 1865, the Union army had recruited 178,975 African American soldiers into its ranks. Black troops made up 133 infantry regiments, four independent companies, seven cavalry regiments, twelve heavy artillery regiments, and ten companies of light infantry. Most of the Black Union soldiers were former slaves, although a significant number were drawn from the ranks of the northern free Black community. African Americans made up nearly 10 percent of all Union troops serving in the war.

The creation of the Bureau of Colored Troops had implications beyond the Civil War. In establishing a military bureau and administrative structure, General Order 143 set the precedent for permanent inclusion of African Americans in the military. By October 1865, the regiments of the U.S. Colored Troops began demobilizing, but this was not the end to Black military participation. On July 28, 1866, Congress authorized the creation of two African American regiments for the regular army. The Ninth and Tenth U.S. Cavalry later gained recognition as the Buffalo Soldiers as they performed important service in the American West in the late 1800s. Although Blacks would never again be denied entrance to the military, the U.S. Colored Troops also established the segregation of African Americans into separate units led by white commissioned officers. The U.S. military remained segregated through World War II. Racial separation in the military ended in July 1948 when President Harry S. Truman signed Executive Order 9981 ending segregation in the armed forces.