The United States Colored Troops (USCT) were regiments of the United States Army during the American Civil War that were composed of African American ("colored") soldiers. First recruited in 1863, by the end of the Civil War, the men of the 175 regiments of the USCT constituted approximately one-tenth of the Union Army.
African Americans in the United States Army in decades after the war became known as the Buffalo Soldiers; they fought in the Indian Wars later in the nineteenth century and received their nickname in the American West.
Read more about United States Colored Troops: History, Notable Actions, Awards, Postbellum, Legacy, Legacy and Honors, Numbers of United States Colored Troops By State, North and South
Famous quotes containing the words united states, united, states, colored and/or troops:
“The United States never lost a war or won a conference.”
—Will Rogers (1879–1935)
“I am colored but I offer nothing in the way of extenuating circumstances except the fact that I am the only Negro in the United States whose grandfather on the mother’s side was not an Indian chief.”
—Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960)
“Nullification ... means insurrection and war; and the other states have a right to put it down.”
—Andrew Jackson (1767–1845)
“There are three kinds of people:
White people, Colored people
and Black people.”
—Peter Abrahams (b. 1919)
“The horseman on the pale horse is Pestilence. He follows the wars.”
—Ardel Wray, and Mark Robson. Explaining why he is taking pains to protect his troops from plague (1945)