First Kansas Colored Infantry

In 1989 the movie-going public was captivated the heroism of the Fifty-Fourth Massachusetts, the African American regiment depicted in the movie "Glory." Correctly hailed as "one of the finest historical dramas ever made," this Oscar winning film was nevertheless incorrectly billed as the "story of America's first unit of black soldiers during the Civil War." In reality, that distinction could easily be given to the First Regiment Kansas Colored Infantry which got its "baptism by fire" in the fall of 1862 and, in less than a year, distinguished itself as a fighting unit at Honey Springs, Indian Territory.

The First Kansas Colored commenced forming under the direction of James H. "The Grim Chieftain" Lane in August 1862 and was mustered into U.S. service under the command of Colonel James M. Williams, formerly of the Fifth Regiment Kansas Volunteer Cavalry, on January 13, 1863. The delay was due to an opposition to the arming of black troops among many in the North and federal policy that reflected this prejudicial attitude. Despite the existence of a widespread national reticence, many Kansans advocated the use of black troops early on, and during the fall of 1862, a portion of the regiment engaged in battle with a rebel force at Butler, Mo., thus gaining distinction as the first "colored soldiers in the Union army" tested in battle. "The blacks behaved nobly," reported the Lawrence Republican, "and have demonstrated that they can and will fight." According to the Republican's correspondent, Lieut. W. H. Smallwood, "the battle of Toothman's Mound [also Island Mound]," October 29, proved "that black men can fight," and they were "now prepared to scour this country thoroughly, and not leave a place where a traitor can find refuge."

The regiment was stationed at Baxter Springs during the spring of 1863 and then assigned to escort duty in Indian Territory during the summer of that year. As Dudley T. Cornish wrote in a 1953 article for the Kansas Historical Quarterly, "At Cabin Creek the train was attacked by a large force of Texans and Indians, and after skirmishing, the rebels took up strong positions on the south bank of the creek. The next morning [July 2, 1863] the Union forces attacked and in two hours "fighting drove the enemy with substantial losses from his position." The "escort" included white companies from Kansas and Colorado regiments as well as several hundred members of the Third Indian Home Guards; as a result, wrote Cornish, "This engagement seems to have been the first in the Civil War in which white and colored Union soldiers fought side by side, and it is recorded that the white officers and men 'allowed no prejudice on account of color to interfere in the discharge of their duty in the face of an enemy alike to both races.'"

Despite their success at Cabin Creek, "It was at Honey Springs, slightly over two weeks later," according to Cornish, that the First Kansas Colored established its military reputation. After an all-night march, Union troops under command of Maj. Gen. James G. Blunt came upon a strong rebel force under Gen. Douglas Cooper and after a "sharp and bloody engagement of two hours' duration" forced Cooper's command to flee the field. During the fight the Negro regiment, which held the Union center, moved up under fire to within 50 paces of the Confederate line and there, still under fire, halted and exchanged volley fire for some 20 minutes before the rebels broke and ran. The Kansas Negroes captured the colors of a Texas regiment . . .

The following April found troops of the First Colored engaged in some fierce combat at Poison Springs where they suffered heavy casualties, and the regiment served out the remaining year of the war in Arkansas. But Honey Springs was the regiment's defining moment. "This was the most important battle in the regiment's entire history," according to Cornish, and, along with the Fifty-Fourth Massachusetts' gallantry at Fort Wagner on July 18, "set to rest a great deal of criticism of the use of Negroes as soldiers."

They certainly impressed their expedition's commander Major General Blunt. "I never saw such fighting done as was done by the negro regiment," he wrote in a letter published in the Cincinnati Daily Commercial on August 12, 1863. "They fought like veterans, with a coolness and valor that is unsurpassed. They preserved their line perfect throughout the whole engagement and, although in the hottest of the fight, they never once faltered. Too much praise can not be awarded them for their gallantry."

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1.Leonard Maltin's Movie and Video Guide, 1996 Edition (New York: Signet Book, 1996), 498-499.

2. Dudley Taylor Cornish, The Sable Arm: Negro Troops in the Union Army, 1861-1865 (New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 1966), 146, 152-156. This seminal work was first published in 1956. Coincidentally, the First Kansas Colored's battle at Honey Springs (July 17, 1863) was fought just one day before the Fifty-Fourth Massachusetts made its momentous assault on Fort Wagner, South Carolina (July 18, 1863). See also, Joseph T. Glatthaar, Forged in Battle: The Civil War Alliance of Black Soldiers and White Officers (New York: Macmillan, Inc., 1990), 136-142. Relatively early in the Civil War, blacks made their way to Kansas to strike a military blow against the Confederacy and thus the institution of slavery. In all, by war's end, Kansas enlisted over 20,000 soldiers in nineteen regiments and four batteries; two of those regiments and one battery were "Colored." Most of the recruits for the latter came from Missouri, but Kansas is credited with the enlistment of 2,080 black men. William Frank Zornow, Kansas: A History of the Jayhawk State, 107-08; Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Kansas, 1861-1865 (Topeka: State Printer, 1896).

3.[McAfee, J. B.], Official Military History of the Kansas Regiments during the War for the Suppression of the Great Rebellion (Leavenworth, Kans.: W. S. Burke, 1870). The regiment was complete by May 2, 1863.

4.Lawrence Republican, November 6, 1862. The paper carried a letter from Lieut. W. H. Smallwood under the title: "KANSAS BLACK SOLDIERS BATTLE! // THEY FIGHT BRAVELY ..." filed by Republican correspondent at "Toothman's Mound, Bates Co., Mo., November 1, 1862." "The discipline acquired and the courage displayed by the First Kansas Colored Volunteers in camp and on field during the last months of 1862," according to Senate Report No. 1214 (51st Congress, 1st Session, 2), "influenced the action of President Lincoln in issuing his proclamation of New Year's Day, 1863, which put in force the provisions of the act of July 17, 1862, and forecasted the freedom and citizenship of persons of African descent."

5.Dudley T. Cornish, "Kansas Negro Regiments in the Civil War," Kansas Historical Quarterly 20 (May 1953): 425. Cornish quotes [McAfee, J. B.], Official Military History of the Kansas Regiments during the War for the Suppression of the Great Rebellion (Leavenworth, Kans.: W. S. Burke, 1870), 411, 412.

6.Cornish, "Kansas Negro Regiments," 426. Confederate casualties were reportedly 150 killed, 400 wounded, and 77 taken prisoner; Union losses were given as 13 killed and 62 wounded; the First Kansas Colored lost 2 killed and 30 wounded.

7.The regiment suffered terribly at Poison Springs (April 18, 1864), near Camden, Arkansas: 117 dead and 65 wounded. The regiment was not mustered out of service until October 1, 1865. For more on the activities of the First and Second Kansas Colored and other black troops in Kansas, see Cornish, "Kansas Negro Regiments," 417-429.

8.Quoted in Cornish, "Kansas Negro Regiments," 426. Blunt's letter, as stated above, was published in the Cincinnati Daily Commercial, August 12, 1863, but was dated July 25, 1863.