United States Colored Troops - African American US Army Soldiers

From about the time of the American Civil War until shortly after World War II ended, Black American troops served in segregated units, usually led by white officers. [There were some exceptions.] They distinguished themselves well in combat during the Civil War, the Indian Wars, and World Wars I and II. In this video, the march of the Massachusetts 54th U.S. Colored Troops plays in the background. The tune is alternately titled Oh Give Us a Flag and The Colored Volunteer. The lyrics are below. [Thanks to another Youtuber for much of the video]

"The Colored Volunteer" or
"Oh Give us a Flag"

Verse 1
Fremont [Footnote 1] he told them when the war it first begun
How to save the Union and the way it should be done.
But Kentucky swore so hard [2] and old Abe [3] he had his fears
Til every hope was lost but the colored volunteers

[chorus follows]
O give us a flag, all free without a slave.
We'll fight to defend it as our fathers [4] did so brave.
The Gallant Compn'y A [5] will make the rebels dance
And we'll stand by the Union if we only have the chance

Verse 2
McClellan [6] went to Richmond with two hundred thousand brave.
He said, "keep back the niggers [7]," and the Union he would save.
Little Mac [8] he had his way -- still the Union is in tears --
NOW they call for help of the colored volunteers.
[repeat chorus]

Verse 3
Old Jeff [9] says he'll hang us if we dare to meet him armed.
A very big thing, but we are not at all alarmed.
For he has first got to catch us before the way is clear[10].
And "that is what's the matter with the colored volunteer."
[repeat chorus]

Verse 4
So rally, boys, rally, let us never mind the past;
We had a hard road to travel, but our day is coming fast.
For God is for the right, and we have no need to fear --
The Union must be saved by the colored volunteer.
[repeat chorus]

Verse 5
Then here is to the 54th [11], which has been nobly tried,
They were willing, they were ready, with their bayonets by their side,
Colonel Shaw [12]led them on and he had no cause to fear,
About the courage of the colored volunteer.
[repeat chorus]

Footnotes
[1] John C. Fremont, Republican candidate for President in 1856, Army general officer, and best known explorer to that date, except for Lewis and Clark.
[2] Kentucky was a border [Northern] state during the war. She threatened to join the South if the Union used African American troops
[3] President Abraham Lincoln at first hesitated to use African American soldiers.
[4] The first man to fall in the American Revolution was an African American, Crispus Attucks, who died in the "Boston Massacre".
[5] Company A of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteers [Colored]
[6] Major Gen McClellan commanded Union troops at the start of the war.
[7] This term was widely used at the time as a sign of disrepect. Proper usage at the time was 'colored'.
[8] See Footnote 6 above.
[9] Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederated States of America [the South]
[10] Meaning, they would "die before being taken prisoner."
[11] 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment (Colored)
[12] Commanding Officer of the Regiment

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[spetti581]

We're all the one, black or white, God Bless

[rmorecook]

@spetti581 Hooah! Bob M

[12FlyMe]

black troops actually won the Civil War for the North. When Lincoln announced blacks would be in the US Army, Jeff Davis just about shit his pants.

He decreed that all free blacks in the South were by decree re-enslaved . And he promised all NORTH blacks would be slaves too, when the South invaded and won.

Davis thought the South would win -- until Lincoln got help from the blacks.

[Tesla9209]

I don't care what color or gender you are, if you put on that uniform and fight for this great country then you should deserve all the respect that this country can give and more. We need a new untied America, we need to understand that we are not white, black, latino, asain, etc. We are Americans nothing more or less and its hgih time we start acting like it.

[NachtJaeger110]

Just coincidence or is this almost the same melody as "I'm a good old rebel"? You can sing old rebel very good to this version. Is there something like a grand daddy song from which colored volunteer and old rebel were made?

[backnumber1662]

@Tesla9209 LBJ said it best "So it was a century ago at Appomattox. So it was last week in Selma, Alabama.

There is no Negro problem. There is no southern problem. There is no northern problem. There is only an American problem."

[12FlyMe]

@althesmith interesting view -- you are probably right. His stupidity and arrogance alienated England, right there the war was lost. Which ever general kissed his ass got promoted, no matter how goofy they were. Lee was one of the most suck ass suck ups in US history, for example. He got rid of Johnston and Beauregaurd, his best men. Contrary to what most people think, the South should have been able to win that war, and with better leaders, they would have.

[althesmith]

@12FlyMe : Jeff Davis should've got the Congressional Medal of Honor. He did perhaps more than any other man, North or South, to ensure Union victory and Confederate defeat.

[rmorecook]

@chapdog82 Red BALL express

[rmorecook]

@chapdog82 Hi Friend it was red BALL express. Nice posting.

[chapdog82]

@chitownzfinesthustla

Man trust me. Blacks played a part in that war but white racism prevented them from showing their full potential. There were very few black combat units and white racism would halt intergration until 1948..3 years after the war. Black men were not key factors in WW2 because racist white america WANTED them to not be significant. I give props to the notables... and even to the non combat troops like the Red Bull Express guys that drove supplies through war zones.

[chitownzfinesthustla]

@chapdog82 dude thats like saying canada was insignificant

[underbjorn]

nice vid, never heard it before, :)