Introduction: For African-Americans, the Civil War was more than the divergent paths the Northern and Southern sections of the country embarked upon, but it became to represent America living out the true meaning of its creed and principles by affording and extending the hands of liberty and freedom to all its citizens, and as the pretenses of the War evolved, the emancipating of those held in human servitude and bondage became the overlying sign of victory. Upon the issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln, a seed that professed that “A New Birth of Freedom” had been planted, as a subsequence tens of thousands of African-Americans enlisted in the Union forces in droves. Due to their hardships, labor and exemplary service, today we can all partake in the blessings that liberty and freedom bestows. The Unity Group of Chattanooga hereby issues this appeal to action to honor them for their service as we call on the Greater Chattanooga community to pay respectful and timely tribute to the dedicated service and legacy that the United States Colored Troops have left by erecting a Memorial/Monument to their memories at Chattanooga’s National Cemetery, which was erected in large measure due to the fruits of their immeasurable time, skill and labor.
Whereas: There are over 880 African-American men at the National Cemetery in Chattanooga buried under the acronym USCT - United States Colored Troops; and
Whereas: There is no monument at the National Cemetery in Chattanooga that translates the acronym or recognizes the efforts of these brave men; and
Whereas: These men served in the United States Army to protect their own liberty and advance the cause of freedom against those who would have sustained and succumbed them to the inhumane and immoral vestiges associated with slavery; and
Whereas: The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration has noted, by the end of the Civil War, 179,000 black men (10 percent of the Union Army) served as soldiers in the U.S. Arm; 19,000 enlisted in the Navy; with valor they participated in over 400 engagements; 16 went on to receive the Medal of Honor; over 21,000 men enlisted in Tennessee, which ranks behind only Louisiana and Kentucky; and
Whereas: Throughout the duration of the War, African-Americans performed in a wide variety of details and functions, including as: rearguard patrol, carpenters, chaplains, personal attendants, cooks, scouts, spies, steamboat pilots, and conscripted laborers which often included the burying of the dead; and
Whereas: On Dec. 25, 1863, the Commander of the Cumberland, Gen. George H. Thomas -- “The Rock of Chickamauga” -- issued General Order 296 creating the Chattanooga National Cemetery and assigned oversight of its erection and completion to the Army's chaplain Thomas B. Van Horne; and
Whereas: U.S.C.T. units stationed in Chattanooga such as the 14th, 16th, 18th, and in particular the 44th, would serve with bravery and gallantry during many pivotal conflicts which helped to preserve the Union, including the First and Second Battles of Dalton and the decisive Battle of Nashville that thoroughly defeated the last remnants of Hood’s Confederate Army of Tennessee; and
Whereas: The men of the 42nd U.S.C.T. were entrusted with securing and relocating the graves of fallen soldiers within a 50-mile radius, would clear and prepare the grounds for burials, and assist with the overall layout and design of this very Chattanooga National Cemetery; and
Whereas: Historians such as E. Raymond Evans in Contributions by United States Colored Troops (USCT) in Chattanooga and North Georgia (2003), Stuart C. McGehee (Military Origins of the New South: The Army of the Cumberland and Chattanooga's Freedmen, 1988), Bobby Lee Lovett (The Negro's Civil War in Tennessee, 1861-1865, 1973), and Noah Andre Trudeau, (Like Men of War: Black Troops in the Civil War 1862-1865, 1998), have noted the history and achievement of U.S.C.T. during the Civil War, including those associated with our region; and
Whereas: For the last two decades, in addition to numerous battlefield markers, several National Cemeteries have sought to be more inclusive by depicting an accurate portrayal and historical analysis of the significant hardships and contributions of U.S.C.T. in helping to preserve the Union and advance the cause of freedom, and amongst these are a storyboard that retells the contributions of U.S.C.T. in the Philadelphia National Cemetery (2017) and the United States Colored Troops National Monument in Nashville, Tennessee (2003); and
Whereas: There is a Memorial Circle of Honor with 27 engraved granite monuments, starting in 1992, to honor the various men and women for their different contributions to the Armed Forces which notably excludes and fails to include the service and sacrifice of U.S.C.T.;
Therefore be it Resolved, that the Unity Group of Chattanooga calls for a proper and fitting monument and marker to be erected by the African-American community which accurately details and depicts the contributions of USCT in service to this nation and community in preserving and upholding the most basic and fundamental of America's creed and principles, that we are all “created equal” and “endowed with unalienable rights”; and
Therefore be it Resolved, that the Unity Group recognizes and appreciates the great human cost and sacrifice displayed by the U.S.C.T., in fatigue duties, in the performing of menial labor, tasks and undertakings, and on the field of battle; and
Further, we call on the Chattanooga National Cemetery and Veterans Administration to be more inclusive of the contributions of U.S.C.T. by recognizing the great labor hardships and human cost endured by the 42nd U.S.C.T .in erecting and completing our National Cemetery; and
Finally, we call on the greater Chattanooga community to aide and assist in this effort by contributing to the creation and erection of one or more granite markers at the Chattanooga National Cemetery to honor the African American men and women of the United States Colored Troops and other military units buried here in Chattanooga so they will always be recognized and remembered.
Humbly submitted by,
The Unity Group of Chattanooga
Sherman E. Matthews Jr., Chairman
Drafted by Eric Atkins and Tom Kunesh