We can hit a Rebel further than a white man ever saw, We are fighting for the Union, we are fighting for the law, Oh, weвЂ™re the bully soldiers of the вЂњFirst of Arkansas,вЂќ The opening stanza expressed the pride the soldiers felt in their work: Penned by Captain Lindley Miller of the First Arkansas, the song was sung to the tune of вЂњJohn BrownвЂ™s BodyвЂќ and was published in 1864. The First Arkansas Colored Regiment had its own marching song. ArkansasвЂ™s black regiments were garrisoned at Fort Smith (Sebastian County), Helena (Phillips County), Little Rock (Pulaski County), and Pine Bluff (Jefferson County) from late 1863 to the end of the war in 1865. Black troops fought for the Union despite the Confederate Congress passing on May 1, 1863, a proclamation to the effect that any captured black soldier fighting for the Union would be executed. It was made up of ex-slaves from Arkansas, Kansas, and Missouri. The First Kansas Colored Infantry was one such regiment.

In addition to these regiments, other regiments of black soldiers also participated in battles and skirmishes in Arkansas. The First Arkansas Colored Infantry (Forty-sixth Colored Infantry) was assigned to the Department of the Gulf in June 1863. Colored Infantry), and the Sixth Arkansas InfantryвЂ“African Descent (113 th U.S. Colored Infantry, Fifth Arkansas InfantryвЂ“African Descent (112 th U.S. Colored Infantry), Third Arkansas InfantryвЂ“African Descent (Fifty-sixth U.S. ColoredВ Infantry), Second Arkansas InfantryвЂ“African Descent (Fifty-fourth U.S. Colored Infantry, First Arkansas InfantyвЂ“African Descent (Forty-sixth U.S. The Arkansas regiments included First Arkansas BatteryвЂ“African Descent (Battery H, Second U.S. This was corrected in 1864, with some black units receiving back pay for their services. At first, black soldiers are paid half of what white soldiers were paid.

For example, the Second Arkansas Colored Infantry became the Fifty-fourth U.S. On March 11, 1864, all USCT regiments were reassigned unit numbers, which historians differentiate with вЂњoldвЂќ and вЂњnewвЂќ classifications. All of the black regiments were led by appointed white officers. War Department created the Bureau of Colored Troops, most commonly known at the United States Colored Troops (USCT). These regiments and others were all created on May 22, 1863, when the U.S. Regiments of black soldiers were organized in Arkansas during the American Civil War as fighting units of the U.S. In addition, black soldiers manned all of the batteries and fortifications at Helena (Phillips County) from 1864 until the end of the war in 1865. Between 3,000 and 4,000 additional black soldiers served in Arkansas during the war, including in heavy artillery, cavalry, and infantry regiments. government credit 5,526 men of African descent as having served in the Union army from the state of Arkansas. Lincoln later credited these вЂњmen of colorвЂќ with helping turn the tide of the war, calling them вЂњthe sable arm.вЂќ The official records from the U.S. An estimated 40,000 lost their lives in the conflict. Across the war-torn nation, 180,000 black men responded.

Many former African-American slaves and freedmen from Arkansas answered President Abraham LincolnвЂ™s call for volunteers to help put down the Confederate rebellion.

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