Camp Greene

1863 recruitment Poster calling for the enlistment of African Americans into the Union military.

One of the most interesting phases of the history on Theodore Roosevelt Island occurred during the Civil War when the island was still called Analostan Island or Mason’s Island. In 1863, Analostan Island was the location of Camp Greene where the 1st Regiment of United States Colored Troops (USCT) were mustered. This was the first time African Americans could enlist in the Union Army for the fight against the Confederacy.

The possibility of Black military enlistment was brought to the attention of Union leadership shortly after the start of the war following the liberation of formerly enslaved people. Army officers frequently reported a surge in desire from formerly enslaved people to serve in the Union army, despite this being illegal at the time. Soon, some Union army officers took it upon themselves by extra legal means to enlist the help of newly freed African Americans, such as the actions of Gen. Benjamin Butler at Fort Monroe, Virginia.[1] From the beginning of the war up until 1862 African American leaders like Frederick Douglass advocated for legally permitting African Americans to serve in the army. Frederick Douglass’ manifesto Men of Color, To Arms proved to be influential in the efforts for African Americans to enlist in the military.

In late 1862 some movements began to ensure the enlistment of African Americans. The Emancipation Proclamation of January 1863 finally cleared the way for African Americans to enlist in the Union military. Although it was now legal for African Americans to enlist in the Union military, law forbade them from attaining higher rank as officers, which left the all-Black regiments in the command of White officers. Furthermore, their pay was established at seven dollars per month, compared to equally ranked White servicemen who were paid 13 dollars per month.[2]

 

Civil War Artifacts

Archeological evidence related to the barracks and support buildings that made up Camp Greene is limited, but there is a clear documentation of Civil War bullets and supplies. Bullets have been found near where the camp is located as well as a brass epaulette, and an ornamental shoulder piece that a Union officer would have worn.

 

Civil War artifacts including a lead bullet and Union uniform buttons recovered from Theodore Roosevelt Island.

NPS

Some of the first federal all-Black regiments were mustered in Massachusetts with other states quickly following suit. The District of Columbia mustered their first regiment in May 1863 commanded by Missourian Col. John H. Holman. By the end of the war some 3,500 Black men from the District of Columbia would enlist. The newly mustered 1st USCT were soon placed in a newly constructed camp on Analostan Island that was eventually named Camp Greene, named after the Chief Quartermaster for the Department of Washington Lt. Colonel Elias M. Greene. Camp Greene was mainly concentrated on the northern end of the island and consisted of a series of tents used to house the new regiment. The regiment’s time at the island was used for their training and preparation for deployment to join the fight against the Confederacy. Walt Whitman, the notable American poet, assisted the camp during this time and wrote a recollection of life on the island:

I write this on Mason’s (otherwise Analostan) island, under the fine shade trees of an old white stucco house, with big rooms; the white stucco house, originally a fine country seat (tradition says the famous Virginia Mason, author of the Fugitive Slave Law, was born here.) I reach’d the spot from my Washington quarters by ambulance up Pennsylvania avenue, through Georgetown, across the Aqueduct bridge, and around through a cut and winding road, with rocks and many bad gullies not lacking. After reaching the island, we get presently in the midst of the camp of the 1st Regiment U. S. C. T. The tents look clean and good; indeed, altogether, in locality especially, the pleasantest camp I have yet seen… [Whitman 1863].[3]

 

1864 photograph by Mathew B. Brady showing the 1st USCT on parade.

On July 30, 1863, the 1st USCT left Analostan and made their way south to assist in the siege of Richmond and Petersburg in Virginia. They also participated in the Siege of Wilmington, North Carolina. By the end of the war 178,000 Black men had volunteered for the Union Army, and 19,000 for the Union Navy. About 20 percent of African Americans serving in the Union military would die during the war, with 185 enlisted members of the 1st USCT losing their lives fighting3. As the war came to a close, the United States entered the postwar phase of reconstruction and the 1st USCT was decommissioned in 1865 ending a substantial part of the history of African American involvement in the Civil War.

 

Andrew J. Russel photograph from ca. 1861 – 1865 showing Camp Green on Theodore Roosevelt Island.

Sources:

1. “Fort Monroe and the ‘Contrabands of War,’” National Park Service, last modified August 15, 2017, https://www.nps.gov/articles/fort-monroe-and-the-contrabands-of-war.htm.

2. Norwood P. Hallowell, The Negro as a Soldier in the War of Rebellion (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1897), 17.

3. Walt Whitman, “Paying the 1st U.S.C.T.,” In Walt Whitman: Complete Poetry and Collected Prose, ed. Justin Kaplan (New York: Literary Classics of the United States, 1982), 1181-84.

4. “United States Colored Troops 1st Regiment Infantry,” National Park Service, last modified February 26, 2015, https://www.nps.gov/rich/learn/historyculture/1stusct.htm.