Online class teaches about the role of Black soldiers in Civil War

Most Americans are aware that the Civil War was fought between the United States of America and the Confederate States of America and was a conflict sparked primarily by a disagreement over the institution of slavery.

What many Americans are not aware of is the key role that Black soldiers played in the U.S. victory.

But now a free interactive, virtual class being offered by educators at Pittsburgh’s Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum will help to bridge that knowledge gap. The class, “African-Americans in the Civil War,” is being held on Tuesday at 7 p.m. on Varsity Tutors and will also follow the journey of Matthew Nesbitt from “slave to soldier” that challenges attendees to ask: “What would I do?”

“What we’re highlighting, aside from the significant role that African Americans played, we’re picking one story that’s really near and dear to Soldiers & Sailors and that’s Matthew Nesbitt, who was born a slave, escaped from slavery, served for the Union Army. We’ll be asking the participants to try and put themselves in this individual’s shoes at critical decision-making times and see what they would decide to do,” said Tim Neff, director of museum and education at Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum.

Neff said most people don’t understand the “sheer magnitude” of the role Black soldiers played in the Civil War, beginning with the fact that nearly 200,000 of them served in the Union Army.

“That all started with the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed the slaves in the South (effective Jan. 1, 1863),” said Neff. “But what it also did was open the door to service for African Americans in the Union Army, which was not having the success it thought it would have. The Union Army thought this would be over in three months and now we’re two solid years into the war.”

Neff said adding that many men to their ranks at the same time the South was running out of men was a huge advantage for the Union. It turned the tide of the war in the North’s favor.

“At the beginning I don’t think it was thought that (Black soldiers) would be serving in combat. There was this idea that they would be more in support roles. But as more pressure was put on to allow them to serve in combat, eventually they do so.”

Though they were served in segregated regiments, they served with valor, said Neff.

Two people who will be highlighted in the class are Black men from Western Pennsylvania, 1st Sergeants Alexander Kelly and James Bronson, who received the Medal of Honor for their heroic actions during the war.

Bronson stepped up in a situation at the Battle of Chaffin’s Farm where all of the officers leading his regiment, who were white, were killed.

“I’m sure this wasn’t the only time it happened,” Neff said. “That was a point of contention — ‘well, they have to have white officers to lead these men, they can’t lead themselves.’ Certainly by the end of the war, that way of thinking was already being changed.

“That story is symbolic of what a lot of these African American soldiers went through. They weren’t joining as citizens of our country but they still had a sense of pride and belief in this country. It’s a very powerful story and it’s important because it hasn’t always been told.”

Neff is teaching the course along with Soldiers & Sailors curator Michael Kraus.