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United States Colored Troops

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3 USCT quizzes and 35 USCT trivia questions.
1.
  Fight for their Freedom: The USCT in the Civil War    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Little has been told of the regiments recruited from former slaves and free black men, or what they endured. Here are a few questions about the history of the United States Colored Troops and their actions during the Civil War.
Average, 10 Qns, AlexT781, Aug 30 18
Average
AlexT781
Aug 30 18
210 plays
2.
  USCT African and American Leaders   great trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 15 Qns
Find out more about African and American men and women who fought for, and won, the emancipation of slaves at the time of the Civil War.
Tough, 15 Qns, ricbatcheller, Feb 12 09
Tough
ricbatcheller
476 plays
3.
  Civil War and the USCT    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Let's look at some of the history involving Afro American contribution to preserve the Union.
Difficult, 10 Qns, manofdreds, Aug 19 05
Difficult
manofdreds
932 plays
trivia question Quick Question
During the Petersburg siege the War Department authorized the formation of an all black corps. What was its numeral designation?

From Quiz "Civil War and the USCT"





USCT Trivia Questions
1. After the capture of Fort Sumter, there was a surge of enlistments from people of all ethnic backgrounds. However, African Americans were rejected because of what reason?

From Quiz Fight for their Freedom: The USCT in the Civil War

Answer: A 1792 law prohibited them from militia service

The Militia Act of 1792 specifically said only Whites could be in state militias, thereby prohibiting free black men from state militia service, the main source of soldiers in the early stages of the war. The Militia Act of 1862 nullified the prohibition, giving the president the power to use African Americans in "any way he may judge best for the public welfare."

2. Who was a conductor on the Underground Railroad?

From Quiz USCT African and American Leaders

Answer: Harriet Tubman

During the time that she helped on the Underground Railroad, Harriet Tubman helped around 300 slaves escape to the north. Later she became a scout for the 2nd South Carolina Colored Troops.

3. After the capture of this southern city, 15,000 colored troops were recruited into the Union Army.

From Quiz Civil War and the USCT

Answer: New Orleans

Unauthorized to recruit black soldiers, General Benjamin Butler, commander of the Army of the Gulf, disobeyed Lincoln's orders and started recruiting negroes into his ranks.

4. The First and Second Confiscation Acts freed slaves owned by supporters of the Confederacy. However, these freed slaves were not actively recruited for combat roles until President Lincoln issued which executive order?

From Quiz Fight for their Freedom: The USCT in the Civil War

Answer: Emancipation Proclamation

Officially known as "Regarding the Status of Slaves in States Engaged in Rebellion Against the United States", the Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves in the Confederacy and made provisions for the former slaves to "be received into the armed service of the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places and to man vessels of all sorts in said service."

5. Who was the first African-American to run for Vice-President?

From Quiz USCT African and American Leaders

Answer: Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass ran in 1872 for the Equal Rights Party as candidate for the Vice-Presidency. The presidential candidate was the first woman to run - Victoria Woodhull.

6. By war's end how many black soldiers and sailors were awarded the Medal of Honor for their valor?

From Quiz Civil War and the USCT

Answer: 24

A tribute to the sacrifices that black troops made to gain their freedom and preserve the Union.

7. In what way was the Battle of New Market Heights remarkable for the USCT?

From Quiz USCT African and American Leaders

Answer: They received fourteen Medals of Honor

On September 29, 1864 in the Battle of Chaffin's Farm (or New Market Heights, as it is also known) the USCT won 14 of the 16 Medals of Honor that it won during the entire war.

8. The U.S. War Department issued this general order on May 22, 1863.

From Quiz Civil War and the USCT

Answer: General Order 143

This general order established the Bureau of Colored Troops that recognized the organization, training, and combat use of black troops in the Union army.

9. In what state was the Battle of New Market Heights?

From Quiz USCT African and American Leaders

Answer: Virginia

The USCT paid dearly for their valor. The men ran headlong into the rebel fire, winning the Medal of Honor for inspiring their men to go forward (many after being wounded) and for picking up the colors when the color bearers fell. Fourteen Medals of Honor were won that day by the colored warriors. It was part of the Petersburg battles and siege.

10. This act, signed by Lincoln on July 17, 1862, affected how black soldiers were paid.

From Quiz Civil War and the USCT

Answer: Militia Act

This act paid black soldiers only ten dollars a month.

11. African American soldiers who were unfortunate enough to be captured faced much harsher treatment than white prisoners of war. During what battle did Confederate soldiers massacre African American soldiers who had surrendered?

From Quiz Fight for their Freedom: The USCT in the Civil War

Answer: Fort Pillow

When Fort Pillow was forced to surrender on April 12, 1864, Confederate soldiers massacred the captured African Americans and their white officers and NCOs. The Confederate commander, General Nathan Bedford Forrest, who later founded the KKK, claimed to have no knowledge of what his soldiers did to the former slaves that fought against him at Fort Pillow.

12. In what state did the famous 54th Massachusetts charge Fort Wagner?

From Quiz USCT African and American Leaders

Answer: South Carolina

For his actions on July 18, 1863 William H. Carney became the first USCT man to win the Medal of Honor. After being shot several times he saved the American flag when the color bearer fell. He claimed, "The old flag never touched the ground, boys.". On May 31, 1897, when a monument to the charge was unveiled in Boston, William H. Carney walked out on the stage with the same flag that he had saved at Fort Wagner. Booker T. Washington, who was there to speak, said he never had heard or felt a crowd's reaction that ever equalled it.

13. Who was the founder of the abolitionist paper the "North Star"?

From Quiz USCT African and American Leaders

Answer: Frederick Douglass

Douglass, who had purchased his own freedom, helped to persuade Lincoln to let colored troops fight and went out and recruited them himself. "Once let the black man get upon his person the brass letters US, let him get an eagle on his button, and a musket on his shoulder, and bullets in his pocket, and there is no power on earth or under the earth which can deny that he has earned the right of citizenship in the United States" said Douglass who had two sons in the 54th Massachusetts.

14. This black soldier was the Union's first black officer.

From Quiz Civil War and the USCT

Answer: Major Martin Delany

A doctor, Delany was a graduate of Harvard Medical School.

15. A total of 25 African American soldiers earned the Medal of Honor during the Civil War. An incredible 14 Medals of Honor were awarded in one battle during the Siege of Petersburg, Virginia. When was the final Medal of Honor for this action awarded?

From Quiz Fight for their Freedom: The USCT in the Civil War

Answer: 2001

137 years after the Battle of New Market Heights, Andrew Jackson Smith, Color Sergeant of the 55th Massachusetts Infantry, was finally awarded the Medal of Honor. President Clinton posthumously awarded Sergeant Smith the Medal of Honor on January 16, 2001.

16. Who was the first soldier in the USCT to win the Medal of Honor?

From Quiz USCT African and American Leaders

Answer: William H. Carney

During the assault on Fort Wagner, after seeing the Color bearer shot and start to fall, Sergeant Carney would save the National banner from falling into Rebel hands, or on the ground. Even though he had been shot four times, he managed to get the Colors back to his own lines and to safety.

17. Along with the 54th Massachusetts, which two other black units were recruited in the Boston Area?

From Quiz Civil War and the USCT

Answer: 55th Mass Infantry and 5th Mass Cavalry

Recruiting for the 54th Mass was so high that the overflow formed these two units.

18. While there were thousands of African American noncommissioned officers in the USCT, the officers were all white. What punishment did the Confederate Congress authorize in 1863 for captured white officers of the USCT?

From Quiz Fight for their Freedom: The USCT in the Civil War

Answer: Death

On May 1, 1863, the Confederate Congress passed "The Retaliatory Act", a resolution that considered white officers in African American regiments to be inciting slave revolts and leading their rebellion against the Confederacy, and declared the punishment to be execution after being tried by a military court. Captured African American soldiers were to be treated as escaped or rebelling slaves, and many times were simply shot while trying to surrender.

19. The Emancipation Proclamation took effect on what date?

From Quiz USCT African and American Leaders

Answer: January 1, 1863

Lincoln had issued it on September 22, 1862 following a Union "victory" at Antietam, but it did not take effect until January 1, 1863. The Confederates were outraged. "It is the darkest thing to ever come out of the human mind." said Senator Joseph Brown, of Georgia. "Both sides had agreed that this was to be a white man's war!"

20. It was not until this year that black Civil War veterans received their pensions.

From Quiz Civil War and the USCT

Answer: 1890

It was an act of Congress that enabled black veterans to receive equitable pension and disability payments.

21. About how many colored troops fought for the Union army?

From Quiz USCT African and American Leaders

Answer: 180,000

Roughly 36,000 died during the war from wounds or disease. 80 were commissioned officers. Martin Delany, and Francis Dumas were both Majors, the highest rank attained by a colored officer. Lincoln said, "Fifity thousand USCT on the banks of the Mississippi would end this war." Confederate General Henry McCulloch remarked after the Battle of Millikens Bend, "Our charge was resisted by the Negro portion of the enemy line with very great obstinacy, but the White portion of the Yankee line broke and ran like curs."

22. During the Petersburg siege the War Department authorized the formation of an all black corps. What was its numeral designation?

From Quiz Civil War and the USCT

Answer: XXV Corps

This corps, commanded by Major-General Weitzel, saw extensive action during the siege, including marching into Richmond.

23. What was the first battle that US Colored Troops took part in?

From Quiz USCT African and American Leaders

Answer: Island Mound

The battle took place a full two and a half months before Lincoln authorized the use of colored troops. The 1st Kansas volunteers were the first to see action in this battle with bushwackers. It was fought in the state of Missouri.

24. How many black field officers were there in the Union Army?

From Quiz Civil War and the USCT

Answer: 100

Excluding surgeons and chaplains, none of the field officers held the rank higher than captain.

25. Just two days before they made their assault on Fort Wagner, the 54th Massachusetts fought in this battle. Which battle?

From Quiz USCT African and American Leaders

Answer: Secessionville

The USCT fought in all of the above battles. At Cabin Creek - the 1st Kansas; at Port Hudson - the 1st and 3rd Louisiana; at Baldwin - the 1st South Carolina. Of the battle at Secessionville, Robert Gould Shaw, the commander of the 54th wrote home to his parents, "You should have seen my men fight. They did a splendid job."

26. Which state furnished the most men for the USCT?

From Quiz USCT African and American Leaders

Answer: Louisiana

Louisiana- 24,052, Kentucky- 23,703, Tennessee- 20,135, Mississippi- 17,869, Maryland- 8,718, were the top five. The northern state with the most men recruited was Pennsylvania- 8,612, in sixth place. Kentucky and Maryland were border states.

27. Name the Union spy that worked in the Confederate White House in Richmond as a servant?

From Quiz USCT African and American Leaders

Answer: Mary Elizabeth Bowser

Bowser would relay the information that she had overheard in meetings, or had read from dispatches that were on president Davis' desk. Davis never thought to hide the dispatches because slaves were not supposed to be able to read or write. Although aware that the Union army seemed to know what he was thinking, Davis never discovered the spy in his own house.

28. Who declared martial law in Missouri on August 30, 1861 and proclaimed the emancipation of Missouri's slaves?

From Quiz USCT African and American Leaders

Answer: John C. Frémont

Frémont also began to confiscate land from pro-southern land owners. When Lincoln found out what he had done, Fremont was shipped off to West Virginia and the act was repealed.

29. Who was the publisher of "The Liberator" and the founder of the American Anti-Slavery Society?

From Quiz USCT African and American Leaders

Answer: William Lloyd Garrison

"The Liberator" was an eloquent and radical abolitionist publication that declared that slavery was an abomination in the sight of God and called for the immediate emancipation of all slaves.

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