Although Negroes fought in large numbers in both the Revolution and
the War of 1812, there is no instance of any Negro attaining or
exercising the rank of commissioned officer. It is a curious bit of
history, however, that in the Civil War those who were fighting to
keep colored men enslaved were the first to commission colored
officers. In Louisiana but a few days after the outbreak of the war,
the free colored population of New Orleans organized a military
organization, called the "Native Guard," which was accepted into the
service of the State and its officers were duly commissioned by the
Governor.[26]
These Negro soldiers were the first to welcome General Butler when he
entered New Orleans, and the fact of the organization of the "Native
Guard" by the Confederates was used by General Butler as the basis for
the organization of three colored regiments of "Native Guards," all
the line officers of which were colored men. Governor Pinchback, who
was a captain in one of these regiments, tells the fate of these early
colored officers.
"There were," he writes, "in New Orleans some colored soldiers known
as 'Native Guards' before the arrival of the Federal soldiers, but I
do not know much about them. It was a knowledge of this fact that
induced General Butler, then in command of the Department of the Gulf,
to organize three regiments of colored soldiers, viz: The First,
Second and Third Regiments of Native Guards.
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