A closer look
Black Soldiers and Representations of Citizenship
How did photographs express the hopes and challenges of Black soldiers?
by Donna Thompson Ray, American Social History Project, The Graduate Center, CUNY
After the Emancipation Proclamation, when the Union Army finally included Black men in its ranks, a new and evolving image of Black soldiers appeared that broke from the familiar racial stereotypes of subservience that characterized depictions of slavery. Illustrations in the pictorial press showed proud uniformed Black men guarding federal encampments in the South, and “before-and-after” images delineated the transformation of former slaves into soldiers. Whether displayed as newspaper engravings of battle scenes, recruitment posters, or personal portraits, these images of Black soldiers demonstrated their enthusiasm for, and sacrifice and service to, the Union cause.
The 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment is one of the more documented Black regiments of the war. Its officers and troops are commemorated in illustrations, prints, albums, sculpture, and photographs. Among them are portraits of members of the regiment included in the album owned by its quartermaster, John Ritchie. Particularly noted is this photograph of William Harvey Carney holding the Stars and Stripes in one hand and a cane in the other, conveying a moving narrative of Black sacrifice and valor. Carney, who settled in New Bedford, Massachusetts, after fleeing slavery in Norfolk, Virginia, joined the Union Army on February 17, 1863. As a member of the 54th Massachusetts, he fought and was wounded in the assault on Fort Wagner, the Confederate installation guarding Charleston harbor. He is known as the soldier who saved the Stars and Stripes when it was dropped by a fellow infantryman. Carney retrieved the flag and carried it over several miles to safety, despite being wounded repeatedly. In Leonard Ellis’s History of New Bedford and Its Vicinity, 1620–1892 (1892), Carney is reported to have stated, “the old flag never touched the ground, boys.”
This photograph, taken around 1864, displays three key visual elements denoting American patriotism: the flag, symbolizing the nation and citizenship; the uniform, declaring respectability and freedom; and the cane, proclaiming bravery and sacrifice. Carney’s posture signifies his own evolving status, and that of the nation: a wounded yet unyielding body, slightly tilted and weighted to one side. On the other hand, despite the appearance of objects symbolizing merit and inclusion, Carney’s obscured right leg may suggest that the perspective of Black soldiers is still missing in the nation’s awareness and commemoration of service and sacrifice. Although many of these portraits circulated within the African American community and in private albums, the Carney photograph was not reproduced and publicly circulated. Moreover, as a clear indication of discriminatory practices against Black soldiers, such as lower wages and denied pensions, Carney had to wait thirty-five years to receive official recognition of his heroism: He was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1900.
So what does Carney’s portrait tell us about Black masculinity and citizenship? To mark their journey on the path to freedom and recognition, both in personal portraits and public images, Black soldiers had to consider how they would be represented: What to wear? What to hold? How to pose? That said, who exactly made those decisions is another question—one that present-day viewers may ask. Was it the soldier, or the photographer, or a negotiation between the two? In most cases, we don’t have documentation to know for sure. Nonetheless, it is clear that photographs of Black soldiers capture these men in a crucial moment in the evolving relationship between Black men and the U.S. military and federal government. Carney’s Union Army uniform, and the props he held and that surrounded him, symbolized public acceptance of Black manhood, and offered an argument in support of full citizenship, when a Black man in a uniform suggested wondrous possibilities.
Reflection Questions
What element(s) of the photograph drew your attention first, second, and after that? Explain how you absorbed the rest of the photograph.
How would you describe the person in the photograph? What do you think he is experiencing?
If you had to write a caption that expressed in one or two sentences what this photograph is about, what would you say?
Additional Reading
Ronald S. Coddington, African American Faces of the Civil War: An Album (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hokins, University Press, 2012).
Edwin S. Redkey, ed., A Grand Army of Black Men: Letters from African-American Soldiers in the Union Army, 1861–1865. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992).
Deborah Willis, The Black Civil War Soldier: A Visual History of Conflict and Citizenship (New York: New York University Press, 2021).
Deborah Willis and Barbara Krauthamer, Envisioning Emancipation: Black Americans and the End of Slavery (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2012).