“The Negro’s Civil War in Tennessee, 1861-1865” by Bobby L. Lovett, is an article published in "The Journal of Negro History”. Lovett writes in article about the contributions of black Tennesseans during the Civil War in gaining their freedom. Lovett’s article also tells about black Tennessean’s experience to some of the worst racial conditions and violence during this time.
The Tennessee State General Assembly approved an act to draft black men for military service on June 28, 1861. Tennessee was the first state in the United States to draft black men. The act had three provisions: all free black males between the ages of fifteen and fifty were eligible for military labor units; each laborer was to receive eighteen dollars plus rations and clothing (no uniforms were given) each month; and those who refused military service would be arrested and charged with a punishable misdemeanor. Black men were forced to go to war with the passing of this act.
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With the war still in its early stages, ex-slaves and other blacks wanted to get in on the action, hoping to fight those who had enslaved them and their families for generations. The men tried to enlist, but due to the color of their skin, were rejected for service. White soldiers and officers believed that black men didn't have the courage to fight and resented the thought of their slaves standing in Union blue uniforms.
The massacre at Fort Pillow, Tennessee, on April 12, 1864, was one of the bloodiest battles fought by both white and black soldiers. Nathan Bedford Forrest’s Tennessee Confederate Cavalry took Fort Pillow and slaughtered 238 of the 262 black soldiers, claiming that the black troops refused to surrender. This massacre didn't intimidate the black men. Instead, it galvanized their courage, intensified their anger, and reinforced their determination to fight for