Benjamin Williams

It was not unusual for African Americans to encounter racism in military as well as civilian life. The 32nd U.S. Colored Infantry, stationed at Morris Island, South Carolina, provides one example, as many of its members wrote home describing the general incompetence, maltreatment, and poor leadership exhibited by its officers.

In a letter home, Benjamin Williams gives a vivid account of the harsh conditions at this isolated post, many of which he attributes to the refusal of the volunteers to take the meager pay then being offered to black troops. Williams takes some consolation in the courage and steadfastness shown by his brother soldiers, all determined to resolutely face the Confederates despite the trouble in their own encampment.

We arrived at Sea Brook, eight miles up the creek, west of Hilton Head [South Carolina]. There...