Nathaniel Banks

Whites of both North and South doubted the fighting ability, discipline, and courage of black soldiers. Many of these doubts were put to rest during the siege of Port Hudson, Louisiana, when General Nathaniel Banks led a stubborn attack on a fortified Confederate position in May 1863.

Here is General Banks' appraisal of his troops, as expressed in a letter to General Henry Halleck. The letter was first published as part of Washington and Jackson on Negro Soldiers, a pamphlet advocating black enlistment into the Union army and printed in Philadelphia in 1863.

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE GULF,
BEFORE PORT HUDSON, MAY 30, 1863.

Major-General H. W. Halleck, General-inChief,
Washington.

GENERAL:—Leaving Sommesport [Louisiana] on the Atchafalaya, where my command was at the date of my last dispatch, I landed at Bayou Sara at 2 o'clock on the morning...