“The Uniform of the United States Does Not Protect the Disturber of the Public Peace”: Tensions between Black and White Union Soldiers and the Southern Population, 1865–68

This paper examines the interactions and relationships between African American soldiers, white Union soldiers, and the militarized southern population that occurred because of the role of Black soldiers in the South from 1865 through 1868, not only as enforcers of reconstruction policies, but as men wearing the uniform of the United States Army. After the war, racial tensions heightened between white and Black Union soldiers, which did nothing to counter the objections of white southerners to seeing uniformed Black soldiers who continued to occupy their cities. The complaints and tensions among white southerners toward African American soldiers ranged from simple disturbances to violent outbursts. I argue that the presence of uniformed Black soldiers increased the animosity that white southerners felt toward the Union, which they saw as responsible for changing those men from slaves to figures of authority in Union blue. The escalation of violence, specifically relating to Black men in Union uniform, confirms the link between the hatred white southerners felt toward the North’s authority and the authority the uniforms embodied, and in turn helped inspire violent retaliation by white terrorists groups and former Confederates who donned their old uniforms in pursuit of intimidation and authority.