freedom and gain respect(2). Blacks in theNorth who were free from slavery willingly pledged their serviceto fight in the Union Army however, their allegiance was deniedby President Lincoln on political grounds. Lincoln realized thatthe issue of Black soldiers would be intolerable by the public andwould not be accepted. Initially, the Union Army utilizedNorthern Blacks from the free states to relieve Whites from dailytasks that were essential to maintain the armies, thus freeing upWhite soldiers for battle. As the Union Armies began to movefurther into Confederate territory however, they encountered manyrunaway slave Blacks. These Blacks were the ones that contributed most to the Union effort. This was true for two reasons. First, there were many more Blacks in the South compared to theNorth, roughly four million compared to two hundred thousand. Secondly, the Black people in the South had more at stake, oncethey left the Confederate side to join The Union there was noturning back. Not only would they be deemed as trators butrunaways as well and were likely to face death if they wherecaught.(3) In the beginning, when Union Armies would encounterrunaway slaves they would either hold them until their ownerretrieved them or they would return these people to the properConfederate Officials(1). This became a major burden to theUnion. Many generals did not want to be regarded as "slavecatchers" they realized their duty to be much more. Because of thisobstacle many Commanders enlisted the runaway Blacks for theirservices without the consent of the Lincoln Administration. Oneinstance in particular, a precedent was set that would change thepolicy of using Blacks in the Union army. Brig. Gen. BenjaminButler had encountered several runaway slaves. When AConfederate Officer under a flag of truce had come to retrieve theslaves, Butler refused on the grounds that slaves used by theConfederate Army during war was no different than t...
