CALLING All USCT'S !

Two big USCT events will be held this year! 

United States Colored Troops Weekend at Fort Mifflin 

April 6 & 7, 2013

Historic Fort Mifflin

Fort Mifflin Road Philadelphia PA 19143

The Fort has barracks and dungeons(Casemates) for free overnight stay and we will provide three meals. Free parking. So come drill, teach, sing, learn, play and plan.

150th Commemoration of Camp William Penn. (JUNE 1863)

September 21, 2013

Sycamore and Willow Streets Cheltenham PA 19027

Parade & Encampment Exhibit.

Tell your Friends Neighbors and relatives

Family please join us as we interpret our stories and honor the ancestors.

USCT Weekend Committee 

 Chair, Sgt. Tom Davis, 3rd USCT

 Curator, Corporal Robert Houston, 3rd USCT

 Operations, Pvt. Joe Becton, 3rd USCT

Submitter, Corporal Leon Brooks, 6th USCT 

Three Centuries of African American Soldiers

The word is given! The date certain for our he annual gathering to salute the unsung sable warriors of yesteryear. Lest we forget.  This is a  special year of commemoration. January 1st marked the 150th Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, and in May,  the 150th of the establishment the Bureau of the United States States Colored Troops, of the Civil War. New this year -  June 18th was the Centennial of The War of 1812 , the second War of Independence The program will feature the Old Barrack's 1812 exhibit and new presentation An appearance of WWII veteran one of the recipients of the Congressional Gold Medal for their service with the Montford Point Marines, the first black US Marines, serving in segregated units in the Pacific.  View flyer

150th Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation

Watch Night Observances will reenact December 31st, 1862.  One hundred-fifty years ago, slaves, freemen, abolitionists and people in all walks of life, sat in churches, meeting houses and fields throughout the nation, watching and waiting for freedom's dawn. With the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, freedom was to occur on  January 1, 1863.

Yet, freedom's light would not be all encompassing. Military necessity,  born out of the need to keep the loyalty of the border states, required the proclamation to exempt  loyal slave owners from having to free their slaves. Also,  the states of the Confederacy, having seceded from the Union, by definition,  belonged to another country, didn't recognize it. 

In and of itself, the Emancipation Proclamation didn't serve to directly free  any more slaves than the 1862 Second Confiscation and militia Act . It was not a "Declaration of Freedom", as the Declaration of Independence also was not.  The Fugitive Slave Act was still the law of the land, and was not repealed until 1864.

First and foremost, it was a military order, issued by President Lincoln, as Commander and Chief. It overturned the 1792 Militia Act, which barred Africans from serving in the military, specifically allowing African men to be received all military services They already had been fighting in the Navy. 

In May 22nd 1863, General Order 143 established The Bureau of the United States Colored Troops, through which the real significance of Emancipation Proclamation was manifested. Over 209 thousand black soldiers and sailors, and 7 thousand white officers who lead them, prosecuted the war against the South. Forty-thousand paid the price that freed 4 million Africans from Biblical slavery.

The imagery of a sitting African-American president on the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation is powerful symbolism of the great sacrifices made toward realizing the ideals articulated with the founding of this country. If your group is holding an event of reflection on New Year Eve, you may want to acknowledge the historical milestone.

Cpl Leon Brooks
6th Regiment USCT, Re-enactors