Confederate “Heritage” Month 2024, April 27: The “First Arkansas” Marching Song

Mississippi by state law recognizes April 27 as Confederate Memorial Day.

To mark the occasion, here’s a great Civil War song. It was the song of a regiment called the First Arkansas. But despite being named for Mississippi’s neighbor states, this was an all-black Union regiment.

This is a performance of their marching song by Tennessee Ernie Ford, a white country singer, from an album of Civil War songs. (1)

It's sung to the tune of “John Brown’s Body” and has some memorable lyrics:

We’re the bully soldiers of the first of Arkansas

We are fighting for the Union we are fighting for the law

We can hit a Rebel further than a white man ever saw

As we go marching on

We have done with hoeing cotton, we have done with hoeing corn

We are Colored Yankee soldiers just as sure as you are born

When the master hears us yelling they will think it’s Gabriel’s horn.

As we go marching on

This gives an indication of why some Southern segregationists were worried that Tennessee Ernie was less than fully devoted to the “Suthun Way of Life.”

The First Arkansas was one of 175 regiments that made up the United States Colored Troops (USCT). As the US Army website tells us:

During the Civil War, the Union established and maintained regiments of black soldiers. This became possible in 1862 through passage of the Confiscation Act (freeing the slaves of rebellious slaveholders) and Militia Act (authorizing the president to use former slaves as soldiers). President Lincoln was initially reluctant to recruit black soldiers. This changed in January 1863, with the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring freedom for all slaves in Confederate states. …

The first black regiments to serve in the Civil War were volunteer units made up of free black men. These included the 1st North Carolina Colored Volunteers, 5th Massachusetts (Cavalry), 54th Massachusetts (Infantry), 55th Massachusetts (Infantry), 29th Connecticut (Infantry), 30th Connecticut (Infantry), and 31st Infantry Regiment. In May 1863, the War Department established the Bureau of Colored Troops for the purpose of recruiting African-American soldiers. These became the United States Colored Troops (USCT) and existing volunteer units were converted into USCT regiments.

New regiments were also formed from every Union state. While mostly made up of African-American soldiers, other minorities served in these regiments as well, including Native Americans and Asians, while white Union officers served as commanders. USCT regiments participated in all aspects of the Union war effort as infantry, cavalry, artillery, and engineers, though they were often used as rear action garrison troop[s]. ...

By the end of the Civil War, there were 175 USCT regiments, containing 178,000 soldiers, approximately 10% of the Union Army. The mortality rate for these units was exceeding high. One of every five black soldiers in the conflict died, a 35% higher rate than other troops. In the process, sixteen USCT soldiers earned the Medal of Honor for their Civil War service. (2)

Notes:

(1) Marching Song (Of The First Arkansas Negro Regiment). Tennessee Earnie Ford TV YouTube channel. <https://youtu.be/jKss9jF2Yxw?si=Gun7R0kVghPyhEDl> (Accessed: 2024-27-04).

(2) Ferguson, Paul-Thomas (2021): A History of African American Regiments in the U.S. Army. U.S. Army 02/11/2021. <https://www.army.mil/article/243284/a_history_of_african_american_regiments_in_the_u_s_army> (Accessed: 2024-27-04).