United States Colored Troops

USCT
United States Colored Troops
An USCT recruiting poster
Active	May 22, 1863 – Oct 1865
Allegiance	Union
Branch	army
Type	infantry, cavalry, artillery, engineering
Size	175 regiments; 178,000 men
Motto(s)	Sic semper tyrannis
Engagements	American Civil War
Disbanded	October 1865

The United States Colored Troops (USCT) were regiments in the United States Army composed primarily of African-American (colored) soldiers. Other people of color who were not of African descent, such as Native AmericansPacific Islanders, and Asian Americans also fought under USCT regiments. They were first recruited during the American Civil War, and by the end of that war in April, 1865, the 175 USCT regiments constituted about one-tenth of the manpower of the Union Army; comprising almost 180,000 men. The USCT was the precursor to the Buffalo Soldier regiments in the American Old West.

The U.S. Congress passed the Confiscation Act of 1862 in July 1862. It freed slaves whose owners were in rebellion against the United States, and Militia Act of 1862 empowered the President to use freed slaves in any capacity in the army. President Abraham Lincoln was concerned with public opinion in the four border states that remained in the Union, as they had numerous slaveholders, as well as with northern Democrats who supported the war but were less supportive of abolition than many northern Republicans. Lincoln opposed early efforts to recruit black soldiers, although he accepted the Army's using them as paid workers. Native American also played a significant role in the colored regiments of the American Civil War.

In September 1862, Lincoln issued his preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, announcing that all slaves in rebellious states would be free as of January 1. Recruitment of colored regiments began in full force following the Proclamation in January 1863.