Defending Freedom
I never saw such fighting done as was done the negro regiment…The question that negroes will fight is settled; besides they make better soldiers in every respect than any troops I have ever had under my command. ~General Blunt after the Battle of Honey Springs, July 17, 1863.
Black infantry drilled on the parade ground in front of you. At various times during the Civil War, Fort Smith housed four regiments of U.S. Colored Troops (USCT). One was organized locally. Drills increased after Confederate soldiers mercilessly massacred black troops who had surrendered at Poison Springs in 1864. Many of the troops were former slaves. Later that year, the 11th USCT, on duty in Indian Territory, battled Smith troops. By war’s end about 10 percent of all Union troops were USCT regiments.
Marker is on Parker Avenue, on the left when traveling north.
Courtesy hmdb.org
