Black Troops, White Officers

This plate is from Atlas to Accompany the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, 1861-1865.

“The War Department sought to systematize the selection of officers of colored troops on May 22, 1863, by establishing a Board of Examiners in Washington, and subsequently in Cincinnati, St. Louis, New Orleans, Davenport, Iowa and Richmond. The officers selected by these boards had to pass tests of their loyalty, morality, health, intelligence, and knowledge of tactics for the units they expected to command. If the applicant failed the examination once, he was not re-examined. From the beginning this system worked well, but, as a result of its success, the War Department had difficulty finding persons capable of passing the exacting examinations. As a result, one Commander, Brigadier General J. C. Rice, 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, Army of the Potomac, ordered the formation of a school of instruction for interested troops in his command to prepare them to meet the stringent requirements of the boards.”
John T. Blassingame. “The Selection of Officers and Non-Commissioned Officers of Negro Troops in the Union Troops, 1863-1865,” Negro History Bulletin,Vol. 30, No. 1 (January 1967), pp. 8-11.

“Military Rank & Insignia: The Civil War in Four Minutes” (4:00) YouTube, August 25, 2019
“Kristopher White of the American Battlefield Trust details the rank of soldiers in the Union and Confederate Armies during the Civil War, and how those ranks were displayed on uniforms.”