Call Number:

1968

Repository:

Historical Society of Pennsylvania

Extent:

0.3 linear feet (; 1 box, 1 volume, 2 flat files)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Cite as: [Indicate cited item or series here], Abraham Barker collection on the Free Military School for the Command of Colored Regiments (Collection 1968), The Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

Date:

(circa 1863-1895, undated; bulk 1863-1864)

Creator:

Barker, Abraham.

Abstract:

The Free Military School for Applicants for the Command of Colored Regiments opened in Philadelphia on December 26, 1863 under preceptor John H. Taggart, once a colonel of the 12th Pennsylvania Reserve. Applicants to the school underwent rigorous training and, once theypassed, were sent into the field with a regiment of African American soldiers. The school was formed and supported by the Philadelphia Supervisory Committee for Recruiting Colored Regiments, which also appealed to the local community of free African Americans to join the ranks of the military by issuing announcements calling for them to fight for America, for those still enslaved, and to prove their equality as citizens. The school remained open until late 1864. This collection consists of a register of admission to the school and a disbound register and scrapbook that has been housed in one box and two flat files. Papers in the scrapbook include correspondence, printed items such as booklets and broadsides, clippings, and a few prints. Correspondents include chairman of the Free Military School Thomas Webster, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, Governor Andrew G. Curtin, and Maryland Congressman Henry Winter Davis.

In January 1863 Lincoln enacted the Emancipation Proclamation and deemed it necessary to raise regiments of African American troops to serve in the war. In response, the Philadelphia Supervisory Committee for Recruiting Colored Regiments opened the Free Military School for Applicants for the Command of Colored Troops at 1210 Chestnut Street in December 1863. Under the guidance of Preceptor Colonel John L. Taggart, students attended a variety of classes from math and history to command tactics and army regulations. Some students even attained hands-on experience at the nearby Camp William Penn in Montgomery County, the area's first training grounds for African American soldiers that had been founded earlier in 1863. At the end of their education, students were sent before a Board of Examiners, and those who passed were commissioned a rank (from captain to colonel) and sent into the field with an African American regiment.

Thomas Webster, a businessman from Philadelphia, was one of the Free Military School's primary founders. He was one of the first people in Philadelphia to broach the notion of raising local African American regiments. Webster served as chairman of the Free Military School for its duration and, additionally, sought proper compensation for African American soldiers (who were then paid at about the half the rate as white soldiers and received no bounty). Webster became a well-known figure in national military circles and he kept in touch with those at the highest commands, including Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton and President Abraham Lincoln. The school itself remained a fixture on Chestnut Street until it closed in late 1864. During its year of service, the school helped raise eleven free African American regiments, including the 3rd Regiment under Colonel C. B. Tilghman, the 25th Regiment under Colonel G. A. Scroggs, and the 45th regiment under Lieutenant Colonel E. Thorn.

Among the Free Military School's supporters were numerous local figures such as Henry Carey Lea, Thomas P. Stotesbury, William H. Ashhurst, John A. McCallister, John S. Newbold, and Abraham Barker. Barker, an ardent abolitionist and member of the Union League of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, served as chairman of the finance committee for the Supervisory Committee for Recruiting Colored Regiments. This committee helped raise money for both the Free Military School and Camp William Penn.

The Abraham Barker collection relating to the Free Military School for Applicants for the Command of Colored Troops generally spans the period from 1863 to 1864, though a few items fall outside this range, and is housed in one box, two flat files, and one volume. The collection contains correspondence; pamphlets; printed circulars, form letters, and songs; registers; prints depicting and relating to African American soldiers; and a few clippings.

Barker compiled this collection mostly from the papers of Thomas Webster, chairman of the Free Military School. It is clear that almost all the correspondence is either to or from Webster, however it is not clear if he also collected all of the pamphlets and prints in the collection; it is possible some may have been added later by Barker. The materials in the box and flat files were also originally housed in a volume that has been disbound, so each folder retains old page numbers and remains in the order found (roughly chronological as Barker had arranged the papers). Items that fall outside the 1863-1864 date range include letters to Webster from 1865 (Box 1, Folder 31), letters from 1895 from members of the Webster family to Barker (Box 1, Folder 1), as well as a letter from Barker to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania from the same time period (Box 1, Folder 32); and a letter from 1882 from one G. P. Lathrop (Box 1, Folder 33).

Webster's correspondence and papers throughout Box 1 (from the disbound scrapbook) mostly document his efforts to form and maintain the Free Military School. But there are also several letters pertaining to the progression and approval of, and reactions to Maryland's 1864 constitution. Box 1, Folder 6, for example, contains a list of local subscribers who gave money to be sent to Maryland in support of Emancipation. The few reactions to the passage of the constitution are mostly positive. "My Maryland is free - freed by the soldiers who defend her," wrote Congressman Henry W. Davis in a 22 October 1864 telegram to Webster (Box 1, Folder 26). (The vote of Maryland soldiers, as Davis indicated, secured the passage of the constitution.) Webster, for his part, celebrated the constitution's passing with a large display, or "transparency," that was placed outside the Free Military School on 1 November 1864. Images of the display, as well as other printed items related to Maryland, are in Flat File 2.

Additional items that make up the disbound scrapbook in the collection include a number of pamphlets on the Free Military School (some are duplicates) and on African Americans in the military, such as Washington and Jackson on Negro Soldiers [1863] (Box 1, Folder 10).

There are also two registers in the collection. Volume 1 is titled “Record of Admissions to the Free Military School.” It was kept by the Philadelphia Supervisory Committee for Recruiting Colored Regiments; dates from December 1863 to August 1864; and contains the names, ages, birthplaces, and professions of students who applied to the school. This register also shows the ranks attained by each student, places they had fought, where they were sent, the results of their examinations, and other remarks. This volume is about one-quarter full and contains students’ numbers 1 to 1031.

The second register in Flat File 2, entitled “Applications to enter the Free Military School from Candidates for Command of Colored Troops,” is similar to Volume 1 in that it also contains applicants’ names, birthplaces, ranks, and places stationed. It dates from 20 April to 29 August 1864 and contains students’ numbers 1126 to 2232.