Massachusetts’ long seafaring tradition meant that for hundreds of years, many African Americans living in coastal areas such as Boston and New Bedford went to sea.
The Civil War Navy, unlike the Army, had a long history of being integrated, so from the beginning of the war, thousands of African-Americans enlisted as sailors. Because professional sailors of the time were often away from their home base, many blacks enlisting in Massachusetts were from other states, while Massachusetts-born sailors often enlisted in such places as Philadelphia, New York, and New London. The lack of state or racial groupings in the Navy, combined with the fact that the Union did not count sailors in its recruiting quotas until 1864, meant that sailors (especially African-American ones) did not receive the same recognition as soldiers for their Civil War service.
Sailors on board the U.S.S. Monitor
One of many that had black sailors in its crew, the famous ironclad U.S.S. Monitor was photographed on the James River in Virginia. Many Civil War sailors served on rivers rather than on the open sea.
Courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
New Bedford naval enlistments
A Congressional act of July 4, 1864 allowed states to receive retroactive recruiting credit for their sailors enlisted since the beginning of the war. This selection from a certified list of sailors submitted by New Bedford’s aldermen includes the names of two black sailors, Benjamin Anderson and Caesar Boston.
Massachusetts Archives
Certificate of enlistment
Many African-Americans sailors enlisted in Massachusetts were from other states, including this one assigned to the recruiting ship Ohio in Charlestown. Not all had seafaring experience, and in line with stereotypes of the time, many blacks were assigned to such positions aboard as steward, waiter, or cook.
Massachusetts Archives