Fort Sumter, Charleston South Carolina


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The Story

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A few days after news of the rebel attack at Fort Sumter in Charleston South Carolina reached the nation’s capital, Simon Cameron, the secretary of war received a letter from Jacob Dodson, an African American employee at the U.S. Capitol.

He informed him that several hundred free men of color were willing to offer their services in the defense of the capital. Not only was this one of the earliest offers of military service by black men in the war, it also clearly demonstrated their desire for military service. Jacob Dobson, himself, was a fascinating character in his own right. He had explored the West with Colonel Fremont, The Pathfinder and fought to bring California into the Union during the Bear Flag Revolt. And yet despite his experience and skill, Secretary Cameron responded with the following letter:

"In reply to your letter of the 23rd instant, I have to say that this department has no intention at present to "call into the service of Government any colored soldiers."

Simon Cameron
Secretary of War

Dodson’s eagerness to serve, however, presages the desire of tens of thousands of men of African descent to strike a death blow against slavery and the looming battle they faced as they fought for the right to fight.

Less than two years later, through Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, black men finally secured the opportunity to wear the Union blue and fire a rifled musket in the great campaign for their liberation and that of their families.

Their enlistment at the national capital was filled with challenges and difficulties, dangers and opportunities. Each man, having taken such a step, was on a road on which there was no reversal.