General Benjamin F. Butler, may have said it best when he bade farewell to the black men who served under him: “In this army you have been treated as soldiers, not as laborers. You have shown yourself worthy of the uniform you wear. The best officers of the Union seek to command you. Your bravery has won the admiration of those who would be your masters. Your patriotism, fidelity and courage have illustrated the best qualities of manhood. With the bayonet you have unlocked the iron barred gates of prejudice, and opened the new fields of freedom, liberty and equality of right to yourselves and to your race.”(see 99)

Sixteen Congressional Medals of Honor for bravery above and beyond the call of duty were awarded to black soldiers during the Civil War. The slave had come a long way. “The Southern position that slaves could not bear arms was essentially correct: a slave was not a man. The war ended slavery. The Negro soldier proved that the slave could become a man.” (see 100)

from http://westjerseyhistory.org/LBL/chapt2_the_army.shtml