Black Soldier Voting at Fort Harrison

On September 29 and 30, 1864, the Army of the James captured New Market Heights and Fort Harrison. Fourteen African American soldiers of the United States Colored Troops, or USCTs, were awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions in the assaults.

In 1863, Ohio had passed a law specifically allowing absentee soldier voting. Among those soldiers were Black troops of the 5th United States Colored Troops (USCT), whose racial makeup made them eligible to vote in Ohio's elections. Thirty-nine days after capturing Fort Harrison, on November 8, 1864, they cast 194 votes for Abraham Lincoln. These are the first known Black soldier votes in Virginia, and likely the entire South.

At stake was a second term for President Abraham Lincoln, which would mean almost certain military victory for the United States in the Civil War, a revival of the 13th Amendment (voted down earlier in the year) and with it a permanent, nationwide end to slavery, and at least the beginning of a national conversation about possible Black citizenship in a reunited country.

Join us on Saturday, November 1st for a special walking tour focused on these soldiers and their voting in the 1864 election at Fort Harrison.

You may also like the following events from Richmond National Battlefield Park:

• Next Saturday, 6th September, 11:00 am, The Impact of Resource Scarcity During the Civil War in Mechanicsville
• Next month, 20th September, 11:00 am, Bearing The People's Love in Studley
• Next month, 27th September, 09:00 am, Fort Harrison Anniversary Event in Chester