According to the U.S. National Archives on Black Soldiers in the U.S. Military, roughly 179,000 Black men (10% of the Union Army) served as soldiers in the U.S. Army and another 19,000 served in the Navy. Nearly 40,000 Black soldiers died over the course of the war—30,000 of infection or disease.
Black soldiers served in artillery and infantry and also performed noncombat support functions. Black carpenters, chaplains, cooks, guards, labourers, nurses, scouts, spies, steamboat pilots, surgeons, and teamsters also contributed to the war cause. There were nearly 80 Black commissioned officers.
Black women who could not formally join the Army served as nurses, spies, and scouts, the most famous being Harriet Tubman. One of her most successful exploits was as a scout for the 2nd South Carolina Volunteers.
Source: Black Soldiers in the U.S. Military During the Civil War
On April 15, 1865, one week after the war ended, President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth in Washington, D.C.
