![]() ![]() ![]() “The Lincoln administration and the more liberal elements in Congress made a serious judgmental error on the issue of equal pay. It was a particularly nettlesome issue for soldiers serving in the United States Colored Troops (USCT). On June 15, 1864, a bill was passed, providing for equal pay for Negro soldiers included in the categories Bates had specified, retroactive to January 1, 1864. Lincoln, however, held up the decision while Congress debated the matter. Negroes mustered into service under the provisions of the Militia Act of July 17, 1862, or those freed before April 19, 1864, he declared, were entitled to equal pay and allowances. Torn by conflicting emotions, Bates came to the only conclusion he could, since the Negroes were in the field, fighting for the Union. In March, 1864, Senator Sumner delivered Harrison’s petition, along with a letter from Andrew, to Lincoln who, in turn, presented the papers to Bates. Harrison, upon Andrew’s urging, applied for equal pay and allowances, retroactive to the date he entered the Army. Angered by this discrimination, Governor John Albion Andrew of Massachusetts, who was enthusiastically raising Negro regiments, initiated a test case involving Samuel Harrison, a colored chaplain in the 54 th Massachusetts Infantry. Historian Marvin Cain wrote: “The Negro troops so enlisted were not given a bounty, but instead received only laborer’s pay, thus serving for $6 a month less than white soldiers.
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