In November 1863, Sergeant William Walker of the 3rd South Carolina Infantry took dramatic action to express a grievance shared by thousands of African American troops in the Union Army.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 23-year-old former slave \u201cdid unlawfully take command\u201d of Company A and march the troops to his commanding officer\u2019s tent. There, as court-martial specifications later documented, he \u201cordered them to stack arms,\u201d and when asked what this meant, replied, \u201cWe will not do duty any longer for seven dollars per month.\u201d Walker refused an order to return to duty and told his company \u201cto let their arms alone and go to their quarters.\u201d They did, and \u201cthereby excited and joined in a general mutiny.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The young sergeant would pay for his defiance with his life. Despite a plea that he and his comrades had \u201conly contemplated a peaceful demand for the rights and benefits that had been guaranteed them,\u201d a military tribunal found Walker guilty of mutiny. He would be executed by firing squad on February 29, 1864.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sergeant Walker\u2019s case illustrates the depth of resentment felt by black troops who had enlisted to fight for the Union cause and their freedom, only to find that they were to be paid less than their white counterparts. Already confronted with a combat environment in which, if captured, they might well find themselves returned to slavery or summarily shot, black soldiers were generally assigned the nastiest camp duties and forced to confront the reality of racism on a daily basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\t