107th USCT at Fort Corcoran
The 107th United States Colored Troops (USCT) in Arlington is an often overlooked story. This regiment of African American soldiers was stationed in Fort Ethan Allen and Fort Corcoran during the last days of the American Civil War. The photographs of the regiment in Arlington are some of the most recognizable images of the USCT during the war.
The regiment was organized in Louisville, Kentucky, in May 1864. The 107th was transferred east and served with the Federal 18th, 25th, and 10th Corps, participating in the Petersburg, Fort Fisher, and Carolina Campaigns in 1864-65.
After the surrender of Confederate forces in North Carolina in April 1865, the 107th was transferred to the Department of Washington to garrison the Defenses of Washington, including Fort Corcoran.
Two companies of the 107th served in the surrounding fortifications, while seven other companies were stationed throughout Arlington County (then named Alexandria County).
At the outbreak of the Civil War, African American men were not allowed to serve as soldiers in the United States Army. On May 22, 1863, the United States War Department issued General Order No. 143, formally allowing African American men to enlist into segregated regiments designated “United States Colored Troops” or “USCT.”
Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation freed enslaved people in the rebellious states but excluded loyal slave states like Kentucky. Enlistment in the USCT guaranteed freedom for recruits but required the consent of individual enslavers until July 1864, when USCT recruitment in Kentucky was opened to “all who present themselves.” Some early recruits of the 107th USCT were free men who enlisted by choice or were drafted; their enslavers enlisted some, and still, others escaped from bondage and secured freedom through enlistment.
In Arlington, members of the 107th were detached to the quartermaster’s department and deployed as guards for the Freedman’s Bureau. On November 22, 1866, they were mustered out from service from Washington, D.C., as free men.
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