Refusing Men the Opportunity of Promotion
There are a few possible reasons why
an officer would hinder another man’s efforts to gain promotion into a Colored
Regiment. One could just be simple
racism, but this does not appear to be the most likely reason. More often than not, it was actually because
officers did not wish to lose their valuable men to another regiment. This may have been one possible reason why
Charley’s Colonel may have felt a need to make it difficult to leave for the
purpose of continuing the process of promotion. Another reason, that Charley himself suspects, is that when a colonel lost a sufficient number of men, the colonel would lose his commission.
While some officers tried to maintain their best men, others would readily
help their men gain promotion for the sole reason of getting rid of them. Unfortunately, with this kind of practice,
men who should have been promoted could not, and those who should not have
been, were.
Source:
Glatthaar, Joseph T. Forged in Battle. The Free Press, 1990. p 42-43
Source:
Glatthaar, Joseph T. Forged in Battle. The Free Press, 1990. p 42-43