In 1865 during his daring raid into the South, Union General James Harrison Wilson directed the commanders of each of his three divisions to recruit and organize a regiment of former slaves during his march through Alabama and Georgia. By the time Wilson’s forces arrived in Columbus, GA the Corp had recruited 1,400 and when he arrived in Macon, the recruits were over 2,700. On April 24 & 25, all of the former slaves recruited by the Corp were organized into three regiments consisting of 1,100 men and were outfitted with Confederate uniforms and equipment.y the end of the Civil War, 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