The Rhode Island Fourteenth Regiment Heavy Artillery (Colored) was one of the first Black military units formed in Rhode Island during the Civil War. Organized in 1863, the regiment was made up of Black enlisted soldiers led by white officers, reflecting the racial rules of the time: Black men were allowed to fight, but rarely to command. Among them was Amos Butler, whom we will sometimes refer to as Ramos Butler, a Mexican-born man from Matamoros who enlisted in Rhode Island and served in Company M. His story reminds us that Latino history was already part of the American story, even during the Civil War.

The regiment trained first in Providence at Camp Smith on the Dexter Training Ground, then moved to Dutch Island in Narragansett Bay. There, the men learned military drills, weapons training, and camp discipline before being sent south. The regiment was divided into three battalions and sent in stages to Texas and Louisiana. Amos likely served with the third battalion, which remained in Rhode Island longer before leaving in April 1864 for Camp Parapet, a large Union post near New Orleans.

Unlike famous Civil War regiments known for major battles, the Fourteenth spent most of the war doing garrison duty—guarding forts, roads, and military posts. They also performed exhausting labor: digging trenches, repairing forts, clearing swamp land, and standing long guard shifts in difficult conditions. Black soldiers were paid less than white soldiers and punished when they protested unequal pay. They were expected to serve their country while also fighting racism inside the Union Army itself.

Disease was one of the regiment’s greatest dangers. More than 300 men died from illness before the war ended—more than died in battle. Malaria, fever, smallpox, and exhaustion spread quickly through camp. Records suggest Ramos served as a nurse or hospital attendant. That likely meant he worked as a medical assistant, carrying water, changing bedding, distributing medicine, and caring for sick soldiers in camp hospitals. His war may have been spent as much in the sick ward as on military watch.

Today, Amos Butler’s name is carved into the African American Civil War Memorial in Washington, D.C. His name appears there because he served. But a name on a monument is only the beginning. The monologue you will see is built from the facts we know, and from the questions history still leaves unanswered.

Why now? As Rhode Island marks the nation’s 250th anniversary, Amos Butler’s story reminds us that the struggle over freedom did not begin in 1776 or end with independence. His life asks us to widen the story we tell about this country—to include the people who fought to make its promises real, even when those promises were not yet made for them. Amos matters in this moment because his story helps us remember that the history of liberty in America has always been more complicated and diverse and more unfinished than the nation’s monuments often admit. ◼︎