Editing Camp William Penn (section)

== Establishment ==

The authorization to recruit African American soldiers came in stages during 1862 and 1863. President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, effective January 1, 1863, explicitly authorized the enrollment of Black men in the Union military. The War Department established the Bureau of Colored Troops in May 1863 to oversee recruitment and organization. Philadelphia's large [[Free Black Community]] made it a natural recruiting center, but the question of where to train Black soldiers was contentious. White residents in many areas resisted the presence of armed Black men, and the War Department sought a location where training could proceed without constant confrontation.<ref name="biddle">{{cite book |last=Biddle |first=Daniel R. |last2=Dubin |first2=Murray |title=Tasting Freedom: Octavius Catto and the Battle for Equality in Civil War America |year=2010 |publisher=Temple University Press |location=Philadelphia}}</ref>

Camp William Penn was established in June 1863 on the estate of abolitionist Lucretia Mott in Cheltenham Township, about eight miles north of Philadelphia's center. The location offered several advantages: proximity to Philadelphia's Black population for recruiting, distance from the city center to avoid inflaming racial tensions, and the support of local Quaker abolitionists who welcomed the camp. The camp was named for William Penn, Pennsylvania's Quaker founder, explicitly connecting the training of Black soldiers to the state's heritage of religious tolerance and advocacy for the enslaved. Colonel Louis Wagner, a German-born officer, served as the camp's first commandant and oversaw its initial development.<ref name="taylor"/>