Last updated: August 1, 2022
Person
Warren Goodale
Collection of the Massachusetts Historical Society
Quick Facts
Significance:
US Army soldier who became an officer in one of the regiments of US Colored Troops organized at Camp Nelson during the Civil War.
Place of Birth:
Marlborough, Massachusetts
Date of Birth:
July 2, 1826
Place of Death:
Honolulu, Hawaii
Date of Death:
February 22, 1897
Place of Burial:
Honolulu, Hawaii
Cemetery Name:
Nuuanu Cemetery, also known as Oahu Cemetery
Early Life
Warren Goodale was born in Marlborough, Massachusetts, on July 2, 1826. He attended Williams College in his home state but left before completing his degree due to health issues. Goodale sailed from Boston to Honolulu, Hawaii, where he worked first as a teacher at Royal School and then became the Marshall of the Kingdom and later Collector of Customs. When he returned to Massachusetts for a brief visit, Goodale married Ellen Whitemore in 1852. Ellen joined Goodale in heading back to Hawaii, where they had five children together. However, in February 1862, soon after she gave birth to twins, Ellen died.Civil War
Following his wife’s death and with the Civil War raging, Goodale returned to Massachusetts with his family. Goodale entrusted his five children to the care of his brother and enlisted as a private in the 11th Massachusetts Light Artillery on September 14, 1864, at the age of 38. Goodale’s unit was sent to the frontlines in Virginia, where they participated in the siege operations at Petersburg through the end of the year and into the first few months of 1865. Besides the enemy forces, Goodale and his comrades also contended with inclement winter weather. Goodale took pride in his ability to withstand the wintry conditions, writing “I endure the cold quite as well as my fellows and think I make as hardy & reliable a soldier as many of the veterans.”At the end of March 1865, Goodale was commissioned a lieutenant in the 114th US Colored Infantry (USCI), one of the African American regiments organized at Camp Nelson. Units of US Colored Troops (USCT) were segregated, with white commissioned officers leading Black soldiers. Many white soldiers in the US Army desired appointments to USCT regiments to receive promotions. Goodale was mustered into the 114th USCI only a couple days before the successful conclusion of the sieges of Petersburg and Richmond in early April. Goodale was with the 114th USCI when it marched into Richmond as one of the first Federal regiments to enter the Confederate capital after its abandonment. Goodale remained with the 114th USCI while it was stationed in Virginia and then accompanied the unit to Texas to perform garrison duty on the US-Mexico border after the end of the war.
Goodale became a regimental quartermaster, meaning that he oversaw the acquisition and distribution of supplies and equipment to the men of the 114th USCI. As garrison duty in Texas was long, tedious, and seemingly without purpose compared to when fighting the Confederacy, many men longed for their military service to end. Goodale was no exception. In December 1865, Goodale wrote to his family:
When I left you there was good reason for my going, now there is no good reason for my remaining longer in the Army. We may all feel proud and satisfied that I could do a man’s share in putting down the wicked rebels, and come out from all danger unharmed. But I am neither proud nor satisfied to be here.
Despite his displeasure with garrison life, Goodale continued to perform his duty and served with the 114th USCI until he was discharged in February 1866.
Crucial Insights
Goodale was never at Camp Nelson or even in Kentucky, but he spent nearly a year as a junior officer in the 114th USCI, leading and interacting with the hundreds of Black Kentuckians who comprised the regiment. As nearly all the African American troops were formerly enslaved men who had gained their freedom by enlisting in the US Army, most were illiterate and did not leave any written accounts of their lives during the Civil War. Goodale, on the other hand, wrote many letters to his children back home in Massachusetts. The writings of USCT officers may not have been penned by the actual Black soldiers, but they are important sources for understanding these men’s wartime experiences. Goodale frequently wrote about the Black soldiers in the 114th USCI, describing the military activities that they engaged in, their everyday lives in camp and on the march, and the trials and tribulations that they faced while in the army.In his own correspondence, Goodale often praised the men of the 114th USCI. In April 1865, Goodale wrote, “the 114th were noted for their good discipline,” while the following month he remarked, “Few of them can read or write, but they are civil obedient and much more intelligent than I had supposed.” After a military inspection in November 1865 in Texas, Goodale was proud to report: the inspecting officer “was pleased to say that the Regiment looked the best of any in the Brigade. No news to us but we are pleased to be told so on such good authority.”
Goodale did not only become familiar with the Black troops through personal interactions, but also because many of them turned to regimental officers like Goodale to write letters to their families back home in Kentucky and also read ones they received from loved ones. Through this practice, Goodale learned much about the struggles faced by Black civilians in Kentucky during the Civil War and its aftermath. After writing and reading a series of letters on behalf of his men in July 1865, Goodale asserted, “The families of these soldiers, and the poor freed slaves in Kentucky are suffering a great deal from their old masters.”
To learn more about the experiences of the 114th USCI in Virginia and Texas as related by Goodale in his letters home, click here.
Post-War Life
After leaving the army, Goodale returned to Hawaii and worked as manager of several sugar plantations in Honolulu. He was appointed as head of the Hawaiian Mission Children’s Society and was actively involved in the Historical Society of Honolulu. At the age of 70, Goodale died suddenly from heart disease on February 22, 1897, and was buried in Honolulu in Nuuanu Cemetery, also known as Oahu Cemetery.Today, the Warren Goodale Papers are held by the Massachusetts Historical Society.