When the Civil War began Blacks were not allowed to fight in the Union Army. In fact, there were occasions when Union generals ordered slaves to be freed in areas where battles were won and the President rescinded their orders. On August 12, 1863 Rev. King had received word that Captain Ward opened a recruiting office for the First Michigan Colored Infantry and called a meeting to share the news with the settlers of Buxton. The man who had urged against a “lawless, desperate act” when John Brown visited Chatham, now gave a recruitment speech. “Those who would be free must strike the blow”, he said—The Union Army was finally accepting Black soldiers! He cautioned that each man should make provisions for his family and his farm. That very night forty men stepped forward to sign up, thirty others needed time to make arrangements for their families.
The first group of men left for Detroit just two days later and were a welcome addition to the First Michigan, as they had trained in fundamentals of drill as the Twenty-Fourth Kent Regiment of the Militia. Solomon King was made a recruiting sergeant while the First Michigan was being mustered.
The First Michigan fought in eleven major battles in North Carolina, Florida, South Carolina, and Georgia before the war ended in late 1865 with a victory for the Union Army