William Gould Raymond
William Gould (W.G.) Raymond (1819–1893), a pastor, chaplain and American soldier in the Union Army during the American Civil War, played a prominent role in the initial recruitment of the first federal African American regiments of the Union Army. In the period between the Emancipation Proclamation and the establishment of the Bureau of Colored Troops in 1863, Raymond, along with J.D. Turner, received authorization from President Abraham Lincoln to recruit and command the first federal African-American Union Army troops from the District of Columbia.