United States Colored Troops (USCT) were Union Army regiments during the American Civil War that primarily comprised African Americans,with soldiers from other ethnic groups also serving in USCT units. Established in response to a demand for more units from Union Army commanders,USCT regiments,which numbered 175 in total by the end of the war in 1865,constituted about one-tenth of the manpower of the army,according to historian Kelly Mezurek,author of For Their Own Cause:The 27th United States Colored Troops. "They served in infantry,artillery,and cavalry." Approximately 20 percent of USCT soldiers were killed in action or died of disease and other causes,a rate about 35 percent higher than that of white Union troops. Numerous USCT soldiers fought with distinction,with 16 receiving the Medal of Honor. The USCT regiments were precursors to the Buffalo Soldier units which fought in the American Indian Wars.
Ely Samuel Parker,born Hasanoanda,later known as Donehogawa,was an engineer,U.S. Army officer,aide to General Ulysses Grant,and Commissioner of Indian Affairs,in charge of the government's relations with Native Americans. He was bilingual,speaking both Seneca and English,and became friends with Lewis Henry Morgan,who became a student of the Iroquois in Upstate New York. Parker earned an engineering degree in college and worked on the Erie Canal,and other projects.
Nelson Appleton Miles was a United States Army officer who served in the American Civil War (1861-1865),the later American Indian Wars (1840-1890),and the Spanish–American War,(1898). From 1895 to 1903,Miles served as the last Commanding General of the United States Army (General-in-Chief),before the office was transformed into the current Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army in 1903.
John Eaton,Jr. was an American educator who served as the U.S. Commissioner of Education and a Union Army colonel during the American Civil War. On March 12,1866,the United States Senate confirmed his January 13,1866,nomination for appointment to the grade of brevet brigadier general of volunteers to rank from March 13,1865.
Ellis Spear was an officer in the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment of the Union Army during the American Civil War. On April 10,1866,the United States Senate confirmed President Andrew Johnson's February 24 nomination of Spear for appointment to the grade of brevet brigadier general to rank from April 9,1865. He was United States Commissioner of Patents in 1877–1878.
Thomas Mead Bowen was a state legislator in Iowa and Colorado,a Union Army officer during the American Civil War,a justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court,briefly the Governor of Idaho Territory,an elected judge in Colorado and a United States senator from Colorado.
Thomas Jefferson Majors was a Republican politician from the U.S. state of Nebraska.
The African American Civil War Memorial Museum,in the U Street district of Washington,D.C.,recognizes the contributions of the 209,145 members of the United States Colored Troops (USCT). The eponymous memorial,dedicated in July 1998 by the African American Civil War Memorial Freedom Foundation,commemorates the service of 209,145 African-American soldiers and about 7,000 white and 2,145 Hispanic soldiers,together with the approximate 20,000 unsegregated Navy sailors,who fought for the Union in the American Civil War,mostly among the 175 regiments of United States Colored Troops.
Thomas Clement Fletcher was the 18th Governor of Missouri during the latter stages of the American Civil War and the early part of Reconstruction. He was the first Missouri governor to be born in the state. The Thomas C. Fletcher House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
The 28th United States Colored Infantry,also called the 28th Indiana Infantry (Colored),1 was an African American infantry regiment from the state of Indiana that fought in the American Civil War.
DeLancey Floyd-Jones was a career officer in the United States Army,serving in the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War,as well as on frontier duty in the Old West.
William J. Simmons was an American Baptist pastor,educator,author,and activist. He was a former enslaved person who became the second president of Simmons College of Kentucky (1880–1890),for whom the school was later named.
Thomas Jefferson Henderson was a U.S. Representative from Illinois and a Union Army officer during the American Civil War.
Indiana,a state in the Midwest,played an important role in supporting the Union during the American Civil War. Despite anti-war activity within the state,and southern Indiana's ancestral ties to the South,Indiana was a strong supporter of the Union. Indiana contributed approximately 210,000 Union soldiers,sailors,and marines. Indiana's soldiers served in 308 military engagements during the war;the majority of them in the western theater,between the Mississippi River and the Appalachian Mountains. Indiana's war-related deaths reached 25,028. Its state government provided funds to purchase equipment,food,and supplies for troops in the field. Indiana,an agriculturally rich state containing the fifth-highest population in the Union,was critical to the North's success due to its geographical location,large population,and agricultural production. Indiana residents,also known as Hoosiers,supplied the Union with manpower for the war effort,a railroad network and access to the Ohio River and the Great Lakes,and agricultural products such as grain and livestock. The state experienced two minor raids by Confederate forces,and one major raid in 1863,which caused a brief panic in southern portions of the state and its capital city,Indianapolis.
Charles Sawyer Russell was a United States Army officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
Thomas Jefferson Brady was an American Republican politician and Civil War officer.
The 48th United States Colored Infantry Regiment was a U.S.C.T. infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was organized from the 10th Louisiana Infantry in March 1864 and fought in the Gulf Coast areas as part of the Department of the Gulf. It participated in the Battle of Fort Blakely in April 1865,after which it served in various garrison roles in Texas until it was mustered out on January 4,1866. During its time of service the regiment lost three officers and 59 enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and one officer and 464 enlisted men died of disease,for a total of 527.
The following list is a Bibliography of American Civil War Union military unit histories. More details on each book are available at WorldCat.
The 14th United States Colored Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The regiment was composed of African American enlisted men commanded by white officers and was authorized by the Bureau of Colored Troops which was created by the United States War Department on May 22,1863.
