1st Regiment Kansas Volunteer Infantry (African Descent)

The 1st Regiment Kansas Volunteer Infantry (Colored) was an infantry

Infantry

Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...

regiment

Regiment

A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...

that served in the Union Army

Union Army

The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...

during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

Service

The 1st Kansas Infantry (Colored) was organized at Fort Scott, Kansas

Fort Scott, Kansas

Fort Scott is a city in and the county seat of Bourbon County, Kansas, United States, south of Kansas City, on the Marmaton River. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 8,087. It is the home of the Fort Scott National Historic Site and the Fort Scott National...

and mustered in as a battalion (six companies) on January 13, 1863 for three years. Four additional companies were recruited and mustered in between January 13 and May 2, 1863. It mustered in under the command of Colonel

Colonel (United States)

In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, colonel is a senior field grade military officer rank just above the rank of lieutenant colonel and just below the rank of brigadier general...

James M. Williams.

This regiment was recruited without federal authorization and against the wishes of Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton

Edwin M. Stanton

Edwin McMasters Stanton was an American lawyer and politician who served as Secretary of War under the Lincoln Administration during the American Civil War from 1862–1865...

. James H. Lane, recruiting commissioner for Kansas territory north of the Kansas River

Kansas River

The Kansas River is a river in northeastern Kansas in the United States. It is the southwestern-most part of the Missouri River drainage, which is in turn the northwestern-most portion of the extensive Mississippi River drainage. Its name come from the Kanza people who once inhabited the area...

, on August 4, 1862 authorized raising the regiment. It was the first African-American regiment to fight in combat with white soldiers during the Civil War, in the skirmish at Island Mound

Skirmish at Island Mound

The Skirmish at Island Mound was a skirmish of the American Civil War, occurring from October 27 to October 29, 1862, in Bates County, Missouri. This Union victory was notable as the first known engagement of an African-American regiment during the Civil War....

, in Bates County, Missouri

Bates County, Missouri

Bates County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. As of 2000, the population is 16,653. Its county seat is Butler. The county was organized in 1833 and named after Frederick Bates, the second governor of Missouri....

.

The regiment was attached to Department of Kansas to June 1863. District of the Frontier, Department of Missouri, to January 1864. Unattached, District of the Frontier, VII Corps, Department of Arkansas, to March 1864. 2nd Brigade, District of the Frontier, VII Corps, to December 1864.

The 1st Kansas Infantry (Colored) ceased to exist on December 13, 1864 when its designation was changed to the 79th Regiment Infantry U.S. Colored Troops

79th Regiment Infantry U.S. Colored Troops

The 79th Infantry Regiment, U.S. Colored Troops was an all-black unit raised during the Civil War.The first raising of the 79th USCT was formed from the 7th Corps de Afrique Infantry Regiment....

.

Also attached to the regiment at some points was Armstrong's Battery Light Artillery, a unit for which few details are known.

Detailed service

Duty in the Department of Kansas October 1862, to June 1863. Action at Island Mound, Mo., October 27, 1862. Island Mound, Kansas, October 29. Butler, Mo., November 28. Ordered to Baxter Springs May, 1863. Scout from Creek Agency to Jasper County, Mo., May 16–19 (detachment). Sherwood, Mo., May 18. Bush Creek May 24. Near Fort Gibson May 28. Shawneetown, Kan., June 6 (detachment). March to Fort Gibson, Cherokee Nation, June 27-July 5, with supply train. Action at Cabin Creek July 1–2. Elk Creek near Honey Springs July 17. At Fort Gibson until September. Lawrence, Kan. July 27 (detachment). Near Sherwood August 14 Moved to Fort Smith, Ark., October, thence to Roseville December, and duty there until March, 1864. Horse Head Creek February 12, 1864. Roseville Creek March 20. Steele's Camden Expedition March 23-May 3. Prairie D'Ann April 9–12. Poison Springs April 18. Jenkins' Ferry April 30. March to Fort Smith, Ark., May 3–16, and duty there until December. Fort Gibson, C. N. September 16. Cabin Creek September 19. Timber Hill November 19.

Casualties

The regiment lost at least 344 men during service; 5 officers and 173 enlisted men were killed or mortally wounded, 1 officer and 165 enlisted men died of disease. No other Kansas regiment lost more men than the 1st Kansas Volunteer Infantry (Colored).

External links

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Service

Detailed service

Casualties

See also

External links