55th United States Colored Infantry Regiment

The men who would form the regiment were raised in 1863 at the Corinth Contraband Camp as two companies under the command of 66th Illinois Infantry chaplain James M. Alexander. These 200 men were to guard the camp after objections from white soldiers regarding this duty. Brigadier General Grenville M. Dodge, commander of the District of Corinth, received permission to raise one or two regiments of African-Americans, and by May 19 a total of 600 men had been recruited. The 1st Alabama Volunteer Infantry Regiment (African Descent) was organized at the Corinth Contraband Camp on May 21, an unattached unit of the District of Corinth, part of the 2nd Division, XVI Corps, Department of the Tennessee. The regiment received its designation due to a large number of its men being freed slaves who had escaped from western Alabama.[1] Alexander was appointed Colonel,[2] and supervised several days of drill in late May before the regiment was put on guard, picket, and fatigue duty.[3] Picket posts manned by the 1st Alabama were located at the Hamburg, Glendale, Clear Creek and Danville Roads on the eastern approaches to Corinth. The regiment received the national colors in a June 21 ceremony.[4]

In October, Company A transferred to Pocahontas, Tennessee to guard a bridge along the Memphis-Corinth military railroad, returning to Corinth during the month. Companies B, C, E, G, H, and K were sent to Big Hill, Tennessee in the same month to guard another bridge on the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, returning to Corinth by November.[5] The regiment continued to serve on garrison duty at Corinth, and was assigned to the Post of Corinth under the 2nd Division in November.[6][7]

Edward Bouton

The regiment transferred in January 1864 to the 1st Colored Brigade of the District of Memphis, part of the corps' 5th Division, serving on garrison duty at Memphis.[6][7] Relations between civilians and the colored troops at Memphis became strained due to civilian complaints of nighttime pillaging by colored troops.[8] The regiment was redesignated as the 55th United States Colored Infantry Regiment on March 11, when most colored units with state designations switched to Federal designations. It was transferred to Fort Pickering in the Post and Defenses of Memphis, part of the District of West Tennessee, in April.[6]

Between 1 and 13 June, the 55th participated in Brigadier General Samuel D. Sturgis' expedition into Mississippi as part of the 3rd Brigade of its Infantry Division. The regiment assembled with the expedition at Lafayette in the first days of June, having moved there by rail alongside the 59th United States Colored Infantry, the other regiment of the brigade. The colonel of the 59th, Edward Bouton, was placed in command of the brigade. The expedition set out before dawn on 3 June through heavy rain, with the 55th and 59th Regiments guarding the wagon train. The train caught up with the main body of the expedition on 4 June, and remained in camp on 5 June. It reached Ripley two days later and advanced towards Tupelo on the morning of 10 June. At this point the regiment was split up along the wagon train with four men walking beside each wagon.[8]

The regiment fought in the Union defeat at the Battle of Brices Cross Roads on 10 June, the retreat through Ripley on 11 June, and the engagement at Davis' Mills on 12 June. The regiment returned to Memphis, rejoining the 1st Colored Brigade, now part of the District of West Tennessee. From 1 to 30 August the regiment fought in Major General Andrew Jackson Smith's expedition to Oxford, Mississippi, participating in the action at Waterford between 16 and 17 August. The 55th returned to Memphis, where it briefly transferred to the 2nd Brigade of the Post and Defenses of Memphis in January 1865.[9]

The regiment was ordered to New Orleans on 23 February and then to Morganza, becoming part of the 2nd Brigade, United States Colored Troops, of the District of Morganza in the Department of the Gulf. From April the 55th served in the District of Port Hudson on garrison duty at Baton Rouge and other locations in Louisiana until it mustered out on December 31.[9]