1st United States Colored Heavy Artillery Regiment

1st Regiment Heavy Artillery U.S. Colored Troops 1864–1866 United States United States 1863 Union ArtilleryUnited States Colored Troops Regiment American Civil War Stoneman's 1865 raid The 1st Regiment, United States Colored Heavy Artillery (USCHA) was a unit of African-American troops that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.1st Regiment, United States Colored Heavy Artillery - The Civil War (U.S. National Park Service) https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-battle-units-detail.htm?battleUnitCode=UUS0001RAH0C 2023-06-24 www.nps.gov en The regiment was organized at Knoxville, Tennessee on February 20, 1864. History thumb|Original caption: 6646. Federal camp at Johnsonville, Tenn.: This is a view taken at Johnsonville the day before its evacuation, in December, 1864. In the foreground is the depot platform and just back of that is the 1st Tennessee Colored Battery. In the background is the camp, the troops drawn up in line.Federal Camp at Johnsonville, Tenn. during American Civil War - LOC's Public Domain Archive Public Domain Image https://loc.getarchive.net/amp/media/federal-camp-at-johnsonville-tenn-1 2023-06-25 loc.getarchive.net Per The Photographic History of the Civil War this image was taken November 24, 1864.Miller Francis Trevelyan http://archive.org/details/photographichist03mill The photographic history of the Civil War : thousands of scenes photographed 1861-65, with text by many special authorities Lanier Robert S. (Robert Sampson) 1911 New York : Review of Reviews Co. New York Public Library It is unclear if the "First Tennessee Colored Battery" and the 1st Regiment, United States Colored Heavy Artillery are the same or different units |alt=This is likley Battery A of the 2nd U.S. Colored Light Artillery who were stationed at Johnsonville (they were the only USCLA unit stationed there). One section of two Napoleon cannons was sent there and went into action during the battle in November 1864. The 1st USCHA did not leave the East Tennessee region. Organization of the regiment may have been instigated in some small part by Lt. Colonel Thomas J. Morgan, commander of the 14th U.S. Colored Troops.Williams George Washington https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/009259513 A history of the negro troops in the war of the rebellion, 1861-1865 1888 Harper & brothers New York 129 en-us George Washington Williams HathiTrust 2023-06-24 2023-05-06 https://web.archive.org/web/20230506085537/https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/009259513 live In an 1893 reminiscence, John Encill MacGowan wrote that circa April 1864 at Knoxville he was the "senior officer in charge of organizing the First United States Colored Heavy Artillery."1891-05-10 Peculiarly Upright Man 10 Chattanooga Daily Times https://www.newspapers.com/article/chattanooga-daily-times-peculiarly-uprig/127040844/ 2023-06-24 The unit was stationed at Knoxville until January, 1865, and then were based in Greeneville, District of East Tennessee, until March, 1866. The regiment was mustered out March 31, 1866. The newly organized unit was supervised by "General Davis Tillson, Chief of Artillery, Department of Ohio, commanding defenses of Knoxville, Loudon and Kingston. The regiment had between 1,100 and 1,700 soldiers drawn mostly from Tennessee and North Carolina.Marker: 1st U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery:"Ready to take the field!" https://digital.ncdcr.gov/digital/collection/p15012coll8/id/10916 2023-06-24 digital.ncdcr.gov en 2023-03-31 https://web.archive.org/web/20230331034616/https://digital.ncdcr.gov/digital/collection/p15012coll8/id/10916 live According to a 2003 article in the journal Army History, "More than 25,000 black artillerymen, recruited primarily from freed slaves in Confederate or border states, served in the Union Army during the Civil War...Federal military authorities armed and equipped the soldiers in these twelve-company heavy artillery regiments as infantrymen and ordinarily used them to man the larger caliber guns defending coastal and field fortifications located near cities and smaller population centers in Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, and North Carolina."Cunningham Roger D. Spring 2003 Black Artillerymen from the Civil War through World War I https://history.army.mil/html/bookshelves/resmat/civil_war/articles/article_from_AH58w.pdf Army History U.S. Army Center of Military History 5–19 2023-06-24 2017-05-06 https://web.archive.org/web/20170506095116/http://www.history.army.mil///html/bookshelves/resmat/civil_war/articles/article_from_AH58w.pdf dead From February 1864 until February 1865 the 1st Regiment was attached to the Army of the Ohio (2nd Brigade, 4th Division, 23rd Corps) under Gen. Schofield, and then in March 1865 transferred to the Army of the Cumberland, under Gen. Thomas. (The surrender at Appomattox Courthouse was signed April 9, 1865, initiating the conclusion of the American Civil War.) From March 1865 to March 1866, the 1st Regiment USCHA was part of the 1st Brigade, 4th Division, District of East Tennessee, Army of the Cumberland.Dyer Frederick H. https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000451327 A compendium of the war of the rebellion 1908 The Dyer publishing company Des Moines, Ia. 247 en-us HathiTrust 2023-06-24 2022-12-24 https://web.archive.org/web/20221224010010/https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000451327 live Actions Operations against Confederate troops led by Joseph Wheeler in East Tennessee August 15–25, 1864 Operations in northern Alabama and east Tennessee January 31-April 24, 1865 Stoneman's 1865 raid Incidents Three members of the regiment were tried on rape charges, convicted and executed.Johnson Edward C. https://books.google.com/books?id=PH8VAQAAMAAJ&q=%221st+regiment+heavy+artillery%22+tennessee+colored+troops All Were Not Heroes: A Study of the List of U.S. Soldiers Executed by U.S. Military Authorities During the Late War Johnson Gail R. Williams Melissa Johnson 1997 E.C. Johnson 978-1-886094-74-1 en Notable enlisted men Sgt. Moses Smith, later Knoxville policeman and city alderman, "U.S. local officer" of U.S. Custom House in Knoxville2011-02-16 Sgt. Moses Smith, Knoxville, First United States Colored Artillery 23 The Knoxville News-Sentinel https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-knoxville-news-sentinel-sgt-moses-s/127039390/ 2023-06-24 Edward Taylor, who served in Co. M 1 U.S.C.H.A., is buried in the family graveyard of the whites who once owned him; former Confederate Major General George Duffield Taylor, a cousin of Robert Love Taylor and Alf Taylor,Chattanooga Daily Times 30 Jun 1909, page 3 https://www.newspapers.com/image/605443576/ 2023-07-12 Newspapers.com en testified at a pension hearing on his behalf2005-09-12 Headstone in Carter honors Slave who served in Union army 4 Johnson City Press https://www.newspapers.com/article/johnson-city-press-headstone-in-carter-h/127040087/ 2023-06-24 Joseph George, retired sergeant, murdered 1896 in Marysville, Tennessee, leaving a widow and nine children1896-12-12 1896 Murder 1 The Maryville Times https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-maryville-times-1896-murder/115352189/ 2023-06-24 Henry Smith, first sergeant of Company G, married Florence Johnson, a formerly enslaved housemaid and cook for U.S. President Andrew JohnsonHenry Smith in U.S., National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, 1866-1938 - Johnson City, Tennessee - First Letter of Surname: Register of Members, 1903-1932, Entries 1-1499 - page 145 - via Ancestry.com Post-bellum Between 14 and 30 veterans of the 1st U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery are buried at the historic Odd Fellows Cemetery in Knoxville.May 11, 2023 Service & Sacrifice: Rediscovering 'The Protectors of Knoxville' https://www.wbir.com/article/news/national/military-news/service-and-sacrifice/knoxville-civil-war-soldiers/51-fedc7770-45e3-45af-aadb-82a903e13035 2023-06-24 WBIR-TV enBlog: City Blog https://www.knoxvilletn.gov/blog/One.aspx?portalId=132035&postId=6829547&portletAction=viewpost 2023-06-24 www.knoxvilletn.gov 2021-11-16 https://web.archive.org/web/20211116042113/https://www.knoxvilletn.gov/blog/One.aspx?portalId=132035&postId=6829547&portletAction=viewpost live See also Franklin–Nashville campaign Massacre at Fort Pillow Memphis riots of 1866 List of United States Colored Troops Civil War units References External links Soldiers' Letters: Greenville, Tennessee, Battery G, 1st O.V.S.A., April 11th, 1865 Digital Public Library of America: Wallace, George - Age 25, Year: 1864 - 1st US Colored Heavy Artillery TN Civil War Muster Rolls collection (PDF) - TN State Library and Archives TNgenweb: 1st US Colored Heavy Arty Regiment CHAPTER VIII.—The Army of the Cumberland. The Black Phalanx: African American soldiers in the War of Independence, the War of 1812, and the Civil War Joseph T. Wilson 1890 https://www.gutenberg.org/files/31339/31339-h/31339-h.htm Project Gutenberg Category:United States Colored Troops Civil War units and formations Category:African-American military units and formations of the American Civil War Category:Artillery regiments of the United States Army