108th United States Colored Infantry Regiment

108th United States Colored Infantry Regiment 1864–1866 United States United States 1863 Union InfantryUnited States Colored Troops Regiment American Civil War Skirmish at Owensboro, Kentucky The 108th United States Colored Infantry Regiment was a regiment composed of African-American troops recruited from Kentucky that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The 108th Regiment was assigned to guard duty at the Rock Island prisoner of war camp and occupation duty in Mississippi before being mustered out of service in 1866. Slavery and recruitment in Kentucky thumb|Corporal Kendrick Allen, 108th United States Colored Infantry Slavery was legal in Kentucky until 1865, and as a border state Kentucky initially declared neutrality at the start of the secession crisis. The Federal government was anxious to keep Kentucky slaveholders friendly to the Union, Abraham Lincoln wrote in September 1861: "I think to lose Kentucky is nearly the same as to lose the whole game".Letter to Orville Browning (September 22, 1861) https://housedivided.dickinson.edu/sites/lincoln/letter-to-orville-browning-september-22-1861 Lincoln's Writings Dickinson College 4 January 2026 A Confederate invasion of Kentucky in 1861 swayed the state to take a pro-Union stance, and many white Kentuckians joined the Union Army. The Enrollment Act of 1863 that authorized conscription in the North was amended in February 1864 to allow for conscription of Black soldiers into the US Army, specifying that any slave drafted into the military would be freed.An Act to further regulate and provide for the enrolling and calling out the National Forces https://macmillan.yale.edu/glc/act-further-regulate-and-provide-enrolling-and-calling-out-national-forces Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition Yale University 4 January 2026 This law was widely opposed by slave owners in the border states. Not only did the slaveholders feel that conscription would be robbing them of their "property", many whites were opposed in principle to Black troops joining the Army. In April General Stephen G. Burbridge, a native Kentuckian, modified the recruiting procedures for Kentucky: slaves would only be accepted into the army with the slaveholder's consent, and owners would be compensated. Many slaves went to join the army, with or without permission, and by June General Burbridge ordered that any man wishing to join would be accepted. By September 1864, more than 14,000 Black Kentuckians had joined the army.Dobak William A. Freedom by the Sword: The U.S. Colored Troops 1862-1867 2011 Center of Military History, US Army 383–385 https://books.google.com/books?id=q2WCDwAAQBAJ Unit history The 108th US Colored Infantry was organized in June - August 1864 at Louisville.8 288 The commanding officer of the Regiment was Colonel John S. Bishop. All officers of the United States Colored Troops during the Civil War were white; Black soldiers would not be commissioned as officers in the US Army until after the war. In August 1864, the 108th defeated a group of 60 Confederate guerillas near Owensboro, Kentucky, a few weeks later 3 soldiers from the 108th were killed in a revenge attack.Dobak William A. Freedom by the Sword: The U.S. Colored Troops 1862-1867 2011 Center of Military History, US Army 385 https://books.google.com/books?id=q2WCDwAAQBAJ In October, the regiment was sent to Rock Island, Illinois to guard a prison camp for Confederate POWs there. The Twelfth Secretary's Report of the Class of 1866 of Harvard College 1911 The University Press, Cambridge 62 https://books.google.com/books?id=DbYnAAAAYAAJ Approximately 50 men of the 108th died of disease and other causes while guarding the prison, and are buried at Rock Island National Cemetery.Juneteenth ceremony at Rock Island National Cemetery to honor 108th United States Colored Troops https://www.kwqc.com/2023/06/20/juneteenth-ceremony-rock-island-national-cemetery-honor-108th-united-states-colored-troops/ KWQC 4 January 2026 Assigned to occupation duty in Mississippi during Reconstruction, the soldiers of the US Colored Troops were subject to racist violence. A soldier of the 108th was assassinated by locals at Okolona, Mississippi, in October 1865; his killer was never brought to justice.Dobak William A. Freedom by the Sword: The U.S. Colored Troops 1862-1867 2011 Center of Military History, US Army 479 https://books.google.com/books?id=q2WCDwAAQBAJ The regiment was mustered out of service on March 21, 1866.Dobak William A. Freedom by the Sword: The U.S. Colored Troops 1862-1867 2011 Center of Military History, US Army 474 https://books.google.com/books?id=q2WCDwAAQBAJ See also American Civil War Kentucky List of United States Colored Troops Civil War Units United States Colored Troops References Category:United States Colored Troops Civil War units and formations Category:Military units and formations established in 1864 Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1866 Category:1864 establishments in Kentucky Category:Units and formations of the Union army from Kentucky Category:Infantry regiments of the United States Army