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Gateway Heritage magazine, vol. 22, no. 3, Winter 2001-02.
Copyright © by the Missouri Historical Society.
"THEIR MEMORY WILL NOT PERISH": Commemorating the 56th
United States Colored Troops
By Mitchell Yockelson
As the last notes resonated from the bugle and the salute from the firing squad echoed
throughout the cemetery grounds, the remains of 175 men of the 56th Regiment, United
States Colored Troops (USCT) were laid to rest on a sunny day in May 1939. After
perishing from a cholera outbreak more than seventy years before, the men now received
a proper burial and memorial in the national cemetery at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri.
The selection of this site was appropriate, since the regiment had been organized in St.
Louis and comprised mostly former slaves living in Missouri. The 56th USCT was one of
an estimated 160 volunteer and state militia regiments raised for service in the Union
Army. During the Civil War, USCT regiments were unique because they consisted
entirely of African American soldiers and white commissioned officers. The most well
known of the organizations was the 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry, immortalized
in the film Glory.
Although it was not the first time in our nation's history that African Americans
served in the United States Army, the concept of organizing all-black regiments was not
greeted warmly in the North. President Abraham Lincoln, in particular, strongly opposed
the idea. Lincoln was adamant about keeping the slavery issue out of the war, and
allowing blacks to enlist as soldiers meant a political risk of alienating the slave states
remaining in the Union. Many Union commanders circumvented Lincoln’s policy and
used the accessible pool of former slaves for military purposes. Most notable of these
leaders was Major General Benjamin Butler, who classified former slaves as
"contrabands of war." Within his Department of Virginia they worked as laborers,
teamsters, cooks, and carpenters and received pay, clothing, and rations in exchange.
Butler, as demonstrated by his actions, asked why the Confederacy "be allowed the use of
this property against the United States and we not be allowed its use in aid of the United
States?"
As the war dragged on and Union losses mounted, further pressure was placed upon
Lincoln to enlist blacks in the military. The passage of the Second Confiscation Act and
Militia Act by Congress on July 17, 1862, gave him the authority, but Lincoln still
refused to commit. Not until he issued the Emancipation Proclamation of January 1,
1863, would Lincoln officially sanction the enlistment of free blacks into the service of
the United States armed forces. The 1st Kansas Colored Volunteers, raised from former
slaves of Arkansas and Missouri, marked the first black troops to see combat in the war.
At first the recruiting process was slow and disorganized. To speed up the process,
Secretary of War Edwin Stanton sent Adjutant General Lorenzo Thomas into the
Mississippi Valley in March 1863 with orders to recruit free and contraband blacks for
service as volunteers. This region of the United States contained a large pool of former
slaves who fled to the protection of Union armies as they advanced deeper into
Confederate territory. The recruitment effort led to the establishment of the Colored
Troops Bureau on May 22, 1863. By the end of the war approximately 179,000 black
soldiers had served as soldiers, participating in 449 different combat engagements.
Around 37,000 African Americans lost their lives fighting to preserve the Union.
Gateway Heritage magazine, vol. 22, no. 3, Winter 2001-02.
Copyright © by the Missouri Historical Society.
For the Confederacy, the number of African Americans donning a uniform under the
rebel flag is unknown. In March 1865, the Confederate congress authorized the
enlistment of up to 300,000 slaves for military service but mentioned nothing about
offering freedom for their service. The following month, a few companies were
organized, but the War ended before any of them could deploy.
Missouri was a key state for recruiting since it contained a sizeable slave population
and a small number of free blacks. The state's political climate was not particularly
friendly to the idea of black soldiers. Since Missouri was not in rebellion against the
Union, it was not subject to the recently issued Emancipation Proclamation, which
targeted only states in rebellion. To bring tensions in Missouri under control, Lincoln
appointed General John M. Schofield as commander of the Department of Missouri.
Schofield made his presence known by enlisting the help of Colonel William A. Pile, a
Methodist clergyman and commander of the 33rd Missouri Volunteer Infantry, to recruit
black soldiers in the most disloyal regions of the state. To do so, Pile would need
permission from the Missouri governor, Hamilton R. Gamble.
Because Gamble feared rankling the pro-Union slave owners in his state, he placed
restrictions on the recruiting. Gamble requested that Pile enlist only freedmen and the
slaves of disloyal masters, a difficult assignment for Pile because of the difficulty of
differentiating loyal and disloyal slave owners. Pile estimated that Missouri held between
60,000 and 70,000 slaves, with 12,000 to 14,000 fit for military service. In reality, the
1860 United States Census tallied almost 115,000 slaves in the state. To further
complicate matters, Gamble not only insisted that Pile avoid recruiting the slaves of loyal
owners, he also asked that Pile not credit the raised colored regiments to the State of
Missouri. Eventually, 8,344 blacks were recruited in Missouri to serve in five regiments;
Pile determined he would enlist his new recruits for an Arkansas regiment.
The recruitment period took place during the months of June and July 1863, and the
new soldiers were quartered in St. Louis, mainly at Schofield Barracks. In September
1863, the recruits boarded troop transports and headed down the Mississippi River to
Helena, Arkansas. There, the unit was designated the 3rd Arkansas Volunteer Infantry
(African Descent) and attached to Major General N. B. Buford's District of Eastern
Arkansas. Colonel John Guylee, who transferred from the 4th Iowa Volunteer Cavalry
Regiment, was placed in command of the regiment. Guylee resigned on March 11, 1864,
for health reasons, and Colonel W. S. Brooks, formally with the 19th Iowa Volunteer
Infantry, replaced him. It was not unusual for officers such as Guylee and Brooks to
accept a commission in a colored troop regiment; one could achieve rapid advancement
in the army this way.
In Arkansas, former slaves who sought refuge within the Union lines further
bolstered the ranks of the regiment. In early 1864, the War Department redesignated most
of the state black regiments as United States Colored Troops. The 3rd Arkansas
Volunteer Infantry (African Descent) now was the 56th USCT.
With few exceptions, the prevailing attitude among Union soldiers was that USCT
regiments would never equal white volunteer units. Blacks wore the same uniforms and
received the same training as white soldiers but received less money for their service. The
average enlisted man in the Union Army received $13 per month, while colored troops
got $10. The War Department reasoned that colored troops would handle primarily labor
tasks and would not see combat as often as their white counterparts. This financial
Gateway Heritage magazine, vol. 22, no. 3, Winter 2001-02.
Copyright © by the Missouri Historical Society.
injustice did not go unnoticed by the black soldiers, who complained loudly enough to be
heard by Secretary of War Stanton and President Lincoln. The pay issue was resolved in
July 1864 by Attorney General Edward Bates when USCT soldiers received
compensation equal to that of white soldiers.
The duties of the 56th USCT typified all colored troop regiments during the Civil
War. Reports written by the regimental company commanders cite activities such as the
guarding of quartermaster stores, construction of winter quarters, garrison duty, and, of
course, drilling. The regiment on occasion did go on scouting missions outside of Helena.
For instance, Company C traveled a distance of twenty miles into the country in October
1863, and afterward their commanding officer declared that "the men marched well and
in places of most danger, behaved themselves like veteran soldiers." According to
historian Joseph Glatthaar, the "single greatest contribution of the USCT regiments was
logistics. Black troops guarded key railroad bridges and vital passes, loaded boxes and
barrels on to wagons, and drove and guarded supply trains. Although the work lacked the
glamour and excitement of combat... it was absolutely essential to Union success on the
battlefield regiment on occupation duty in the south."
Combat was one of the main reasons the men joined the army. The 56th gained the
opportunity to show their lighting capability only on one occasion. The battle occurred
twenty-two miles southwest of Helena, Arkansas, at Wallace's Ferry on Big Creek.
During the early morning hours of July 26, 1864, the 56th USCT, along with detachments
from two other black regiments, were reconnoitering across the river in search of the
enemy, which reportedly was in the area. Information gathered from local citizens and
slaves indicated that the Confederate forces had vacated the area the day before.
Brigadier General Joseph O. "'Jo" Shelby, who commanded all Confederate troops north
of the Arkansas River, had ordered his men to "ravage and destroy the Government
plantations below Helena." These estates had been plantations but now were abandoned,
the owners having fled when the Union forces occupied the Mississippi Valley. The
Union Army then confiscated the plantations, and the federal government leased them to
private citizens, with former slaves provided as a labor source. This plantation
experiment was a precursor to similar programs instituted by the Bureau of Refugees,
Freedmen and Abandoned Lands (Freedman's Bureau), established in March 1865.
Upon learning the enemy was no longer close at hand, Colonel Brooks ordered his
men to recross Big Creek. Sensing the possibility of an attack, they threw out pickets and
waited. Within an hour of recrossing the river, an estimated one thousand Confederate
cavalry and mounted infantry attacked the regiment. For almost four hours the
outnumbered Yankees held on to their position while withstanding continual fire. In some
places only fifty yards separated the two battle lines. Most devastating to the regiment
was the loss of Colonel Brooks, who fell mortally wounded while "marshaling and
encouraging his men," Lieutenant Colonel Moses Reed then took over as the
commanding officer of the regiment.
Around ten in the morning, relief came in the form of the 15th Illinois Volunteer
Cavalry under the command of Major Eagleton Carmichael. His men managed to break
the rebel hold on the right side of the line. Additional support did not diminish the fact
that further fighting was hopeless, because Major Carmichael estimated that anywhere
from four to six thousand Confederates were within two hours of joining the fight at
Wallace's Ferry. Lt. Colonel Reed, now made aware of his situation, ordered a retreat.
Gateway Heritage magazine, vol. 22, no. 3, Winter 2001-02.
Copyright © by the Missouri Historical Society.
According to Reed, the withdrawal was "effected by officer and men of the command in
a gallant and successful manner." Still, the enemy pressure on the retreating men forced
another fight. Now within eleven miles of Helena, the 56th stood and fought, displaying
such a fierce opposition that the Confederates finally withdrew. The 56th continued
toward Helena.
His mission foiled, General Shelby declared the battle "a rout and a brilliant victory."
Although the 56th USCT was still intact as a fighting unit, it had suffered severe losses.
Two commissioned officers and eleven men were killed, and another two commissioned
officers, along with twenty-four enlisted men, were wounded. Three men of the 56th
were reported missing. In praising the troops, Lt. Colonel Reed commented that “both the
officers and men of the entire command conducted themselves with the utmost bravery,
coolness, and daring.” Particularly noteworthy was Chaplain J. Brooks, "who with a
small squad of men rescued from the rasp of the enemy, a caisson with all its horses."
Among the most tragic losses was regimental surgeon J. C. Stoddard, killed while tending
to the wounds of Colonel Brooks. No evidence indicates that the two Brookses were
related.
After learning of the battle at Wallace's Ferry, Brigadier General Buford paid tribute
in a general order by declaring that “we rejoice in the glory acquired on this well disputed
field by our colored troops.” Buford rhetorically asked, “Will they fight? Ask the
enemy.” In closing, he recorded, “we have paid the last honors to the dead. Their
memories will never perish."
The 56th USCT spent the remainder of the war on garrison duty around Helena. Lt.
Colonel Reed resigned his commission on January 29, 1865, to return to civilian life, and
Colonel Charles Bentzoni eventually replaced him on March 15, 1866. Bentzoni was a
career army officer, born in Prussia and having served in his native country's army for ten
years before immigrating to the United States. He then led the regular army and remained
there until accepting a commission in the 56th USCT. During Bentzoni's command, the
only event of any significance was an expedition to Friar's Point, Mississippi, from
February 19 to 22, 1865, which netted the 56th several rebel prisoners along with their
horses and equipment. Also, a large number of slaves entered the Union lines seeking
food and protection. Some of the male slaves sought enlistment in the regiment, but
Colonel Bentzoni determined that "only two men of the lot of slaves were found to be fit
for soldiers.”
On the morning of September 7, 1866, the 56th USCT prepared to leave Helena for
transport back to St. Louis and discharge from the army. Because the steamers were
limited in their capacity, half of the regiment left Helena aboard the steamer Continental
on September 9 and the other half of the 56th boarded the Platte Valley the following
day. Colonel Bentzoni would not easily forget the voyage, which finally ended in St.
Louis a few days later. Bentzoni described both boats as "large and had the usual
accommodations—that is, boiler and hurricane decks for the accommodation of soldiers.”
He reported that the regiment had been in good health during the summer, and, therefore,
he left the medical officers assigned to the regiment back at the post hospitals in Helena.
In their place, Bentzoni ordered an “experienced hospital steward with a supply of
medicines” to watch over the detachment aboard the Continental. When the Platte Valley
was about twenty-four hours from Helena, a soldier aboard the boat died from what
Bentzoni thought was a case of congestive chills.
Gateway Heritage magazine, vol. 22, no. 3, Winter 2001-02.
Copyright © by the Missouri Historical Society.
The boats stopped during their voyage at Cairo, Illinois, where Bentzoni discovered
that thirteen soldiers aboard the Continental, which had preceded the Platte Valley by a
few hours, had died and that another fifty to sixty were sick. The men aboard the Platte
Valley suffered a similar dilemma. The commander of the 56th USCT took action by
engaging a physician at Cairo to tend to his fallen men, but sadly the civilian doctor could
do little. The Continental was the first of the two boats to arrive in St. Louis on
September 12. There, the detachment was ordered to the Quarantine Grounds, established
near Jefferson Barracks.
Colonel Bentzoni arrived with the Platte Valley the next day and discovered to his
mortification that fifty men on the Continental had died during the passage, “and the
deaths were rapidly occurring since the landing was effected.” An inspection of the sick
men aboard the Platte Valley by Brevet Colonel Ebenezer Swift, United States Army
surgeon, incorrectly reported that there was no cholera among the men. Bentzoni, upon
orders from General William T. Sherman, the commander of the Division of the
Missouri, moved the ship to the port of St. Louis and arrived there around midnight on
September 13. As a precaution, the men were kept on board until morning, when a further
inspection by Swift declared “a clear case of cholera” among the regiment. Civil
authorities removed the affected men from the Platte Valley and took them to separate
areas of Quarantine Island. Also known as Arsenal Island, this desolate place, located
opposite St. Louis on the Mississippi River, was used as a quarantine ground for soldiers
with contagious diseases.
Try as he might, Bentzoni could not stop the cholera from spreading. Even with the
two detachments separated, the disease went unchecked. He would go on to praise “the
number of citizens and physicians who are untiring in their efforts to relieve the suffering
of the sick.” By the time the epidemic ended, one officer and 178 men had died from
cholera. When the regiment left St. Louis in 1863, it consisted of 34 commissioned
officers and 820 men. At the end, the regiment listed 26 officers and 511 men on the
rolls.
The cholera affecting the 56th was most likely a strain of the Asiatic variety that
reached pandemic levels in 1864 and, by 1866, had spread throughout the United States.
Newspapers, such as the Weekly Missouri Democrat, reported the death rates from cities
along with advice on how to avoid contracting the disease. Cholera frequently was fatal
when its victims lived in close quarters, such as a boat, where ventilation was poor and
people were exposed to human waste. The disease hit blacks particularly hard, killing
more than half of the affected victims. The symptoms were brutal, including diarrhea,
vomiting, cramps, cold extremities, cold breath, and incessant thirst. In the worst cases
the sufferer became comatose, lost his pulse, and eventually died.
The casualties of the cholera epidemic were buried on the Robert Koch Hospital
grounds on Quarantine Island, and shortly thereafter a monument was placed in their
honor. The simple marker read, “To the memory of the 175 non-commissioned officers
and privates of the 56th U.S.C. Infantry who died of cholera in August 1866.” Colonel
Bentzoni reported a higher number of cholera casualties: 179. For more than seventy
years the men of the 56th USCT remained in obscurity until an African American civic
group from St. Louis decided that they deserved a more appropriate burial site. Led by
Jacob Kuhl, the group contacted Secretary of War Harry H. Woodring about having the
bodies and memorial removed from the Koch Hospital grounds to the veteran's cemetery
Gateway Heritage magazine, vol. 22, no. 3, Winter 2001-02.
Copyright © by the Missouri Historical Society.
at Jefferson Barracks.
Secretary of War Woodring referred the matter to the Office of the Quartermaster
General, the War Department agency responsible for burials and veteran's cemeteries.
Although a preliminary investigation and inspection of the Koch Hospital grounds
revealed that the “whole plot appeared in good condition and gave evidence of being well
cared for by municipal authorities,” the quartermaster general's office agreed with Kuhl
that the remains of the soldiers and their memorial had to be removed.
On April 14, 1939, the office started the process of making the project a reality.
Section 57 of the national cemetery was selected as the new burial site, and the
quartermaster general allotted funds in the amount of $3,199.50 to cover the cost of
hiring laborers for the excavation, metal containers and undertaking services for the
remains, and a bronze tablet, among other expenses. The original burial site for men of
the 56th was a single plot among twenty other graves. It was in good condition, despite
the fact that the Mississippi River had rendered the land surrounding the Koch Hospital
grounds unstable.
The dedication ceremony took place on May 19, 1939, and those in attendance
included the chairman of the citizens’ group, J. E. Mitchell, Jacob Kuhl, various army
officers on duty at Jefferson Barracks, the superintendent of the cemetery, and an honor
guard and bugler from the 6th Infantry Regiment. A bronze tablet was placed upon the
original memorial that contained Brigadier General Buford's eloquent statement in praise
of 56th USCT that "their memory will not perish." The Reverend Columban Valentin,
Resident Monk, Koch Hospital delivered an address. Reverend Valentin reminded
everyone that the members of the 56th USCT had “answered the call of authority, of
President Abraham Lincoln to follow the Country's flag with its stars of faith and hope...
the flag which never did stand and never can stand for anything except the liberties of the
human race, they had answered the call to abolish slavery in this country of liberty and
justice and to give freedom to all.” Thus, the men of the 56th USCT, who gave their lives
for their country, and forever memorialized. Although the regiment will never receive the
accolades attributed to the 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry, the 56th made a
significant contribution in helping restore the war-torn United States. Today, their
memorial and burial site are among the more than 103,000 graves at the Jefferson
Barracks National Cemetery, one of 115 national cemeteries under the auspices of the
Department of Veterans Affairs to provide a proper place of burial for our nation's
veterans.
SOURCES
Adjutant General's Office. Record of Events for fifty-sixth, United States Colored
Infantry. August 1863-June 1865. Record Group 94.
Berlin, Ira. ed. Freedom: A Documentary History of Emancipation, 1861-1867. Series II:
The Black Military Experience. Cambridge. N.Y.: Cambridge University Press. 1982.
Blassingname, John W. "The Recruitment of Negro Troops in Missouri During the Civil
War." Missouri Historical Review 58 (April 1964): 324-37.
Cornish. Dudley. The Sable Arm. New York: Longmans. Green and Company. 1956.
Gillett, Mary C. The Army Medical Department, 1865-1917. Washington, D.C.: Center of
Military History. United States Army, 1995.
Gateway Heritage magazine, vol. 22, no. 3, Winter 2001-02.
Copyright © by the Missouri Historical Society.
Glaathar, David A. Forged in Battle: The Civil War Alliance of Black Soldiers and White
Officers. New York: The Free Press, 1990.
Jefferson Barracks Office of Quartermaster General, comp. "Transfer of Remains of 56th.
U.S. Colored Infantry from Koch Hospital Grounds. MO to Jefferson Barracks
National Cemetery. Jefferson Barracks. Missouri." Final Report, 1939.
Missouri Weekly Democrat, September 18. 1866.
Nalty, Bernard C. Strength for the Fight: A History of Black Americans in the Military.
New York: The Free Press, 1986.
Surgeon General. United States Army. The Medical and Surgical History of the War of
the Rebellion. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. 1867.
Thomas. David Y. Arkansas in War and Reconstruction. Little Rock: Arkansas Division.
United Daughters of the Confederacy. 1926.
United States War Department. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of Official
Records of the Union and Confederate Armies (OR). Series 1. Washington. D.C.:
Government Printing Office, 1880-1901.