Civil War: African American troops
Wisconsin supplied one unit of black soldiers to the Union Army, Company F of the 29th Infantry, U.S. Colored Troops. Although credited to Wisconsin for recruiting purposes, most of Company F was actually raised in Illinois and Missouri. These soldiers took the places of white Wisconsin residents who would otherwise have been drafted.
Company F of the 29th arrived in Petersburg, Virginia, on July 22, 1864, in the heat of battle; 11 of its 85 men died the first week.
Related Resources
Roster of Company F., 29th Infantry, U.S. Colored Troops [//www.wisconsinhistory.org/roster/results.asp?image_id=2940]
Biography of Company F commander [http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/u?/tp,55643]
Read an interview with black soldier, Peter Thomas [//www.wisconsinhistory.org/wlhba/articleView.asp?pg=1&id=3194]
Wisconsin Civil War rosters [//www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/search.asp?id=351]
Guide to Battles and Engagements Fought by Wisconsin troops [//www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/search.asp?id=89]
[Photograph above is from the papers of Thomas S. Johnson of Beaver Dam, Wis., chaplain to the 36th Regt., USCT]
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