The Civil War News & Views Open Discussion Forum

USCT Casualties

This was posted to the Fold3blog

What most people don’t know but I do because I took three years to study it from the records on Fold3 — is that there were 2, 249 USCT Casualties at the battle of Petersburg which includes the battle of New Market. Eighteen regiments of USCT soldiers participated at Petersburg, a siege that lasted 292 days. I have their individual names and records, including whether they were killed, wounded, missing in action, or prisoners of war — where they were from, their regiment and rank, their age at enlistment, what happened to them following the battle, and the Fold3 record where I got the information. I also have the records of the USCT casualties from Fort Wagner, Fort Pillow, and the Battle of Olustee.

I have in my notes this---

Using research found on many sites that honor these USCT, I found very few that mention any solids numbers for losses or the battles that the USCT actually participated in. I found this website "Pennsylvania in the Civil War" at http://www.pa-roots.com/pacw/usct/foxes.htm which uses references to Fox, William F., Lt. Colonel, U. S. Volunteers, Regimental Losses in The American Civil War, 1861-1865. Albany, NY: Brandow Printing Company, 1898. Chapter IV. pp. 52-56.( for their numbers, but it seems they enhance the number of battles the USCT engaged in. A comparison of battles can be made online with Fox's report found online at http://www.civilwarhome.com/chapt6.htm

I seldom use Wikipedia as a source unless alternate sources can be found; however in this case it seems that historian James McPherson adds substance to Fox's numbers.

United States Colored Troops
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Colored_Troops

There were 2,751 USCT combat casualties during the war, and 68,178 losses from all causes.[3]

3. Cornish, The Sable Arm, p. 288; McPherson, The Negro's Civil War, p. 237.

It is not my intention to diminish the sacrifice of anyone’s ancestors but to simply post the facts. If you can provide number and sources that dispute what I have posted, please do so.

Which is the more accurate?

GP