The 29th Colored Regiment Monument is a monument located in Criscuolo Park in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134 ...

, United States. The monument commemorates the soldiers of the

29th Connecticut Infantry Regiment (Colored) The 29th Connecticut Colored Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It is credited as being the first infantry regiment to enter Richmond, Virginia, when the city surrendered in the ...

and is located on the grounds of where more than 900 black recruits trained in 1863. It was designed by Ed Hamilton, a sculptor well known for the Amistad Memorial that is also located in New Haven.

History

Connecticut's 29th Colored Regiment was the first all-black regiment in Connecticut and consisted of more than 900 enlisted men who volunteered to fight in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

. Recruiting began in August 1863 and the

Connecticut General Assembly The Connecticut General Assembly (CGA) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is a bicameral body composed of the 151-member House of Representatives and the 36-member Senate. It meets in the state capital, Hartford. Th ...

passed legislation for the creation of the black regiment that would have white officers. In January 1864, the 29th Regiment was filled and mustered in Fair Haven, Connecticut in March 1864. The 29th Regiment fought in the

Siege of Petersburg The Richmond–Petersburg campaign was a series of battles around Petersburg, Virginia, fought from June 9, 1864, to March 25, 1865, during the American Civil War. Although it is more popularly known as the Siege of Petersburg, it was not a cla ...

Petersburg, Virginia Petersburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 33,458. The Bureau of Econ ...

from August 12 through September 24 and took several other actions in Virginia before arriving in Richmond, Virginia and witnessed President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

's address on April 5, 1865.

References

External links

{{Commons category African-American military monuments and memorials Buildings and structures in New Haven, Connecticut Buildings and structures completed in 2008