The 2nd Kansas Colored Infantry Regiment was an

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...

that served in the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

during 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 th ...

Service

The 2nd Kansas Infantry (Colored) was organized at Fort Scott,

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

, and mustered in for three years. It mustered in by individual companies beginning in August 1863 at Fort Scott and completed muster-in at

Fort Smith, Arkansas Fort Smith is the third-largest city in Arkansas and one of the two county seats of Sebastian County. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 89,142. It is the principal city of the Fort Smith, Arkansas–Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Are ...

, on November 1, 1863, under the command of

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

Samuel Johnson Crawford Samuel Johnson Crawford (April 10, 1835 – October 21, 1913) was a Union Army officer during the American Civil War, and the third Governor of Kansas (1865–1868). He also served as one of the first members of the Kansas Legislature. ...

. The regiment was attached to District of the Frontier, Department of Missouri, to January 1864. Unattached, District of the Frontier,

VII Corps 7th Corps, Seventh Corps, or VII Corps may refer to: * VII Corps (Grande Armée), a corps of the Imperial French army during the Napoleonic Wars * VII Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army prior to and during World War I * VII ...

, Department of Arkansas, to March 1864. 2nd Brigade, District of the Frontier, VII Corps, to December 1864. The 2nd Kansas Infantry (Colored) was redesignated as the 83rd U.S. Colored Troops (U.S.C.T.) on December 13, 1864.

Detailed service

Action at Baxter Springs, Kansas, October 6, 1863 (Company A). Moved from Fort Scott, Kansas, to Fort Smith, Arkansas, October 19, 1863, as escort to train. Duty at Fort Smith until March 1864. Steele's Expedition to Camden March 23-April 30. Prairie D'Ann April 9–13. Jenkins' Ferry April 30, and May 4 and 8. Return to Fort Smith and duty there until December.

Casualties

The regiment lost at least 71 men during service; one officer and 70 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded. The numbers are incomplete because the regiment's records were lost after the action at

Jenkins' Ferry The Battle of Jenkins' Ferry, also known as the Engagement at Jenkins' Ferry, was fought on April 30, 1864, at Jenkins' Ferry Battleground State Park, Jenkins' Ferry, southwest of Little Rock, Arkansas, Little Rock (present-day Grant County, A ...

Commanders

* Colonel Samuel Johnson Crawford

Notable members

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Alexander Rush, Company H - Namesake of

Rush County, Kansas Rush County (standard abbreviation: RH) is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 2,956. The largest city and county seat is La Crosse. History Early history For many millennia, the Gre ...

, killed at the

Battle of Jenkins' Ferry The Battle of Jenkins' Ferry, also known as the Engagement at Jenkins' Ferry, was fought on April 30, 1864, at Jenkins' Ferry, southwest of Little Rock (present-day Grant County, Arkansas), during the American Civil War. Although the battle en ...

, on April 30, 1864

References

* Dyer, Frederick H. ''A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion'' (Des Moines, IA: Dyer Pub. Co.), 1908. * ''Official Military History of Kansas Regiments During the War for the Suppression of the Great Rebellion'' (Leavenworth: W. S. Burke), 1870. ;Attribution *

External links

History of the 2nd Kansas Infantry (Colored) by the Museum of the Kansas National Guard
{{Kansas in the Civil War Military units and formations established in 1863 Military units and formations disestablished in 1864 Units and formations of the Union Army from Kansas Kansas Infantry, 002 1863 establishments in Kansas