The 9th Louisiana Infantry (African Descent), later reorganized as 1st Mississippi Colored Heavy Artillery and then renamed 5th U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery, was an

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

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 conscript ...

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 Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

. It famously fought in the

Battle of Milliken's Bend The Battle of Milliken's Bend was fought on June 7, 1863, as part of the Vicksburg Campaign during the American Civil War. Major General Ulysses S. Grant of the Union Army had placed the strategic Mississippi River city of Vicksburg, Mississip ...

; one of the earliest Civil War battles with African-American troops involved.

Original regimental organization and service

The creation of the regiment was authorized by

Adjutant General An adjutant general is a military chief administrative officer. France In Revolutionary France, the was a senior staff officer, effectively an assistant to a general officer. It was a special position for lieutenant-colonels and colonels in staf ...

Lorenzo Thomas, who had gone west to recruit colored troops, on April 14, 1863; and it was organized on May 1 at

Vicksburg, Mississippi Vicksburg is a historic city in Warren County, Mississippi, United States. It is the county seat, and the population at the 2010 census was 23,856. Located on a high bluff on the east bank of the Mississippi River across from Louisiana, Vi ...

. Because of the irregular practice to establish all 10 companies at once and to divide new recruits equally among them, none of the companies had the needed strength to be mustered according to the regulations. The 9th had an all-white officer corps that, with the exception of the regimental command staff, was entirely composed of former enlisted volunteer soldiers.Thomas The original regimental command and staff officers were: *Colonel:

Hermann Lieb Hermann Lieb (also known as Herman Lieb;Eicher p.348 May 23, 1826 – March 5, 1908) was a Swiss immigrant to the United States who served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He is best remembered as the commander of the Union fo ...

(Major, 8th Illinois Infantry) *Lieutenant Colonel: Charles L. Page (Captain, 20th Illinois Infantry) *Major: Erastus N. Owen (1st Lt.,

20th Ohio Infantry The 20th Ohio Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Service Three-months regiment The 20th Ohio Infantry Regiment was organized at Columbus, Ohio April through May 1861 in response to Preside ...

) *Adjutant: 1st Lt. Russell B. Neal (2nd Lt., 20th Ohio Infantry) *Quartermaster: 1st Lt. Charles M. Clark (Quartermaster Sergeant, 8th Illinois Infantry) While participating in the

Vicksburg Campaign The Vicksburg campaign was a series of maneuvers and battles in the Western Theater of the American Civil War directed against Vicksburg, Mississippi, a fortress city that dominated the last Confederate States of America, Confederate-controlled ...

Colonel Lieb, in overall command, led his 285 men into the

. In the close-combat battle the regiment lost some 62 killed and 130 wounded, the number of missing men not being given. Its 67% total losses makes it among the highest of any unit during the Civil War. On the same day the unit fought in the follow-up

Battle of Young's Point The Battle of Milliken's Bend was fought on June 7, 1863, as part of the Vicksburg Campaign during the American Civil War. Major General Ulysses S. Grant of the Union Army had placed the strategic Mississippi River city of Vicksburg, Missi ...

. Afterwards the companies were restructured and finally, on August 7, 1863, the regiment was formally mustered into Federal service.

Jack Jackson

One early recruit to join the regiment was named Jack Jackson. Jackson was said to be very large and strong-willed and quickly became a Sergeant in Company B. At some point Jackson joined the regimental recruiting parties; the officers were having trouble with convincing local field hands to join. Jackson's recruiting method was described as very forceful but ultimately successful. At the Battle of Milliken's Bend one of Jackson's superior officers, Lieutenant David Cornwell, described the attack; saying that the 23rd Iowa was not behaving courageously but the three black infantry regiments offered great resistance. He said that Jackson, "Laid into a group of Texans... smashing in every head he could reach", and that, "Big Jack Jackson passed me like a rocket. With the fury of a tiger he sprang into that gang and crushed everything before him. There was nothing left of Jack's gun except the barrel and he was smashing everything he could reach. On the other side of the levee, they were yelling 'Shoot that big oldier' while Jack was daring the whole gang to come up and fight him. Then a bullet reached his head and he fell full on the levee."

Later reorganizations

In September 1863, still at Vicksburg, the regiment began a reorganization process owed to the formal establishment and enlargement of the

United States Colored Troops The United States Colored Troops (USCT) were regiments in the United States Army composed primarily of African-American ( colored) soldiers, although members of other minority groups also served within the units. They were first recruited durin ...

. On September 26 it was converted into an artillery unit, becoming the 1st Regiment, Mississippi Heavy Artillery (African Descent). Still commanded by Colonel Lieb, it was designated 4th U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery in March 1864 before finally becoming the 5th U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery a month later. Under that designation it participated in the Expedition to Rodney and Fayette and the Yazoo City Expedition. The 5th was mustered out on May 20, 1866. Its losses were given as 4 officers and 124 enlisted men killed and mortally wounded; 4 officers and 697 enlisted men dead by disease for a total of 829. Meanwhile, when the regiment received the Mississippi designation a new 9th Louisiana Infantry (African Descent) was formed. Like the old 9th, it was renamed with the formalization of the USCT; it became the 63rd U.S. Colored Infantry Regiment on March 11, 1864. That unit, commanded by Colonel

John Eaton John Eaton may refer to: *John Eaton (divine) (born 1575), English divine * John Eaton (pirate) (fl. 1683–1686), English buccaneer *Sir John Craig Eaton (1876–1922), Canadian businessman *John Craig Eaton II (born 1937), Canadian businessman an ...

, served in

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is bord ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

, and

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 36th-largest by ...

, and was mustered out on January 9, 1866.63rd U.S. Colored Infantry
Civil War Archive

Notes

References

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External links