Fifty-third United States Colored Troops

The Fifty-third United States Colored Troops (USCT) was a Civil War unit made up of formerly enslaved African American men. The Fifty-third served in Arkansas for several months toward the end of the war.

The recruiting of African American military units to serve in the Union army was approved with the creation of the U.S. War Department’s Bureau of Colored Troops on May 22, 1863, but the Third Mississippi Infantry Regiment (African Descent) had already been organized at Warrenton, Mississippi, on May 19, 1863. As with the other regiments of Black troops, all of the officers were white, though Black men could serve as noncommissioned officers.

The Third Mississippi Infantry (AD) was initially attached to the African Brigade in the District of Northeast Louisiana, serving at Milliken’s Bend and Goodrich Landing in Louisiana, but in March 1864, it became part of the First Brigade, U.S. Colored Troops, in the District of Vicksburg, Mississippi. The unit’s designation was changed to the Fifty-third United States Colored Infantry on March 11, 1864, and the regiment took part in an expedition to Grand Gulf, Mississippi, the next day. On July 16, 1864, the Fifty-third was involved in an action at Grand Gulf in which “the enemy attacked at daybreak, but were badly whipped and driven demoralized from the field, leaving their dead in our hands.”

On October 14, 1864, Major General Napoleon Jackson Tecumseh Dana ordered six regiments from the Vicksburg district, including the Fifty-third USCT, to strengthen the Union forces stationed at the mouth of the White River in Arkansas. The regiment embarked on the steamboat Bart Able and reached the mouth of the White on October 18.

On October 22, the Fifty-third was ordered up the White River aboard the transport Marmora to occupy St. Charles (Arkansas County). The trip was uneventful until the vessel neared Prairie Landing, at which point “regular Arkansas bushwhackers” opened fire from the undergrowth on the riverbank, starting a running firefight that continued for five or six miles. An officer in Company H reported that “our men returned fire promptly and remained calm during the engagements, which lasted but a few moments each time.”

Three men of the Fifty-third USCT were killed and as many as eighteen were wounded, including Second Lieutenant Lemuel Lendormy of Company D, who would die of his wounds on November 2, 1864. While the most seriously wounded men were sent back to Vicksburg, the rest of the regiment proceeded to St. Charles, which they would occupy until February 1865. They then returned to Mississippi, where they would serve at various posts until mustering out on March 8, 1866.

For additional information:
Dyer, Frederick. A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion. Des Moines, IA: Dyer Publishing Co., 1908, pp. 1344, 1732.

Hewett, Janet B., et al., eds. Supplement to the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Vol. 78. Wilmington, NC: Broadfoot Publishing Co., 1998, pp. 207–208, 210–211, 214.

The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Vol. 39, part 1, pp. 246–247. Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 1892.

Mark K. Christ
Central Arkansas Library System