Efforts are being made to locate and identify descendants of the troops
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Leaders of the Natchez U.S. Colored Troops Monument
Committee say they are pleased with the work being done to honor the black men
who served with the U.S. Colored Troops at Fort McPherson in Natchez. Committee
Chairman Robert Pernell, left, and Vice Chairman Carter Burns, are pictured
here with an image of the colored troops in battle. |
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NATCHEZ, Miss. -- Local community leaders are making
progress on the monument project to honor more than 3,000 African American men
who served with the U.S. Colored Troops at Fort McPherson in Natchez, according
to Chairman Robert Pernell of the Natchez U.S. Colored Troops Monument
Committee.
Pernell, who formerly served as chair for the “Proud to
Take a Stand” monument committee, said that he is pleased with the efforts
being made by the committee volunteers.
“We have an army of volunteers, and they are working hard
to make this tribute possible,” he said in a recent meeting. “We are moving
forward with great expectations. I’m excited about the interest in the project
and the support we’re receiving from the community.”
Pernell is working with Carter Burns, who serves as the
vice chair of the USCT committee. Burns is also the executive director of
Historic Natchez Foundation.
Since announcing plans to erect a monument, the committee
has recruited volunteers for the following five sub-committees: History and
Research Sub-committee, Monument Design Sub-committee, Marketing/PR
Sub-committee, Site Sub-committee, Finance/Fundraising Sub-committee.
The committee is currently seeking to identify the
descendants of the Colored Troops who served in Natchez, as well as those who
served in the Navy, who were born in Natchez. These men served with six
regiments, which included: 6th U.S. C Heavy Artillery, 58th U.S. Colored
Infantry, 70th U.S. Colored Infantry, 71st U.S. Colored Infantry, 63rd U.S.
Colored Infantry, and the 64th U.S. Colored Infantry.
“The men left their plantations and served for their own
freedom and the freedom of their families,” said Deborah Fountain, a researcher
and descendant of one of the Colored Troops. She also serves on the USCT
committee.
Fountain noted a listing of the names of all the men who
served is currently available through the National Park Service website and the
National Archives. Each name will be included on or around the monument,
depending on the design, according to Pernell.
Pernell said the committee wants to help descendants
discover their relationship to the Colored Troops. He said there is a strong
possibility that many of the local families are related to the soldiers.
Anyone who wants to know if they are related to the
Colored Troops, may use a few simple steps to determine their relationship,
according to Fountain.
She said one should start by checking his or her family
tree. “Look for the names of the men who were of age to have served in the
1860s,” she advised.
Next, one should visit the website for the National Park
Service: Soldiers and Sailors Database (Link: https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-soldiers.htm).
That is where a search can be made of the person’s name, which should be listed
in one of the six regiments noted above.
During the Civil War, about 200,000 black men served with
the U.S. Colored Troops, who fought to preserve the United Sates, according to
the National Archives. That number included roughly 179,000 in the Union Army
and about 19,000 in the Navy.
More than 3,000 black men from the Natchez area joined
the U.S. military. Prior to the Civil War and their enlistment as colored troop
soldiers, some of them had been forced to walk to the notorious Forks of the
Road, where they were sold.
It is believed that the colored troops made up about 10
percent of the manpower in the Union Army.
Additional information on the Colored Troops in Natchez
may be found on the Facebook page: “Descendants of Natchez (USCT).” Any and all
descendants of the Natchez Colored Troops are asked to become members of
the Facebook page.
#VisitNatchez #USColoredTroops #CivilWar #BlackHistory
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