United States Colored Infantry

United States Colored Infantry. 110th and 111th Regiments. The Union Army's utilization of freed slaves as soldiers in southern middle Tennessee and north Alabama began in earnest in late 1863 with the recruitment of 300 black men for the 17th United States Colored Infantry. By February of 1864 over 7,500 black troops had enlisted in the Union Army. The 110th U.S. Colored Infantry was initially organized in Pulaski in October of 1863. The regiment was formally designated the 2nd Alabama Infantry of African Descent but its name was changed several weeks later. The 110th consisted of 960 recruits under the command of Colonel Wallace Campbell., The 111th U.S. Colored Infantry was organized as the 3rd Alabama Infantry of African Descent in March of 1864, but was reorganized in Pulaski on June 25, 1864 and officially designated the 111th U.S. Colored Infantry commanded by Colonel William H. Lanthrop., Both the 110th and 111th were assigned guard duties in north Alabama and southern middle Tennessee guarding the vital railroad supply line from Nashville, Tennessee to Decatur, Alabama. On September 23, 1864 the Confederate Cavalry, under the command of General Nathan Bedford Forrest, attacked the Union forces in north Alabama and laid seized to the fort in Athens. The Union garrison at Athens under the command of Colonel Wallace Campbell was defended by 450 troops of the 110th, 111th, 106th U.S.C.I. and 150 men of the 3rd Tennessee. On the morning of September 24, 1864 the Confederates opened fire on the fort with a 12-pounder battery, firing from two directions, which was answered by the artillery of the garrison. Later in the day, under a flag of truce, General Forrest convinced Colonel Campbell that is was useless to contend against his numerically superior force. Colonel Campbell surrendered the fort and General Forrest pushed northward, capturing the garrison at Sulphur Branch Trestle, on his march toward Pulaski., The captured black soldiers of the 110th, 111th and the 106th U.S.C.I. were sent to Mobile, Alabama and put to work building fortification rather than being exchanged or paroled. The Mobile Advertiser and Register published a list of more than 600 of the “Forrest Negroes” and said “owners could apply to claim them.” The capture troops were finally freed after the Union Army captured Mobile. In January of 1865 the surviving detachments of the 110th and 111th U.S.C.I. were assigned duties as guards on the Nashville and Northwestern Railroad. Both Regiments were mustered out of service in 1866., There are approximately 40 U.S.C.I. headstones marking the graves of black troops, who served their country during the Civil War, in Maplewood Cemetery. A majority of these served in the 110th or 111th United States Colored Infantry.