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Distribution of USCTs, April 1864

I was curious to know the strength and distribution of U.S. Colored Troops on the eve of the 1864 campaign.  Comprehensive strength info is hard to come by, so I substituted numbers of USCT regiments or (in case of artillery) regiment equivalents.  Here’s what I found.  First number represents units at nominally full strength; second number represents detachments or units significantly under strength.

Department of Arkansas – 11 +2 under strength units (OR 34/4, 607-609) [9.9 percent of total USCTs]
Department of the Cumberland – 6 (OR 32/3, 551-560) [5 percent]
Department of the East – Not found; probably none
Department of the Gulf – 37 + 3 (OR 34/4, 611-619) [33 percent]*
Department of Kansas – 0 (OR 34/4, 619-622)*
Middle Department – 0 USCT (OR 33, 1051-1052)
Department of the Missouri – 3 (OR 34/4, 623-625) [2.5 percent]*
Department of the Ohio – 1 (OR 34/4, 570-573) [>1 percent]
Department of the Potomac – 5 USCTs + 1 detachment (OR 33, 1047-1053) [5 percent]
Department of the South 15 + 1 (OR 35/2, 78-79) [13.5 percent]
Department of the Susquehanna – 0 USCT (OR 33, 1053)
Department of the Tennessee – 20 + 3 (OR 32/3, 560-569) [18 percent]
Department of Virginia and North Carolina – 12 + 2 detachments (OR 33, 1053-1058) [10 percent]
Department of Washington – 1 USCT (OR 33, 1047-1050) [>1 percent]
Department of West Virginia – Not found; probably none

* June 30; organizational tables unavailable for March, April, May 1864

TOTAL:  111 USCT regiments at nominally full strength; 11 detachments or units obviously well under strength

First Addendum:  Military Division of the Mississippi:  27 + 3 [24 percent]

Second Addendum:  USCT strength as of October 1863, 58 regiments with a total strength of 37,482; USCT strength 140 regiments with a total strength of 101,950 as of October 1864.  Averaging these numbers and applying them to the 111 USCT units in April 1864 yields an estimate of 76,282 troops as of April 1864; figure 80,000 if you include under strength units.  Obviously these are provisional estimates; still thought they might be worth passing along.

This entry was posted on Friday, November 6th, 2009 at 6:09 AM and filed under The Sharp End of War.
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Comments (3) to “Distribution of USCTs, April 1864”

  1. Will Kene wrote:

    Some of those OR references are for June 30 1864 — why not refer to an earlier reference?

    Posted on 06-Nov-09 at 7:29 pm | Permalink

  2. Mark Grimsley wrote:

    You’re right. I missed the dates on three departments in one OR volume. But I’m sticking with the data, since organizational tables for (at least) the three previous months were unavailable. I’ve incorporated an asterisk to indicate the June 30 data.

    Posted on 07-Nov-09 at 5:02 am | Permalink

  3. Will Keene wrote:

    Good point. I don’t think there are full departmental organization tables for the Trans-Mississppi between January 31 and June 30.

    Posted on 08-Nov-09 at 1:49 pm | Permalink