31st United States Colored Troops
--------------------------- The organization of the Thirtieth Connecticut Infantry was authorized by Governor Buckingham on January 12, 1864, and recruiting at once began. For a time good progress was made, but so urgent was the need for troops at the front that on June 4th the four companies organized were sent to Virginia, where they were at once consolidated with other companies, forming the Thirty-first United States Regiment, Colored Troops, and assigned to the Third Brigade, Fourth Division, Ninth Army Corps. The regimental field and staff was not fully organized until November, 1864, when Colonel Henry C. Ward took command. During the earlier months of its service Lieutenant-Colonel W. E. W. Ross was in command, the only Connecticut men associated with him on the staff being Adjutant George Greenman of Norwich, and Regimental Quartermaster Dee Laroo Wilson of Norwich. During June and July the regiment was constantly active with its corps in front of Petersburg, and on July 30th it was in line awaiting the explosion of the terrible mine, when it was to participate in the charge through the crater upon the enemy’s works. History has recorded the fearful butchery which followed, when the Confederates finally recovered from their consternation and turned upon our troops, who had impetuously pushed forward, heedless of support. In this action the Thirty-first lost 136 officers and men, both Lieutenant-Colonel Ross and Major Wright being wounded, devolving the command upon Captain Charles Robinson. In his official report of this action Major Wright said: “I cannot speak too highly of both officers and men in this engagement. More bravery and enthusiasm I never witnessed. Besides their patriotic ardor, they went into that action with a determination to command the respect of white troops, which they knew could be obtained only by hard fighting.” After this affair the regiment followed the movements of the army along the South Side Railroad, while Grant was endeavoring to extend his left around Petersburg, and in October participated in a severe skirmish near Fort Sedgwick, suffering a loss of twenty men and one commissioned officer. On November 6, 1864, the regiment had been raised by recruits to nearly the maximum strength, and Colonel Henry C. Ward took command. It was then on the extreme left flank of the Army of the Potomac, in camp near Poplar Grove Church. It was soon moved to the Bermuda Hundred front between the James and Appomattox Rivers, relieving a brigade of one hundred day troops, and re-establishing the picket line, which they had lost. It was in very active service on the right of the Bermuda line from this time until late in December, being constantly under fire from the enemy. It joined the Twenty-fifth Corps in the Army of the James December 25th, near Fort Harrison, and continued in active duty there until spring, sending detachments at times for duty at the Dutch Gap Canal; and on March 27, 1865, the regiment crossed the James River and took position at Hatcher’s Run, on the left of the Army of the Potomac. From that time until April 3d the regiment was constantly under fire, taking part in the operations southwest of Petersburg, which resulted in piercing the rebel lines on April 1st and 2d, and the consequent abandonment by the rebel army of Petersburg and Richmond. On April 3d the regiment joined, under General Sheridan, in the pursuit of Lee’s army, and during six days it was almost constantly on the march. During the thirty hours ending 11 p.m., April 8th—the day before Lee’s surrender—it covered a distance of sixty miles, showing an invincible determination to be “in at the death” of the Southern Confederacy. This ended the fighting service of the regiment in the Civil War, and it had a period of rest until June 10th, when, as a part of the Twenty-fifth Corps, it sailed for Texas. It landed at Brazos de Santiago June 22d, and marched at once to Brownsville, where it performed garrison duty until October 11th, when it was ordered to Connecticut for muster-out. In its two years of arduous service this regiment had nobly justified the policy of permitting the loyal black men of the land to bear arms in the struggle for the preservation of the Union. Colonel Ward, in his last official report, said: “Before closing this report I beg leave to speak briefly as to the character of the troops I have had the honor to serve with. I entered the colored service in January, 1864, and have commanded either a battalion or larger body of colored troops for most of the time since that date, and I am convinced that, in all the essential qualities of good soldiers, they fully meet all requirements, and are equal to the standard of any service I ever saw.” After the full regimental organization was effected, and it became nominally a United States regiment of volunteers, reports and muster-rolls were no longer forwarded to the Adjutant-General, and the State is therefore not in possession of the complete rolls necessary to a full record of its service. An effort has been made to secure the individual records of the Connecticut members, officers and men, from the War Department at Washington, and the following roster includes all whom it was possible to identify as entering the service from this State. The regiment was finally mustered out at Hartford, December 1, 1865. 1 Connecticut Adjutant General’s Office, Record of Service of Connecticut Men in the Army and Navy of the United States during the War of the Rebellion (Hartford: Case, Lockwood & Brainard Co., 1889), 882 - 883. |
