USCTKansas

1st Kansas Colored Infantry

United States Colored Troops · Formed 1862-08-06 · Mustered out 1865-10-01
Raised From
Kansas (including escaped enslaved people from Missouri and Arkansas)
Initial Strength
900
Formed
1862-08-06
Mustered Out
1865-10-01

Service Summary

The 1st Kansas Colored Infantry was a United States Colored Troops regiment raised in Kansas during the American Civil War. The regiment was recruited from Kansas (including escaped enslaved people from Missouri and Arkansas). It mustered into service with an initial strength of approximately 900 soldiers. The regiment was formed on August 6, 1862. It was mustered out on October 1, 1865.

Key Engagements

Battles and campaigns in which the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry served. Linked entries open the engagement's full record.

Distinctive Record

The first Black regiment to engage Confederate forces in combat, at Island Mound, Missouri on October 29, 1862 - months before the Emancipation Proclamation and before the 54th Massachusetts was even organized.

Civil War context

The American Civil War (1861–1865) was the deadliest conflict in American history, killing an estimated 620,000 to 750,000 soldiers and an unknown number of civilians. The Confederate States of America, formed by eleven seceding Southern states, faced the Union in four years of warfare across 23 states and territories. Major engagements included First and Second Bull Run, Antietam (the bloodiest single day in American history, September 17, 1862), Chancellorsville, Gettysburg (July 1–3, 1863), Vicksburg (surrendered July 4, 1863), and Sherman's March through Georgia and the Carolinas (1864–1865). President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, transforming the war's stated purpose to include the abolition of slavery and enabling the enlistment of approximately 180,000 Black men in the United States Colored Troops. Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. The war resolved the question of secession and ended American slavery, though Reconstruction would face sustained resistance in its attempt to secure civil rights for formerly enslaved people.

Source

Regimental data from the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System, National Park Service (public domain). Reference: National Park Service.

Questions about this regiment

What was the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry?
The 1st Kansas Colored Infantry was a United States Colored Troops regiment raised in Kansas during the American Civil War. It was formed on August 6, 1862.
Where was the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry raised?
The regiment was raised in Kansas (including escaped enslaved people from Missouri and Arkansas).
What battles did the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry fight in?
The 1st Kansas Colored Infantry saw action at Island Mound (October 29, 1862), Honey Springs (1863), Fort Smith (1863).
How large was the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry?
The regiment mustered in with an initial strength of approximately 900 soldiers.
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