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Preferred Citation

United States Army 27th Colored Infantry Regiment Muster and Payroll, 1864, Accession #11402, Special Collections Department, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

Purchase: Frank Gilliam Rare Books, Charlottesville, Va., April 28, 1998.

Biographical/Historical Information

The 27th USCT was organized as a three-year regiment at Camp Delaware, Ohio, January 16, 1864, and ordered to Annapolis, Maryland. It was attached to the 1st Brigade, 4th Division, 9th Corps, Army of the Potomac, to September 1864, the 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, 9th Corps, and also the 1st Brigade, 1st Division, 25th Corps (the Union army's only all-black corps), December 1864. The regiment was attached to the 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, 25th Corps, to January, 1865, the 3rd Brigade, 3rd Division, 25th Corps, to March 1865, the 3rd Brigade, 3rd Division, 10th Corps, Department of North Carolina, to July, 1865, and the Department of North Carolina to September 1865.

The regiment participated in several campaigns in Virginia and North Carolina: from the Rapidan to the James River, Virginia, May-June 1864; guarding wagon trains of the Army of the Potomac during the Wilderness campaign; the Petersburg campaign (including the battle of the Crater, July 30, 1864), June-December 1864. It fought at Weldon Railroad (August 1864), Poplar Grove Church (September and October 1864), and Bodyton Plank Road, Hatcher's Run (October 1864). It fought at the Bermuda Hundred (Virginia) front until December 1864; from there it participated in the Fort Fisher (North Carolina) campaign (December 1864- January 1865), and subsequent actions (Sugar Loaf Hill, Federal Point, Fort Anderson, the capture of Wilmington, and Northeast Ferry), January-February 1865.

It participated in the Carolinas campaign (March-April 1865) including Kinston and Goldsboro and Cox's Bridge (March 1865) and was among the Union regiments that captured and occupied Raleigh, North Carolina (April 1865). Present at the surrender of Army of the Tennessee (Confederate) at Bennett's House, North Carolina, on April 26, 1865, the regiment remained on duty in the Department of North Carolina until mustered out on September 21, 1865. [Francis M. Weld, Diaries and Letters of Francis Minot Weld... with a Sketch of His Life, a Brief History and Genealogy of the Family of Weld, by Sarah Swan Weld BlakeM (Boston: Privately Printed, 1925), 151-152, 154-155, 162-166, 178; [Weld was a regimental surgeon]; Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion , (New York: Thomas Yoseloff, 1959), 3:1725; for select letters written by Private James H. Payne, Company G, 27th USCT regiment, see Edwin Redkey, A Grand Army of Black Men: Letters From African- American Soldiers in the Union Army, 1861-1865 (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992), 113-15, 123-25, 163-65, 170-72; Privates Samuel Mackrall and Tucker Thomas, with a synopsis of the regiment's history, are in Thomas Truxtun Moebs, Black Soldiers, Black Sailors, Black Ink: Research Guide on African-Americans in U.S. Military History, 1526-1900 (Chesapeake Bay and Paris [Va.]: Moebs Publishing Company, 1994), 754, 774, 1169-1170; see also Joseph T. Glatthaar, Forged In Battle: The Civil War Alliance of Black Soldiers and White Officers (New York: The Free Press, 1990), 115, 196, 228; Ervin L. Jordan Jr., Black Confederates and Afro-Yankees in Civil War Virginia (Charlottesville and London: University Press of Virginia, 1995), 271.]

Scope and Content Information

This item is a manuscript document of a Civil War African-American unit, "Muster Roll of Captain Albert Rogall, Company G, of the Twenty-Seventh Regiment of U. S. Colored Troop Infantry, United State Army, Colonel [Albert] M. Blackman, from the Thirtieth day of April 1864, when last mustered, to the Thirtieth day of June 1864"/Payroll of the Company, from the Date of Enrollment, when last paid, to the Thirtieth day of June, 1864." Measuring 54 x 79 centimeters, it was prepared at Prince George Court House, Virginia, June 30, 1864, by Captain Albert Rogall. Its lists eighty-one officers, noncommissioned officers and privates (individually numbered). A modified listing of the officers and enlisted men of Company G are appended to this guide.

The document contains ca. twenty-seven column headings including names, dates and places of enlistment, and pay dates. Most of the company enlisted between February and April 1864 in Delaware County (Camp Delaware), Ohio; the "Remarks" column shows some soldiers were absent on sick leave or detached and special duty. The payroll columns show the privates' pay as totaling $13.16 for two months; they either signed their names or made their marks ("x") beside them. Payments (totaling $2,830.44 for the entire company), were witnessed either by Captain Rogall or Second Lieutenant John Eberhardt. Rogall, later a lieutenant colonel of the 118th USCT, was actually a Polish nobleman named Florien Albert Rogall de Salmonski who came to America in 1851. Garold Cole, Civil War Eyewitnesses: An Annotated Bibliography of Books and Articles, 1955-1986 (Columbia, South Carolina: University of South Carolina Press, 1988), 91. (His name appears as "Royall" in some published sources.)

The bottom verso notes the results of a report by Inspection and Mustering Officer Charles I. Wright concerning the company ("Discipline: Good," "Instruction: Wanting," "Military Appearance: Fair," "Arms: In Good Condition," "Accoutrements: In Good Condition," "Clothing: In Good Condition"). Personal servants (most likely African-Americans) employed by the officers include John Brown (Captain Rogall), John [Root?] (1st Lieutenant George W. Doty) and Henry Curtis (Lieutenant Eberhardt). Also of interest is "A List of Rolls, Returns, and Reports From Company Commanders of Volunteer Forces" which identifies the types of forms required of military units and when and to whom they should be submitted.

Roster, Company G, 27th United States Colored Troops
Prince George Court House, Virginia, June 30, 1864

Name; Rank; Date enrolled; Place of Enrollment
Albert Rogall; Captain; March 14, 1864; Washington, D.C.
Edwin F. McMurphy; 1st Lieutenant; April 1864; Columbus, Ohio
George W. Doty; 1st Lieutenant; May 19, 1864; Washington, D. C.
John Eberhardt; 2nd Lieutenant; January 16, 1864; Washington, D. C.
Joseph Hawkins; 1st Sergeant; February 13, 1864; Ross County, Ohio
Albert Harvey; 2nd Sergeant; February 22, 1864; Crawford County, Ohio
John A. Hunt; 3rd Sergeant; February 23, 1864; Ross County, Ohio
Henry W. Young; 4th Sergeant; April 7, 1864; Camp Delaware
George W. Lyon; 2nd Sergeant; February 20, 1864; Madison County, Ohio
William J. Randolph; 1st Corporal; April 7, 1864; Columbus, Ohio
Thomas Howell; 1st Corporal; March 14, 1864; Adison(?), Ohio
Samuel F. V?; 1st Corporal; March 29, 1864; Gallipolis
John Wheeler; 1st Corporal; April 20, 1864; Camp Delaware
Zephariah Stewart; 1st Corporal; April 14, 1864; Delaware, Ohio
Thomas Perry; 1st Corporal; April 14, 1864; Highland, Ohio
William Brodwell; 1st Corporal; March 20, 1864; Oberlin, Ohio
Charles Moor; 1st Corporal; March 20, 1864; Oberlin, Ohio
Charles Grimes; Musician; February 22, 1864; Athens County, Ohio
Allen, John; Private; April 1, 1864; Delaware, Ohio
Bailey, John; Private; March 3, 1864; Columbus, Ohio
Bayless, Huston; Private; April 8, 1864; Greenfield, Ohio
Bragg, Moses; Private; February 27, 1864; Cincinnati, Ohio
Brady, James; Private; April 12, 1864; Delaware, Ohio
Brady, Oscar; Private; April 12, 1864; Delaware, Ohio
Breckenridge, Isaac; Private; April 2, 1864; Delaware
Brewer, George H.; Private; April 12, 1864; Delaware
Corrothers(?), James R.; Private; April 1, 1864; Urbana, Ohio
Churchman, James; Private; April 1, 1864; Urbana, Ohio
Duster, John G.; Private; February 22, 1864; Green County
Dickenson, Chancellor; Private; April 12, 1864; Delaware
Day, Henry; Private; April 7, 1864; Greenfield, Ohio
Edwards, Isaac; Private; April 9, 1864; Greenfield, Ohio
Findlay, James; Private; April 7, 1864; Greenfield, Ohio
Ferguson, William; Private; March 29, 1864; Delaware, Ohio
Farthing, Oscar; Private; February 25, 1864; Greenfield, Ohio
Grayston, Thomas; Private; March 20, 1864; Delaware
Gant, Reuben; Private; April 2, 1864; Delaware
Garretson, Franklin; Private; April 2, 1864; Delaware
Green, Lewis; Private; February 25, 1864; Pickaway County
Hughes, Josiah; Private; February 26, 1864; Crawford County
Henderson, John H.; Private; February 18, 1864; Ross
Harkley, Robert; Private; February 19, 1864; Ross
Hathcock, John; Private; February 27, 1864; Delaware
Harris, John; Private; March 2, 1864; Ross
Harris, William; Private; February 27, 1864; Ross
Harrison, Thomas; Private; February 25, 1864; Ross
Hamilton, Benjamin; Private; April 2, 1864; Delaware
Haywood, Franklin; Private; April 1, 1864; Urbana
Jackson, Willis; Private; April 2, 1864; Delaware
Jones, William; Private February 23, 1864; Highland
Johnson, Zapariah; Private; February 25, 1864; Holmes County
Johnson, Robert; Private; February 25, 1864; Ross County
Johnson, Harrison; Private; April 2, 1864; Delaware, Ohio
Johnson, James; Private; April 14, 1864; Columbus
Leath, Abraham; Private; February 19, 1864; Ross County
Moor, James; Private; February 20, 1864; Ross County
Moor, Henry; Private; February 22, 1864; Ross County
Moor, Jesse; Private; February 22, 1864; Ross County
McFarlin, Anson; Private; April 12, 1864; Delaware
Morgan, William; Private; April 5, 1864; Delaware
Markham, Henry; Private; April 2, 1864; Delaware
Mathews, John T.; Private; April 7, 1864; Columbus
Mathews, Robert L.; Private; April 7, 1864; Columbus
[Mackrall], Samuel; Private; March 2, 1864; Pickaway
Newman, Gifford; Private; March 26, 1864; [Powhatan?]
Price, Henry; Private; April 2, 1864; Delaware
Robinson, Lewis; Private; February 24, 1864; Montgomery
Richardson, Martin; Private; February 27, 1864; Marion County
Ransom, Robert; Private; February 26, 1864; Crawford County
Richman, David; Private; March 2, 1864; Noble
Scott, John; Private; April 2, 1864; Delaware, Ohio
Swan, John P.; Private; March 26, 1864; Delaware, Ohio
Trust, Peter; Private; April 5, 1864; Adison
Tucker, Thomas; Private; April 7, 1864; Columbus
Underwood, William; Private; April 2, 1864; Delaware
Varrion(?), Henry; Private; April 2, 1864; Delaware
Wheeler, Zachariah; Private; April 2, 1864; Delaware
West, Cornelius; Private; March 21, 1864; Unionsville(?)
White, Ira; Private; April 12, 1864; Springfield
Pain [Payne], James H.; Private(?); March 5, 1864; Wyandotte
Malber, Charles H.; Private(?); March 27, 1864; Green