Eric Eugene Johnson

Ohio's Black Soldiers Who Served in the Civil War Eric Eugene Johnson

Ohio's Black soldiers have always been in the forefront of this nation's wars and the American Civil War is no exception. The state raised two infantry regiments for the United States Colored Troops during this war and then sent recruits to other regiments organizing in the South. Over 6,700 Black Ohioans served in this war and the names of many of these men have been lost until now. The Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1866 has the rosters for the two Black regiments and additionally, the names of 1,007 more men who were listed as being unassigned to a regiment for a total of 5,092 men. This roster simply states "no further record found" for these men. The author has researched each man using the Compiled Military Service Records of Colored Troops and he has been able to identify the regiments in which these other men were assigned. In the process he was also able to identify over 1,600 more Black Ohioans who are not listed in the Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1866. Besides listing the name of each soldier and his regiment, this book also lists the company, rank, age, birth place, enlistment and discharge information, and death and burial information if occurred during the war. The author was also able to identify a number of Blacks who served with Ohio's white volunteers both as combatants and non-combatants.