First Michigan Colored Regiment

First Michigan Colored Regiment is a Michigan historical marker in Detroit, Wayne County, dedicated 1968.

Macomb Street, Detroit

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The First Michigan Colored Regiment was organized at Camp Ward, which originally stood on this location. Formed from August through October, 1863, a year of draft riots and protests against the war, this Negro regiment consisted entirely of volunteers. During training a regimental band was formed and toured southern Michigan to recruit additional volunteers. Mustered here as the 102nd U.S. Colored Troops, February 17, 1864, the 900-man unit left Detroit March 28, 1864, for service in South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. More than 1400 men served in the regiment during 19 months in the field; ten per cent of this number died in service. The regiment was disbanded in October, 1865, in Detroit.

TodayHistorical map

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David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Historical maps covering this location

1844 · Chart Of Detroit River, From Lake Erie To Lake St. Slair (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1873 · (Map of Wayne County, Michigan) (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1874 · Plan of Detroit (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1897 · Detroit, vicinity. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1903 · Detroit and Vicinity. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)

Plan of Detroit, 1874, covering the location of First Michigan Colored Regiment, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — Plan of Detroit, 1874, covering this location. David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

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Marker data: Michigan History Center
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