61st US Colored Infantry Regiment June 1862

In June 1862 the Union Army established a headquarters in Jackson. The provost marshal's office located at the court house was the recruiting station for the Union Army. In May 1863, during the Civil War, over 100 African American men from Madison County joined the Union Army to help establish the United States Colored Troops authorized by the War Department's General Order 143 on May 23, 1863. Enough men enlisted to form Companies A & B of the 6lst Regiment U. S. Colored Infantry Regiment. Originally known as the 2nd U.S. Infantry Volunteers (African Descent), in December 1863, at the Battle of Moscow, Tennessee, the 61st was one of the first Tennessee USCT units to see combat in the Civil War. Its men saw service in Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. During its service the regiment lost one officer; thirty-seven men were killed and mortally wounded; and two officers and 316 enlisted men succumbed to disease. The 6lst mustered out of active duty on December 26, 1865, after which some became a part of the regular US Army.