Freedom by the Sword - US Army Center Of Military History

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Freedom by the Sword: The U.S. Colored Troops, 1862–1867
detail of Colored Troops to supplement civilian laborers. “I did not want to do
this,” he explained later to the recently promoted Col. Reuben D. Mussey, “for
I believe in Colored Troops and think they should take the Field and fight the
same as White ones, but I knew there were Colored Regts. in the Dept. not yet
fit for the Field and that, for obvious reasons, they had more work in them than
I could get out of any other troops.” 31
When enough supplies had been unloaded from boats and trains at Nashville
to ensure a steady flow to Sherman’s campaign, Donaldson excused the men
of the 15th and 17th regiments from stevedore tasks and assigned them to
the more military duty of guarding rail lines and quartermaster depots. The
15th USCI stretched out along the Edgefield and Kentucky Railroad, guarding
bridges and trestles from the north bank of the Cumberland River opposite
Nashville forty miles northwest to the state line; the 17th concentrated at
Nashville, with companies stationed up and down the river at sawmills and
wood yards, and sometimes provided armed guards for riverboats. Donaldson
praised both regiments and told Mussey that he looked forward to the day when
they could take part in active military operations. 32
In the southeastern corner of the state, Colonel Morgan of the 14th USCI
arrived at Chattanooga with three thousand blank enlistment forms in February
1864. That part of Tennessee was untapped territory for Union recruiters, who
hoped to raise two more regiments of Colored Troops there. By the middle of
the next month, Morgan’s regiment was on the march, scouring the country
for recruits along a 150-mile route that took them up the Sequatchie River and
over the Cumberland Mountains to Sparta before turning east to Kingston on
the Tennessee River. “The men manifested the most commendable endurance,
cheerfulness, and courage,” Capt. James H. Meteer noted on his company
muster roll at the end of the month, “often marching 20 miles per day over
these m[oun]t[ain]s, carrying knapsacks and several days rations.” 33
The trip was an eye-opener for Meteer, who had referred to his new
regiment as the “14th ‘Unwashed Americans’” when he joined it in January.
“We fully expected to meet reb Col Hughes of Bushwhacking notoriety, for
he had been severely punishing [the 5th] Ten[nessee] Cavalry for some time
and [his] robbing crew of hangers on had been committing some of the most
fiendish deeds ever recorded” on Unionist civilians. John M. Hughs was more
than a bushwhacker. Colonel of the Confederate 25th Tennessee Infantry, he
operated in the middle part of the state, apart from his regiment. Authorized
to round up deserters and to enforce conscription, he also led a band of about
one hundred guerrillas. During the winter, Hughs and his men had clashed
several times with the Union 5th Tennessee Cavalry, but they left the 14th
31 OR, ser. 1, vol. 52, pt. 1, p. 684; Col J. L. Donaldson to Col R. D. Mussey, 9 Oct 1864 (f/w
M–750–CT–1864), Entry 360, RG 94, NA.
32 Donaldson to Mussey, 9 Oct 1864; NA M594, roll 207, 15th and 17th USCIs.
33 Col T. J. Morgan to Capt R. D. Mussey, 3 Feb 1864, Entry 1149, pt. 1, RG 393, NA; NA M594,
roll 207, 14th USCI. The entry in Company K’s Record of Events is anonymous, but the wording is
almost identical to that in a private letter Meteer wrote after the expedition. J. H. Meteer to C. Mills,
18 Apr 1864, Caleb Mills Papers, Indiana Historical Society, Indianapolis.