From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Military unit
The
5th Regiment Massachusetts Colored Volunteer Cavalry
(or 5th Regiment, Massachusetts Cavalry (Colored)) was a
cavalry
regiment
from
Massachusetts
, that served in the
Union Army
during the
American Civil War
.
Service
[
edit
]
The regiment was organized from January 9-May 5, 1864, at Camp Meigs, Readville, near Boston. From May 12, 1864, it served dismounted and equipped as infantry until the end of war.
Detailed service
[
edit
]
The regiment fought at Baylor's Farm during the
Second Battle of Petersburg
and the
Siege of Petersburg
on June 14, 1864. At the end of June 1864, it was ordered to Point Lookout, Maryland, to guard a Confederate prison. They mustered out on October 31, 1865.
Casualties
[
edit
]
The regiment lost 123 enlisted men; 7 enlisted men were killed or mortally wounded, and 116 enlisted men died of disease.
Commanders
[
edit
]
Notable soldiers and officers
[
edit
]
- Private
Prince Romerson
(c. 1840?1872), a
Native Hawaiian
soldier from the
Kingdom of Hawaii
who also fought as a
Buffalo Soldier
.
[1]
- Joshua Dunbar, the father of renowned American poet
Paul Laurence Dunbar
, served as a volunteer soldier in both the 5th Regiment Massachusetts Colored Volunteer Cavalry and the
55th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment
.
- Corporal William R. Meadows (c. 1842-May 6, 1868), moved to Claiborne Parish, Louisiana after the war. He served as a representative to the state constitutional convention of 1868 after Louisiana was readmitted to the Union. He was murdered by unknown parties outside his home on the evening May 6, 1868. [New Orleans Republican, May 22, 1868, p. 1]
- 2nd Lt.
Daniel Henry Chamberlain
, who'd become
Attorney General
and eventually
Governor of South Carolina
.
- George Lawrence Mabson
, who becomes the first black lawyer in North Carolina
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
McCunn, Ruthanne Lum (2015). "Prince Romerson". In Shively, Carol A. (ed.).
Asians and Pacific Islanders and the Civil War
. Washington, D. C.: National Park Service. pp. 142?145.
ISBN
978-1-59091-167-9
.
OCLC
904731668
.
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]