Can anyone identify this photograph?

Co. E, 4th U.S. Colored Infantry, Fort Lincoln (part of defenses surrounding Washington, D.C.).
I think you refer to this one, taken shortly after the war around Thanksgiving 1865:

coe4thusct.png
 
I ran across it on Facebook, and the person who posted it did so as part of a series of pictures showing younger participants in the war. He couldn't identify when and where it was taken, and I wondered if anyone here was familiar with it. Thanks in advance for any help.

Expired Image Removed

Very similar in composition and setting to this one, taken at Bermuda Hundred in 1864. LoC image.

02004v.jpg
 
...I always figured that was a detachment from Company E. It's not -- that's all that was left of Company E by the end of the war.

I suppose that most companies wouldn´t look better if they didn´t get replacements. Something I absolutely don´t know - did the USCT regiments get replacements at all?
 
The soldier on the left has a Corp badge. Can you ID it? Since the colorized version clearly shows a group of USCT, Bermuda Hundred is a good guess.
 
What is unusual and striking about this photograph,besides the extreme youth of several of the soldiers, is the mixing of races in one group. Did the USCT and white troops in camp socialize with each other? Were they merely gathered together for the photograph? Or were the "USCT" in this image actually servants wearing cast-offs?
 
ALL of these soldiers would have been considered "colored" by the standards and definitions of 19th century America. Even the men who appear white to us. Sobering thought. There is a shortage of written primary material from the USCT. Low literary level is to blame. Although I can recall reading accounts of white troops commenting on seeing black troops singing and dancing (stereotype much?) I can't recall ever seeing an account talking about the troops fraternizing.
 
Although I can recall reading accounts of white troops commenting on seeing black troops singing and dancing (stereotype much?).

Be careful of castigating period behavior from a 21st century perspective. Non-urban or immigrant troops in Federal units might not have ever seen/met a black person before such encounters, so it'd be a memorable event.
 
Back
Top