African-American Leaders In The Regiment

As we continue our research on the 29^th regiment we are starting to learn more about individual soldiers and their lives before and the war. One great example of this would be Joseph Underwood, using multiple sources and census records we where able to find more about his life. This kind of work sparked my interest in an aspect of the 29^th that we where yet to explore. In a military setting the chain of command is what holds a unit, corps, or army together. Enlisted soldiers that show potential and good leadership qualities can be prompted to the rank of an NCO or non commissioned officer. The purpose of do this promotion is to install leaders that are well respected and well known by the soldiers. While those promoted to the rank of an NCO have more responsibility than others they are not officers. These men are the glue of the regiment doing most of the officer’s dirty work to accomplish their goal. In the photo to the left you can see the rank and ensignia for enlisted soldiers during the civil war.When we looked at the list of African American soldiers that enlisted from Connecticut, I noticed a surprising number of soldiers who achieved the rank of corporal or sergeant.

While we don’t know much about NCO’s in the 29^th regiment there are example of African American soldiers who have distinguished themselves on the battlefield. A great example of this would be First Sergeant Robert John Simmons. Simmons was part of the Massachusetts 54^th infantry regiment. The Massachusetts 54^th is the most well known All African-American army divisions of the civil war. There is lots of information about Simmons that can be found easily on the Internet. This is not the case for sergeants and corporals of the 29^th. This is surprising because the 29^th accomplished very significant milestones during the war. I would like to find more information about the NCO’s in the 29^th. The regiment was responsible for an impressive amount of victories during the war. I know that there is more to learn about the individual accomplishments of these men.