Researching early regiments of the U.S. Colored Troops (USCT) can sometimes be difficult. Unit names may have changed several times throughout their service.

The earliest regiments, organized between the fall of 1862 and the creation of the Bureau of Colored Troops on May 22, 1863, were typically given state designations, the same as any other Union regiment. Thus, we have the 54th Massachusetts Infantry and the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry.

When recruitment began in the occupied Southern states in early 1863, these new regiments also were given state designations, often with some sort of a modifying phrase in their full name to designate that they were black regiments. Thus, in the story of Milliken’s Bend, for instance, we have the 9th Louisiana Infantry African Descent. Their name was often abbreviated to: 9th Louisiana Infantry, A.D. or even more common, simply the 9th Louisiana Infantry. This can easily lead to confusion, because at first glance, the regiment could be mistaken for a Confederate unit, because of its Southern-state name.

Later, these early regiments with state designations were given formal USCT names. The 9th Louisiana Infantry African Descent, after several other name changes, eventually became the 5th U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery, or the 5th USCHA. Likewise, the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry was redesignated the 79th U.S. Colored Infantry (USCI), though they were so proud of their original regimental name, they often continued to use it on an informal basis, long after the Army bureaucracy had rechristened them.

The Union regiments at Milliken’s Bend composed of former slaves were, at the time of the battle, identified as:

9th Louisiana Infantry, African Descent

11th Louisiana Infantry, African Descent

13th Louisiana Infantry, African Descent

1st Mississippi Infantry, African Descent

These later became, respectively:

5th U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery

49th U.S. Colored Infantry

(13th Louisiana found to be illegally organized and disbanded)

51st U.S. Colored Infantry

Some regiments went through several iterations before arriving at their final designation:

9th Louisiana Infantry, African Descent

became

1st Mississippi Heavy Artillery, African Descent

which became

4th U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery

and finally

5th U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery

Thankfully, records at the National Archives are all grouped under the final USCT designation of a regiment, regardless of how it was identified earlier in its career. The key is to carefully examine the records. Resources such as Frederick Dyer’s Compendium of the War of the Rebellion can be helpful, but even here, his information should be used as a guide, not the final word, as some discrepancies have been found.