Nine regiments – five Union and four Confederate – are known to have participated in the battle of Milliken’s Bend. The Texas units were the 19^th, 17^th, and 16^th Texas Infantry, and the 16^th Texas Dismounted Cavalry. On the Union side, four of the five regiments were newly formed units belonging to the emerging United States Colored Troops. Assisted by the veteran 23^rd Iowa Infantry, these units were the 11^th Louisiana Infantry, African Descent; the 1^st Mississippi Infantry, African Descent; the 13^th Louisiana Infantry, African Descent; and the 9^th Louisiana Infantry, African Descent.

With one exception, the history of these units is easily found. The Texas units went on to fight in the Red River Campaign of 1864 – the last major action they saw. The African Brigade, as the outfit that fought at Milliken’s Bend was known, were soon after reorganized. The 11^th Louisiana became the 49^th United States Colored Infantry. The 1^st Mississippi became the 51^st United States Colored Infantry, and the 9^th Louisiana became the 5^th United States Colored Heavy Artillery. All three of these went on to serve garrison duty at Vicksburg for most of the remainder of the war. The 51^st USCI, though, was called away, and fought at Fort Blakely, Alabama in 1865.

The single exception, as mentioned above, is the 13^th Louisiana Infantry, African Descent. The unit received no change of designation, as it was dissolved shortly after the battle in June 1863. The post return for that same month noted that “The 13^th LA Infantry has no legal organization.” That same return lists a small number of officers as belonging to the regiment. August Goelzer is listed as “acting” Colonel, and Theodore Pleisch as Lieutenant Colonel. Two captains are also listed, Thomas McClellan and R.A. Strong. Fred D. Walker is listed as an Assistant Surgeon, and then several Lieutenants including Herman Knoll, Julius Knoll, Hunt Donning, Nathaniel Martin, and another Theodore Pleisch. It is possible this last entry is in error, accidentally listing the regiment’s Lieutenant Colonel under the lower rank of “Lieutenant.”

With such a complement of officers, why then, was the regiment disbanded after the battle? One of the first clues is also in the post return itself. Out of all the officers listed as belonging to the 13^th Louisiana, only three were actually present: Herman Knoll, Julius Knoll, and Fred D. Walker. So far as can be determined, these three are the only ones that remained at the post of Milliken’s Bend. Colonel Augustus Goelzer, intended to hold that rank in the 13^th Louisiana, seems to have delayed, or to have been delayed in taking that office. The reason for this is that the 60^th Indiana’s existing Colonel, Richard Owen, resigned his commission on July 11, 1863. Military red tape being what it was (and is), word of the resignation was highly likely in the air already when Goelzer was preparing to take his new command. Instead, he was made Colonel of the 60^th Indiana. Theodore Pleisch also retained the lower rank of Major under Goelzer, though he was not commissioned as such until nearly a year later. Records show that he was mustered out as a Captain in March 1865.

The remainder of the men who were intended to be officers also appear to have returned to the 60^th Indiana Infantry. Fred D. Walker, rather than being an Assistant Surgeon, mustered out in 1865 with the rank of Quartermaster Sergeant. R.A. Strong and Thomas McLellan have not yet been identified. The remainder, however, belonged to the 60^th Indiana. Julius Knoll held the rank of Corporal, whereas his brother Herman remained a Private. Both men were listed as 1^st Lieutenants in the 13^th Louisiana, and both served in Company G of the 60^th Indiana. The man listed as “Hunt Donning” appears to be in reality Henry C. Downy or Downing of Company C.

The 13^th Louisiana was reported to have 108 men present the day of the battle. Historian Edwin Bearss placed Herman Knoll as leading the 13^th Louisiana. Given that he was one of three officers actually present that day, and listed above his brother, Julius, this seems to be accurate. Officers of other regiments, like Lieutenant Colonel Cyrus Sears of the 49^th USCI, later denied that the 13^th Louisiana had been there at all. Major David Cornwell of the 5^th USCHA insisted just as vehemently that they were. The men of the 13^th Louisiana are a much harder puzzle to solve. Since the regiment had such loose organization, there is no paper trail to follow, and so no reliable way to trace the men. The best estimate available is that they were dispersed among the other regiments stationed in the area at the time. To-date, none of them have been identified.

The three officers who led the regiment during the battle, however, are a different story. All of them were of foreign birth. Herman and Julius Knoll were brothers, born in Germany, and raised in Evansville, Indiana. Fred D. Walker was an Englishman, born on the southwest coast in Cornwall. As a teenager, he enlisted in the British Army but went absent without leave in 1859. In September of 1860 he arrived in New York City. In late 1861, he enlisted in the 60^th Indiana Infantry, where, with the brief interruption in 1863, he remained until discharged in March 1865. In 1866, he enlisted again, this time in the 4^th U.S. Artillery, where he served as a hospital steward. Discharged again in 1869, Walker returned to England, where he married one Lucretia Wharton. The newlyweds soon after moved to Australia, where he took up sheep farming. Walker made one last trip home to England, where he died in 1880, seemingly of heart failure.

The Knoll brothers spent less time in the military than their English comrade. In 1860, Herman listed his birthplace as Berlin. Julius (actually Karl Julius), still living at home, gave his as Prussia. Herman worked as a wagon maker, and Julius as a laborer. The two enlisted in the 60^th Indiana in late 1861. Julius, the younger by three years, mustered in on October 7. Herman mustered in just over a month later on November 15. Of the two, only Herman’s promotion to Lieutenant is listed. Julius is listed as having mustered out on March 21, 1865. The brothers returned to Evansville following the war. Herman remained there, while Julius, by 1880, moved to Wisconsin. Herman worked consistently as a wagon maker until at least 1900, while Julius plied his hand at various trades, from brick mason, to carpenter, to farmer. Julius, at some point before 1911, moved back to Evansville, where he died in January 1911. Herman outlived him by fourteen years. Both brothers lie in the same cemetery in Evansville, and both have military headstones marked for the 60^th Indiana. Without looking further, no one would know that these men served as officers in an early USCT regiment, in one of the bloodiest small battles of the Civil War.