7th Regiment United States Colored Troops Collection

Collection — Box: MSN/CW LDOC CC-1

Identifier: MSN/CW 10192

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

7th Regiment of US Colored Troops Collection, 1863-1865, comprises 9 documents pertaining to the formation and discharge of the 7th United States Colored Infantry Regiment. Included in the collection are muster rolls, appointments, orders, and signatures of enlisted soldiers. Notably, materials are primarily related to 1st Lieutenant Joseph M. Califf and his appointments, though materials also include Private George Washington, Private Vincent Demby, and William Birney, among others.

Dates

Creation: 1863-1865

Creator

United States. Army. Colored Infantry Regiment, 7th (1863-1866) (Organization)

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright status for collection materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Biographical / Historical

The 7th Regiment was an infantry regiment that served the Union Army during the Civil War (1861-1865). The regiment was composed of African American enlisted men who were commanded by white officers. They were organized in Baltimore, Maryland, and officially mustered into service on November 12, 1863. During their service, the 7th regiment lost 393 men with 84 enlisted men and one officer being killed or mortally wounded, and 307 men and one officer dying of disease. They officially mustered out of service on October 13, 1866, and were discharged on November 15, 1866.

Biographical / Historical

Joseph M. Califf (1843-1914) was a 2nd Lieutenant for the 7th Regiment. He enlisted on September 15, 1865 before being promoted to 1st Lieutenant in March 1865. Shortly after, he was appointed captain. He remained captain until he mustered out in October 1866 with the discharge of the 7th Regiment. He went on to continue his service in the US Army.

Extent

0.46 Cubic Feet (1 folder)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement

The collection retains original order of materials when accessioned.

Processing Information

Subject and name headings for the collection have been assigned in accordance with Library of Congress (LC) vocabulary terms for African American people and Civil War infantry regiments, some of which were, at the time of processing, broadly acknowledged to be incorrect and under revision. These terms were applied in the interest of aggregating like material within cooperative catalogs, and will be updated as corrections to LC vocabularies are published. Similarly, portions of this finding aid rely on transcription of historical documents which may contain outdated or offensive terminology. Within archivist-devised notes and folder titles, people are referred to by self-identified preferred name, where one has been determined.