During the Civil War, an act of Congress allowed loyal slave owners in border states (where slavery was still legal after the Emancipation Proclamation) whose slaves enlisted or were drafted into the U.S. military to file a claim against the Federal government for loss of the slave’s services. Since each slave compensation claim was based on the service of a specific soldier, a copy of the claim’s paperwork was placed in that soldier’s compiled military service record. The regiments of U.S. Colored Troops that have a large number of these claims are the regiments formed in the border-states (Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri) or in neighboring states.
This index includes troops who served the following regiments:
Artillery—1st, 4th, 8th, 12th, and 13th Heavy Artillery Regiments, U.S. Colored Troops
Cavalry—5th and 6th Cavalry Regiments, U.S. Colored Troops
Infantry—4th, 7th, 18th and 19th Infantry Regiments, U.S. Colored Troops
For more information about specific records found in this index, please contact the History and Genealogy Department at genealogy@slcl.org.
