16th US Colored Infantry

Five men with ties to Williamson County enlisted in the 16th US Colored Infantry:

• Cpl. James Barker, enlisted in Company C on December 7, 1863 in Clarksville, Tennessee. He was identified as a 44 year old farmer. He died of pneumonia in Clarkesville on Christmas Day, December 25, 1864 after being sick for four days. No gravesite has been identified.

• Pvt. Michael Dinnard (Kinnard?) enlisted in Company C on December 7, 1863 in Clarksville, TN. He was identified as a 21 year old farmer. He deserted on April 14, 1864.

• Pvt. Henry Gooch enlisted in Company G on December 30, 1863 in Clarksville, TN. He was identified as a 24 year old farmer. He survived to muster out with the regiment.

• 1st Sgt. Charles Gooch enlisted in Company G on December 30, 1863 in Clarksville, TN. He was identified as a 38 year old farmer. He was sick and transferred to the 101st US Colored Infantry. He mustered out with the regiment on January 21, 1866. 

• Pvt. James Scudder was born in Georgia and enlisted as a substitute for a white man in Belmont, Ohio. Following the War, he settled in Nashville and then married Susan Hyde in Williamson County in 1874. Hyde was from the Triune area. Around 1880, the couple moved to Topeka, Kansas along with many other Black Williamson Countians. He received a pension and died there around 1900. In 1911, his widow died in Topeka and was buried there. In her will, she left her possessions to her sister Eliza Hyde who still lived in the Triune area of Williamson County.

Description of the 16th USCI Dress Parade at Chattanooga in 1866 by J. T. Trowbridge

“I went up on a hill east of town and witnessed the dress-parade of the sixteenth colored regiment (Tennessee). I never saw a finer military display on a small scale. The drill was perfect. At the order, a thousand muskets came to a thousand shoulders with a single movement, or the butts struck the ground with one sound along the whole line. The contrast of colors was superb, - the black faces, the white gloves, the blue uniforms, the bright steel. The music by the colored band was mellow and inspiring; and as a background to the picture we had a golden sunset behind the mountains.” 

A Picture of the Desolated States And the Work of Restoration. 1865-1868 By John Townsend Trowbridge · 1868, pp. 253-254

Resources:

• Regimental and Company Books of the 16th U.S. Colored Troops Infantry Regiment

• “Brother Charles”: Letters Home to Michigan Civil War Correspondence of the Wadsworth Brothers, Tennessee State Library and Archives.

• Collection of William Brunt, D company, 16th regiment, USCT, infantry, Gilder Lehrman Collection

• A Picture of the Desolated States And the Work of Restoration. 1865-1868 By John Townsend Trowbridge · 1868

• Approved Pension Files for Regiment:

  • Approved Pension File for Private John Booker, Company I, 16th U.S. Colored Troops Infantry Regiment (SC-707707)

  • Approved Pension File for Private Samuel Berry (alias Samuel Merriweather), Company G, 16th U.S. Colored Troops Infantry Regiment (SC-804299)

  • Approved Pension File for Brina Tally, Mother of Green Tally, Company C, 16th U.S. Colored Troops Infantry Regiment (WC-389316)

  • Approved Pension File for Nancy Campbell, Widow of Private Sterling Campbell, Company H, 16th U.S. Colored Troops Infantry Regiment (WC-406492)

  • Approved Pension File for Hawkins Dudley, Father of Private Richard Lacy, Company E, 16th U.S. Colored Troops Infantry Regiment (WC-438828)

  • Approved Pension File for Jennie Beasley, Widow of Private James Beasley, Company H, 16th U.S. Colored Troops Infantry Regiment (WC-470543)

  • Approved Pension File for Kittie Fletcher, Widow of Sergeant Benjamin Fletcher, Company A, 16th U.S. Colored Troops Infantry Regiment (WC-682295)

  • Approved Pension File for Patient Walker, Widow of Private Anthony Walker, Company B, 16th U.S. Colored Troops Infantry Regiment (WC-331389)

  • Approved Pension File for Maria Gaines, Widow of Private Harris Gaines, Company K, 16th U.S. Colored Troops Infantry Regiment (WC-396974)

  • Approved Pension File for Irene Kimbrough, Widow of Private Stephen Kimbrough, Company D, 16th U.S. Colored Troops Infantry Regiment (WC-501368)

  • Approved Pension File for Minor Children of Private John Wesley (alias John W. Warfield), Company C, 16th U.S. Colored Troops Infantry Regiment (WC-680372)

  • Approved Pension Application File for Susan Brady Dickins, Widow of Jonah Dickins, Company E, 16th USCT Infantry Regiment (Application No. WC110800)

  • Approved Pension Application File for Rachel Duke, Mother of George Duke, Company A, 16th USCT Infantry Regiment (Application No. WC111054)

  • Approved Pension Application File for Dependents of John Thomas, Company K, 16th USCT Infantry Regiment (Application No. WC112463)

  • Approved Pension Application File for Dependents of William Huff, Company A, 16th USCT Infantry Regiment (Application No. WC94709)

  • Approved Pension Application File for Francis Poore, Widow of Guy Poore, Company H, 16th USCT Infantry Regiment (Application No. WC89561)

  • Approved Pension Application File for the Dependent of Philip Foster, Company C, 16th USCT Infantry Regiment (Application No. WC89018)

  • Approved Pension Application File for the Dependent of Morris Nolen, Company A, 16th USCT Infantry Regiment (Application No. WC68778)

  • Approved Pension Application File for Nancy Hall, Widow of William Hall, Company D, 16th USCT Infantry Regiment (Application No. WC89948)

  • Approved Pension Application File for Harriet Fort, Mother of Nelson Fort, Company I, 16th USCT Infantry Regiment (Application No. WC105732)

  • Approved Pension Application File for Nancy Dickson, Mother of Silas Dickson, Company G, 16th USCT Infantry Regiment (Application No. WC122086)