(MILITARY CIVIL WAR) Commission issued to a First Sergeant

Sale 2631 - Lot 253

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(MILITARY--CIVIL WAR.) Commission issued to a First Sergeant in the 34th United States Colored Troops. Partly printed Document Signed by Lt. Col. Marple and Lt. Tinkham of the 34th Regiment of United States Colored Troops, completed in manuscript for First Sergeant James Roberts. One page, 10 x 15 inches, on heavy stock; folds, minor wear and toning. Beaufort, SC, 18 July 1864

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Additional Details

In the United States Colored Troops regiments, only a vanishingly small number of officers were African-American. The sergeant ranks were the highest a Black soldier might reasonably hope to attain. This commission shows that James Roberts was one of these non-commissioned officers, with Company A of the 34th U.S.C.T.

Roberts was born in Key West, FL circa 1846. He enlisted in February 1863. He survived the war and returned to work as a porter and warehouse keeper in Key West, according to the 1870 and 1900 census, and was a janitor in Tampa in 1910, where he died in 1921.

Civil War commissions are usually seen only for officers. We don't recall ever seeing a commission for a Black soldier in the United States Colored Troops.