110th US Colored Infantry

Organized June 25, 1864, from 2nd Alabama Colored Infantry. Attached to District of North Alabama, Dept. of the Cumberland, to February, 1865. Defences of Nashville & Northwestern Railroad to March, 1865. 3rd Sub-District, District of Middle Tennessee, to September, 1865. Dept. of the Tennessee to February, 1866.

SERVICE:

Garrison duty at Pulaski, Tenn., and guard duty on railroad in North Alabama till February, 1865. Forest's attack on Athens, Ala., September 23-24, 1864. Larkinsville, Ala., January 8, 1865 (Detachment of Co. "E"). Guard Nashville & Northwestern Railroad till June, 1865. At Gallatin, Tenn., and at various points in the Dept. of Tennessee till February, 1866. Mustered out February 6, 1866.

Predecessor unit: Alabama Volunteers 2nd Regiment Infantry (African Descent).

Organized at Pulaski, Tenn., November 20, 1863. Attached to 2nd Division, 16th Army Corps, Dept. Tennessee, to January, 1864. Garrison at Pulaski, Tenn., Dept. of the Tennessee, to June, 1864.

Designation changed to 110th U.S. Colored Troops June 25, 1864.

Five Williamson-County men are known to have enlisted in the 110th US Colored Infantry:

• Pvt. William Baugh enlisted in Company I on December 30, 1863, in Limestone, Alabama. He was born in Williamson County around 1845. He was described as an 18-year-old farmer. Pvt. Baugh died at Prospect, Tennessee of pneumonia on February 2, 1864. No headstone or gravesite has been located. His mother Lucy Baugh was granted a pension for his service.

• Pvt. Jackson Legg served in Company F. Born in Limestone, Alabama, he enlisted on October 9, 1863, in Richland, Tennessee. He was captured and taken POW during the during the Battle of Sulphur Creek Trestle. The following year he was recaptured by US forces in Mobile, Alabama where he had been held.  In 1877, he married Eliza Kinnard in Williamson County and the couple raised a family and owned a farm in the West Harpeth area. He died there in July 1902.

• Pvt. Eli Perkins enlisted in Company D on December 8, 1863, in Pulaski, Tennessee. He was born in Williamson County around 1828. He was described as a 35-year-old farmer. Pvt. Perkins was captured by the Confederate Army at Athens, Alabama on September 24, 1864 during the Battle of Sulphur Creek Trestle. He escaped and returned to duty on November 1,1864. He died in Wilson General Hospital at Nashville on May 17, 1865, of disease. He was married; his wife was living in Columbia at the time of his death. His remains are buried in the Nashville National Cemetery Section L 15625.

• Cpl. Charles Williams served in Company H and was born in Nashville, TN. He enlisted at Athens, Alabama on December 22, 1863 and was taken POW on Sept 24, 1864 when his regiment surrendered to Gen. N. B. Forrest. On May 1, 1865 he was released from Confederate prison at Mobile, AL. In the 1890 Federal Veterans Census, he was counted living in Williamson County.

• Musician Henry Wray (Rhea/Ray) aka Henry Washington served in Company D and was born in Giles County, TN. He enlisted at Pulaski, TN on December 8, 1863 when he was 18 years old. He was serving as a drummer when he was taken POW on Sept. 24, 1864 when his regiment surrendered to Gen. N. B. Forrest. On June 19, 1865 he was returned to duty. and in February 1866 he mustered out in Huntsville, Alabama. On March 27, 1868 he married Mary Helm in Williamson County, TN. The couple settled in District 8 and raised a family there and in District 5. In 1888, he applied for and received a pension. By 1930, Wray had moved to Nashville where he died in 1932. A military headstone was applied for, to be in stalled at Mt. Ararat Cemetery in Nashville, but it has not yet been located. 

Resources:

• Battle Unit Details

• 110th & 111th USCI Battle of Sulphur Creek Trestle

• Roots Web, Giles County, Tennessee

• The USCT Chronicle: A Soldier of the 110th US Colored Infantry

• A History of the 110th and 111th USCI

• Approved Pension File for Amy Hennigan, Widow of Private Ephraim Hennigan, Company A, 110th U.S. Colored Troops Infantry Regiment (WC-379857)

• Approved Pension File for Celina McMillan, Widow of Robert McMillan, Company D, 110th U.S. Colored Troops Infantry Regiment (Captain), and Company E, 66th Illinois Infantry Regiment (Private) (WC-333190)

• Approved Pension Application File for Dependents of Rufus May, Company D, 110th USCT Infantry Regiment (Application No. WC120835)

• Pension Application for George W. Abernathy, 110th USCT Co K