42nd US Colored Infantry

The 42nd US Colored Infantry was a "disability" regiment or "Invalid Corp." Men served in the 42nd who were "unfit for field service yet fit for common garrison duty." Typical reasons for such a transfer were old age, rheumatism, hernias, heart disease and hemorrhoids.   

OVERVIEW: Organized at Chattanooga, Tenn., and Nashville, Tenn., April 20, 1864. Attached to District of Chattanooga, Dept. of the Cumberland, to November, 1864. Unattached, District of the Etowah, Dept. of the Cumberland, to December, 1864. 1st Colored Brigade, District of the Etowah, to January, 1865. Unattached, District of the Etowah, to March, 1865. 1st Colored Brigade, Dept. of the Cumberland, to July, 1865. 2nd Brigade, 4th Division, District of East Tennessee, July, 1865. Dept. of Georgia to January, 1866.

SERVICE: Guard and garrison duty at Chattanooga, Tenn., in District of East Tennessee, and in Dept. of the Cumberland, and Dept. of Georgia during the entire term. Mustered out January 31, 1866 in Nashville, Tennessee

Four men from Williamson County served in the 42nd USCI:

• Pvt. John Henry Copeland aka  John Henry Johnson was born in Williamson County around 1848.  He was enslaved by Samuel Copeland and his wife, Mary Martin, at their home that stood on McCanless Road north of Triune. Pvt. Copeland was one of 24 people enslaved by the couple by 1860. On April 1, 1864, 15-year-old Copeland enlisted in Company C of the 2nd US Colored Infantry in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He was just 5 ft, 1 inch tall and described as a farmer.  Initially, he was on daily duty learning music and served as a drummer boy for the regiment.  Pvt. Copeland mustered out of the army at Huntsville, Alabama, on January 31, 1866.  Following the War, Copeland moved to Marshall County, TN.  He married Jerinda Fowler ther,e and the couple raised a large family on their farm near Lewisburg. In 1890, Copeland applied for and received a pension for his service. On July 19, 1917, at the age of 69, Pvt. Copeland died at his home. His remains were buried in the Hill Cemetery the next day.  He does not appear to have a headstone. Pvt. Copeland’s paver was sponsored by Samuel Lipshie.

• Pvt. Wilson Robinson enlisted in Company C on March 20, 1864. He was born in Williamson County around 1844 and enlisted in Chattanooga. From Oct. 30, 1864 to Nov. 9, 1864 he was on detached service conveying horses to Atlanta per instructions from Major General Steedman. In July 1865 he was granted a furlough. On Jan. 31, 1866 he mustered out in Huntsville, Alabama. 

• Pvt. Amos Potter was born in Williamson County around 1815, making him one of the oldest identified USCT veterans from the area. He enlisted in Columbia, TN, on December 13, 1863, at the age of 48. Potter died in a Huntsville, AL hospital of acute dysentery/typhoid fever on Oct. 9, 1865. He was initially buried in the Huntsville Cemetery. Most of those graves were relocated to the Chattanooga National Cemetery, but his headstone has not been located. Pvt. Potter’s paver has been sponsored anonymously.

• Pvt. Miles Washington was born in Williamson County around 1840. He initially enlisted in the 40th USCI. He was later transferred to the 42nd due to chronic rheumatism on April 15, 1865 at Vicksburg, Miss. After the war, he received a pension for his service.

Organized by Thomas Jefferson Morgan