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 Johnson aka  John Henry Copeland was just 15 years old when he enlisted in the regiment in Chattanooga. He was born in Williamson County around 1849. A few months after mustering in he was on daily duty "learning music" and later served as a drummer and musician. Following the war, he appears to have used the name John Henry Johnson. He married and raised a family in Marshall County, TN. Later in life he received a pension for his service. Johnson died in 1917 in Lewisburg, TN. No gravesite has been located. Pvt. Johnson's paver has been sponsored by Samuel D. 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