28th United States Colored Infantry Regiment
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| 28th United States Colored Infantry Regiment | |
|---|---|
| Unit name | 28th United States Colored Infantry Regiment |
| Dates | November 1863 – January 1866 |
| Country | United States |
| Allegiance | Union |
| Branch | United States Army |
| Type | Infantry |
| Size | Regiment |
| Garrison | Port Royal, South Carolina |
| Notable commanders | Colonel Henry C. Ward; Lieutenant Colonel Samuel P. Spear |
28th United States Colored Infantry Regiment was an African American infantry regiment raised for service in the American Civil War. Organized under the United States Colored Troops system, it served in the Department of the South, participating in operations across South Carolina, Florida, and Georgia between 1863 and 1866. The regiment's men were recruited primarily from freedmen and formerly enslaved men and served under white officers appointed through the U.S. War Department.
Formation and Organization
The regiment was organized at Port Royal, South Carolina in November 1863 under authority of the Bureau of Colored Troops created by the United States War Department in May 1863. Recruitment drew from coastal counties of South Carolina and neighboring districts of Georgia and Florida, with enlistments processed at depots established at Beaufort, South Carolina and Hilton Head Island. Officers included veterans of the Mexican–American War, volunteers from Massachusetts and New York, and appointees confirmed through the Senate of the United States. The unit was mustered into federal service under the command of Colonel Henry C. Ward and assigned to brigades that reported to the X Corps and later departmental commands.
Service History
After organization, the regiment performed garrison, guard, and expeditionary duties on the Sea Islands and the coastal waterways that connected Charleston, South Carolina, Savannah, Georgia, and Jacksonville, Florida. It served on the Beaufort and Port Royal stations and participated in joint operations with the United States Navy during amphibious movements and riverine expeditions. Elements of the regiment were detached for provost duty in occupied towns and worked alongside units of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, the 7th United States Colored Troops, and the Oneida (sloop)-supported naval detachments. The 28th was later attached to operations aimed at disrupting Confederate States of America supply lines, protecting freedmen refugee camps, and securing strategic islands such as Fort Wagner approaches and river mouths leading to the St. Johns River.
Engagements and Battles
The regiment took part in multiple expeditions and skirmishes along the coastal front, including assaults on Confederate works in the vicinity of James Island, operations against batteries near Wagner, and reconnaissance-in-force actions toward Jacksonville, Florida. It participated in the Battle of Honey Hill-related operations and in raids intended to sever the Savannah and Charleston Railroad supply route. Companies of the 28th were engaged at Lucy Point, at crossings near the Coosawhatchie River, and in confrontations with forces under commanders from the Confederate Department of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, including detachments associated with leaders like Brigadier General Nathan Bedford Forrest-opposed columns and regional partisan bands. The regiment also supported the Landing at City Point-style logistics of Union coastal campaigns and provided security for Sherman's March to the Sea follow-on supply nodes when Union lines extended into coastal Georgia.
Commanders and Personnel
Commanding officers included Colonel Henry C. Ward and Lieutenant Colonel Samuel P. Spear, with company commanders drawn from officers who had served in regiments such as the 1st South Carolina Volunteers and the 33rd United States Colored Infantry Regiment. Noncommissioned officers and rank-and-file included many men who had escaped bondage via the Underground Railroad or were liberated during Union naval operations. The regiment's surgeon and medical staff coordinated with personnel from the United States Sanitary Commission and the Army Medical Department to care for sick and wounded. Chaplains assigned to the 28th worked alongside clergy from Abolitionist communities in Boston, Philadelphia, and New York City to minister to soldiers and freedpeople.
Recruitment, Training, and Regiment Life
Recruits underwent drilling and musketry training at coastal posts where discipline followed regulations issued by the War Department. Training included bayonet practice, entrenching, and amphibious embarkation drills coordinated with units of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. Daily life combined guard rotations at fortifications, fatigue duties building earthworks, and labor on rice and cotton fields requisitioned for supply. Pay issues, addressed episodically through directives from Quartermaster General Montgomery C. Meigs and paymasters from Washington, D.C., affected morale; men were influenced by public debates in newspapers like the New York Tribune and congressional discussions over equal pay and enlistment bounties. Soldiers corresponded with family and abolitionist organizers and participated in educational programs promoted by the Freedmen's Bureau following occupation of coastal towns.
Casualties and Strength
Regimental strength fluctuated, peaking near typical Union colored regimental complements and later reduced by disease, combat losses, desertion, and expiration of enlistments. The 28th suffered casualties in skirmishes and expeditions and lost more men to disease—yellow fever, dysentery, and malaria—than to enemy fire, a pattern mirrored across units serving in the malarial coastal districts. Men wounded in action were evacuated to hospitals established at Beaufort, Port Royal and aboard hospital ships of the Union Navy Hospital Corps. Muster rolls and returns recorded officers killed or wounded, men promoted from the ranks, and transfers to other USCT formations such as the 82nd United States Colored Troops for consolidation.
Legacy and Commemoration
After mustering out in January 1866, veterans of the regiment joined Reconstruction-era civic life, participating in South Carolina constitutional conventions, municipal governments in Beaufort County, South Carolina and Charleston County, South Carolina, and the Freedmen's Bureau's educational initiatives. Survivors are commemorated by monuments and markers on the Sea Islands and at sites like the National Museum of African American History and Culture collections and the African American Civil War Memorial. Historians have connected the 28th’s service to broader narratives in works about the United States Colored Troops, Frederick Douglass's advocacy, and studies of Reconstruction era political realignments. Regimental histories and pension files preserved in the National Archives and Records Administration and manuscript collections at the Library of Congress and Rutgers University provide primary documentation for scholars and descendants.