The Forty-third regiment United States Colored Troops — Reading Companion

Biography as Argument

Mickley structures his book as a roster of commissioned officers, each entry following a fixed template: birthplace, family military history, pre-war occupation, volunteer enlistment, promotions, and a list of engagements. Captain Horace F. Burr, for instance, is introduced as “a native of Charlestown, Mass.” who “had passed two years at sea in the ship ‘Panther.’” The pattern repeats for nearly every officer, creating a rhythm of data rather than narrative. Mickley’s introduction frames this repetition as purposeful: the biographies are “designed for their own use” but also intended to prove that Black troops are “very susceptible of intellectual and moral culture.” By foregrounding the officers’ civilian competence—sailors, farmers, clerks—he implies that the regiment’s discipline reflects the character of its leaders.

The Weight of Battle Lists

Each officer’s entry culminates in a litany of battles, often identical across multiple men: Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, the Mine, Weldon Railroad, Poplar Grove Church, Hatchie’s Run, and the capture of Richmond. For Lieutenant A. A. Shedd, the list runs to fourteen named actions, each dated with precision. The repetition of these same engagements across different biographies underscores the regiment’s continuous presence in the Virginia theater from May 1864 to April 1865. Mickley does not describe the fighting; he merely records that the officer “was present with his Company in all its duties and engagements.” The effect is cumulative—the reader sees the 43rd USCT as a unit that endured a full year of hard campaigning, from the Wilderness to the fall of Richmond.

Pre-War Lives and Nautical Threads

A striking pattern in the biographies is the number of officers with seafaring backgrounds. Colonel S. B. Yeoman “started as a sailor before the mast at fifteen years of age” and survived a shipwreck on New Zealand; Captain Burr “passed two years at sea in the ship ‘Panther.’” Mickley records these details without commentary, but they accumulate into a quiet theme: the regiment’s officers were not professional soldiers but men who had already demonstrated resilience in dangerous occupations. The nautical experience also provides a contrast to the land-based warfare of the Wilderness and Petersburg trenches. Mickley’s decision to include such pre-war specifics—rather than only military service—suggests he valued the officers’ civilian competence as part of their qualification to lead Black troops.

The Chaplain’s Voice and Omissions

Mickley writes in the third person throughout, referring to himself only in the introduction as “late Chaplain of the Regiment.” His authorial presence is otherwise invisible; he never uses “I” or offers personal anecdotes. The tone is consistently administrative, even when recording acts of gallantry. Lieutenant Shedd, for example, “is highly spoken of for his great gallantry at the battle of Hatchie’s Run” where “his horse was shot from under him”—but Mickley does not elaborate. The restraint is notable given the book’s stated purpose as an argument for Black troops. Mickley lets the records speak, trusting that the bare facts of service and promotion will carry his case. What is absent—descriptions of the men themselves, their voices, their experiences—marks the limits of his project: this is a history of the regiment’s officers, not of the enlisted soldiers.

Structure as Evidence

Mickley’s organizational choice—a series of individual files rather than a continuous narrative—reflects a documentary impulse. Each officer’s entry stands alone, with its own heading and list of battles, making the book easy to consult as a reference. The repetition of battle names across entries reinforces the regiment’s shared experience. The book’s brevity (about 20,000 words) and its 1866 publication date suggest it was compiled quickly after the war, likely from official records and personal correspondence. Mickley’s preface notes that the pages were “elicited by request of numerous friends of the officers,” indicating a private, commemorative audience. The structure thus serves dual purposes: it memorializes individuals and, through accumulation, makes a public argument about the effectiveness of the USCT.

Readers approaching Mickley’s text should expect a reference work rather than a memoir. The book’s value lies in its precise documentation of officer careers and battle participation, offering a granular view of one USCT regiment’s service. For those interested in the administrative side of Civil War military history—how units were staffed, how promotions were recorded, how service was summarized—this volume provides primary-source material. Mickley’s deliberate restraint, his refusal to embellish, makes the facts themselves the argument.