My Service in the U.S. Colored Cavalry / A Paper Read before the Ohio Commandery of the Loyal Legion, March 4, 1908

A former sergeant recounts accepting a commission in the newly formed U.S. Colored Cavalry and describes the regiment’s recruitment, mounting, and training before joining a major 1864 campaign. The narrative follows long marches through Hampton, Yorktown, and Williamsburg, repeated crossings of the Chickahominy at Jones Ford, and movements to Harrison’s Landing and Bermuda Hundred. It gives close tactical detail of cavalry and artillery skirmishes, an ambush in swampy ground that inflicted heavy losses on several companies, and the regiment’s duties screening infantry, manning pickets, and engaging in operations toward Richmond and Petersburg.