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Colored Infantry to a Freedmens Bureau Outpost in Arkansas.

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:55.00 USD Estimated At:110.00 - 140.00 USD
Colored Infantry to a Freedmens Bureau Outpost in Arkansas.
Scarce, somewhat crudely printed Special Orders, Head-Quarters, District West Tenn., Memphis, Aug. 1, 1865, 7 x 8 3/4. Listing men relieved from duty in Freedmen's Dept., to "report in person without delay to their Co. Commanders...." Including three officers and 28 privates, all of the noted 63rd U.S. Colored Infantry - formed the previous year from the 9th La. Infantry (African Descent). Most or all of the enlisted men presumed black, including Neelay Valentine, Moses Hill, Moses Woods, Anderson Newbern, James Shivers, et al. (Curiously, none of the preceding are recorded at civilwardata.com.) Sprawling signature of Capt. John E. Simpson. Purple address, to "Capt. (T.A.) Walker, Thro(ugh) Gen. Tillson"; Walker was Capt. of the 63rd, and Supt. and Pro(vost) Mar(shal) of Freedmen, District of West Tenn. Holograph endorsement at side, "Transportation furnished to Sergt. Fayette Valentine & 18 men...from Memphis to DeVall's Bluff, Ark., by L.S. Van Vliet, Capt. & A.Q.M." Interestingly, a tiny light pencil checkmark or line appears above each soldier's name, presumably denoting those transported. In the latter years and aftermath of the war, not only did such black troops protect and assist fellow former slaves - but also poor whites. Light toning, fingerprints at right margin, soft creases along fold, else very good. Documents relating to outposts - "contraband camps" - of the colored troops in Arkansas, albeit just postwar, are scarce on the market.