The 3rd United States Colored Cavalry was a regiment in the United States Army organized as one of the units of the United States Colored Troops during the American Civil War. The regiment was originally formed in October 1863 at Vicksburg, Mississippi as the 1st Mississippi Cavalry Regiment (African Descent). The unit soon began taking part in expeditions near Vicksburg. In February–March 1864, the regiment saw action at Yazoo City. After being renamed the 3rd U.S. Colored Cavalry in March 1864, the regiment continued to participate in raids, including the Yazoo City expedition in May. In December 1864, the unit took part in a successful raid led by Benjamin Grierson during which the Battle of Egypt Station and other actions were fought. The regiment operated near Memphis, Tennessee, until April 1865, after which it returned to Vicksburg for occupation duties. The soldiers were mustered out of federal service in January 1866.
1st Mississippi Cavalry, African Descent
Formation
When President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on 1 January 1863, he also called for four regiments to be raised from African-Americans. Altogether, 166 so-called colored regiments were raised before the war ended, employing 300,000 soldiers. These included 1 engineer, 1 field artillery, 145 infantry, 12 heavy artillery, and 7 cavalry regiments, of which around 60 actually saw field operations. Of the personnel assigned to these regiments, 143 officers (who were white) and 2,751 enlisted men were killed or died of their wounds. The 1st Mississippi Cavalry Regiment (African Descent) was organized on 9 October 1863 at Vicksburg, Mississippi. On 10 October 1863, Colonel Embury D. Osband assumed command of the regiment. Osband was formerly a captain in the 4th Illinois Cavalry Regiment who joined that unit on 26 September 1861.
The War Department established the Bureau for Colored Troops; this body determined which white soldiers to commission as officers for the new colored regiments. Non-commissioned officers were African-American. At first there was a stigma attached to white officers in the colored regiments, but this was quickly overcome by the prospect of rapid promotion. Soon there was a large volume of white applicants for the new positions. When Osband was presented with a list of five corporals and 15 privates from the 4th Illinois Cavalry to be commissioned as officers in the new regiment, he refused to accept it. Instead, he petitioned Brigadier General Lorenzo Thomas, who was in charge of organizing the colored regiments, to consider his own list of candidates. Osband's bid was successful and no one with a rank lower than sergeant was promoted to captain and only two privates were promoted to first lieutenant. Osband's company of the 4th Illinois Cavalry had served as escort to Major General Ulysses S. Grant since November 1861, which probably helped Osband's appeal. Grant suggested to Osband that he recruit his regiment, "from the plantations around [Vicksburg] owned by persons of disloyalty". The other men appointed field officers were Majors Jeremiah B. Cook, Charles H. Chapin, and Edwin M. Main.
Service
From its formation until January 1864, the 1st Mississippi Cavalry (African Descent) was attached to the post of Goodrich Landing, District of Northeast Louisiana. With the first formed company of the 1st Mississippi Cavalry (AD) and a battalion of the 4th Illinois Cavalry, Osband led a raid to Satartia, a village northeast of Vicksburg. By November 1863, the regiment had 131 officers and men organized into three companies. Their patrols seized six bales of cotton and gathered 60 more recruits. On 10–13 November, the unit took part in an expedition to Tallulah, Louisiana. In December, Osband took 125 officers and men from the 1st Mississippi Cavalry (AD) and 76 from the 4th Illinois Cavalry across to the west bank of the Mississippi River. They rode inland and then followed the Boeuf River (Bayou Boeuf) north a short distance, capturing 15 Confederates along the way. That night, Osband posted vedettes on the roads and the troops camped at Meriwether Plantation. Before daylight on 13 December, over 100 Confederates from Capers' Partisan Louisiana Battalion opened fire on the campsite of the 4th Illinois. In the hour-long fight that followed, Osband's force lost 7 killed, 33 wounded, and 13 captured, of which 1 killed and 15 wounded were from the 1st Mississippi (AD). Osband then withdrew the expedition to Skipwith Landing.