33rd Regiment, United States Colored Infantry

Brief History
Organized January 31, 1863 or February 8, 1864, as 1st South Carolina Volunteers Colored Infantry. Attached to U. S. Forces, Port Royal Island, South Carolina, 10th Corps, Dept. of the South, to April, 1864. Mustered out January 31, 1866.


 * 33rd United States Colored Infantry Regiment
 * History of the 33rd United States Colored Troops
 * Susie King Taylor. Reminiscences of My Life in Camp with the 33rd United States Colored Troops,late 1st S.C. Volunteers. Boston: the Author, 1902.

Companies in this Regiment with the Counties of Origin
Men often enlisted in a company recruited in the counties where they lived though not always. After many battles, companies might be combined because so many men were killed or wounded. However if you are unsure which company your ancestor was in, try the company recruited in his county first.

Company A Company B Company C Company D Company E Company F Company G Company H Company I Company K

National Archives
Digitized Documents
 * Regimental and Company Books of the 33rd U.S. Colored Troops Infantry Regiment
 * Approved Pension File for Mary T. Higginson, Widow of Colonel Thomas W. Higginson, 33rd U.S. Colored Troops Infantry Regiment (XC-2683709)

Other Sources

 * Genealogy of the 33rd United States Colored Troops - records for veterans whose Freedmen's Bank Records list the USCT company and regiment in which they served - via LowCountry Africana


 * Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System - database of basic facts about servicemen who served on both sides during the Civil War


 * Hampton University Receives US Colored Troops Archives (1/10/11) - via GederGenealogy


 * Wikipedia article: 33rd Infantry Regiment USCT


 * Higginson, Thomas Wentworth. Army Life in a Black Regiment. Boston, New York, 1890. iv, 296 p. E540.N3H61


 * Beginning United States Civil War Research gives steps for finding information about a Civil War soldier or sailor. It covers the major records that should be used. Additional records are described in 'Union Volunteers in the Civil War' and 'United States Civil War, 1861 to 1865' (see below).


 * National Park Service, The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System, is searchable by soldier's name and state. It contains basic facts about soldiers on both sides of the Civil War, a list of regiments, descriptions of significant battles, sources of the information, and suggestions for where to find additional information.


 * Union Volunteers in the Civil War describes many Union sources, specifically for the Union Volunteers, and how to find them.. These include compiled service records, pension records, rosters, cemetery records, Internet databases, published books, etc.


 * United States Civil War, 1861 to 1865 describes and explains United States records, rather than state records, and how to find them. These include veterans’ censuses, compiled service records, pension records, rosters, cemetery records, Internet databases, published books, etc.


 * FamilySearch Wiki: South Carolina in the Civil War


 * Bingham, Luther Goodyear; Bingham, Luther Melancthon. The young quartermaster : the life and death of Lieut. L.M. Bingham, of the First South Carolina Volunteers. (Bethesda, Maryland : University Publications of America, c1994)


 * Higginson, Thomas Wentworth. Army life in a black regiment. (Bethesda, Maryland : University Publications of America, c1994),  WorldCat


 * Tabular Analysis of the Records of the U.S. Colored Troops and Their Predecessor Units in the National Archives of the United States. Special List No. 33. National Archives and records Service General Services Adminsitration Washington: 1973. Compiled by Joseph B. Ross.


 * Taylor, Susie King. Reminiscences of my life in camp with the 33rd United States Colored Troops, late 1st S.C. Volunteers. (Bethesda, Maryland : University Publications of America, c1994),