USCT (United States Colored Troops) soldier killed at the Fort Pillow Massacre on April 12, 1864. His surname was also spelled Deloni and DeLong in his military records. His forename was also said to have been Benjamin before the war.
He enlisted in Company A of the 1st Alabama Siege Artillery on May 29, 1863 at Corinth, Mississippi. That regiment was re-designated in March 1864 as the 6th U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery. (In 1865, the regimental designation changed again, to the 11th U.S. Colored Infantry, new organization; the personnel records are now filed under that designation. The company designations remained the same.)
Many enslaved people escaped to the Corinth and Shiloh area following the advance of the Union Army into that region, and also following the Emancipation Proclamation. The Union Army therefore created a camp for these "contraband" refugees, as they were called. It was from this camp that he enlisted.
The men who died in the Fort Pillow Massacre were buried at the time in mass graves. After the war they were re-interred in the Fort Pillow section of the Memphis National Cemetery. The USCT dead from Fort Pillow are buried in graves 1512 and 1523-1630 of Section B, all of which are labeled unknown. Although these 109 grave plots are far fewer than the number of USCT soldiers who were killed at Fort Pillow on April 12, they represent the only known final resting place for the USCT soldiers who died that day.
"For the remainder of the war, 'Remember Fort Pillow' became the rallying cry of the nearly 179,000 African-American soldiers who fought to free the country from the scourge of slavery." --from the memorial plaque honoring the Fort Pillow dead at the front gate of the Memphis National Cemetery.
His widow, Cracy nee Guy (her forename was also given as Grace and Gracy), born about 1836, received a widow's pension. The application reveals additional information about the couple. Both were said to have lived near Tuscumbia, Alabama prior to coming jointly to Corinth. She had been enslaved by Lorenzo Guy. He was apparently enslaved by Edward Delony. They were married September 15, 1863 in Corinth by Chaplain Alexander. They didn't have children together but she had a child after the war with James Lee. As with the other residents of the refugee "contraband" camp at Corinth, she moved to Memphis at the end of 1863 or January 1864. She stayed at first in the house of James Hunt and his family in Memphis, paid for by Benton. For at least the period 1874-1877, she was living near the corner of Georgia and 6th Street South in Memphis, occupation laundress.
He enlisted in Company A of the 1st Alabama Siege Artillery on May 29, 1863 at Corinth, Mississippi. That regiment was re-designated in March 1864 as the 6th U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery. (In 1865, the regimental designation changed again, to the 11th U.S. Colored Infantry, new organization; the personnel records are now filed under that designation. The company designations remained the same.)
Many enslaved people escaped to the Corinth and Shiloh area following the advance of the Union Army into that region, and also following the Emancipation Proclamation. The Union Army therefore created a camp for these "contraband" refugees, as they were called. It was from this camp that he enlisted.
The men who died in the Fort Pillow Massacre were buried at the time in mass graves. After the war they were re-interred in the Fort Pillow section of the Memphis National Cemetery. The USCT dead from Fort Pillow are buried in graves 1512 and 1523-1630 of Section B, all of which are labeled unknown. Although these 109 grave plots are far fewer than the number of USCT soldiers who were killed at Fort Pillow on April 12, they represent the only known final resting place for the USCT soldiers who died that day.
"For the remainder of the war, 'Remember Fort Pillow' became the rallying cry of the nearly 179,000 African-American soldiers who fought to free the country from the scourge of slavery." --from the memorial plaque honoring the Fort Pillow dead at the front gate of the Memphis National Cemetery.
His widow, Cracy nee Guy (her forename was also given as Grace and Gracy), born about 1836, received a widow's pension. The application reveals additional information about the couple. Both were said to have lived near Tuscumbia, Alabama prior to coming jointly to Corinth. She had been enslaved by Lorenzo Guy. He was apparently enslaved by Edward Delony. They were married September 15, 1863 in Corinth by Chaplain Alexander. They didn't have children together but she had a child after the war with James Lee. As with the other residents of the refugee "contraband" camp at Corinth, she moved to Memphis at the end of 1863 or January 1864. She stayed at first in the house of James Hunt and his family in Memphis, paid for by Benton. For at least the period 1874-1877, she was living near the corner of Georgia and 6th Street South in Memphis, occupation laundress.
USCT (United States Colored Troops) soldier killed at the Fort Pillow Massacre on April 12, 1864. His surname was also spelled Deloni and DeLong in his military records. His forename was also said to have been Benjamin before the war.
He enlisted in Company A of the 1st Alabama Siege Artillery on May 29, 1863 at Corinth, Mississippi. That regiment was re-designated in March 1864 as the 6th U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery. (In 1865, the regimental designation changed again, to the 11th U.S. Colored Infantry, new organization; the personnel records are now filed under that designation. The company designations remained the same.)
Many enslaved people escaped to the Corinth and Shiloh area following the advance of the Union Army into that region, and also following the Emancipation Proclamation. The Union Army therefore created a camp for these "contraband" refugees, as they were called. It was from this camp that he enlisted.
The men who died in the Fort Pillow Massacre were buried at the time in mass graves. After the war they were re-interred in the Fort Pillow section of the Memphis National Cemetery. The USCT dead from Fort Pillow are buried in graves 1512 and 1523-1630 of Section B, all of which are labeled unknown. Although these 109 grave plots are far fewer than the number of USCT soldiers who were killed at Fort Pillow on April 12, they represent the only known final resting place for the USCT soldiers who died that day.
"For the remainder of the war, 'Remember Fort Pillow' became the rallying cry of the nearly 179,000 African-American soldiers who fought to free the country from the scourge of slavery." --from the memorial plaque honoring the Fort Pillow dead at the front gate of the Memphis National Cemetery.
His widow, Cracy nee Guy (her forename was also given as Grace and Gracy), born about 1836, received a widow's pension. The application reveals additional information about the couple. Both were said to have lived near Tuscumbia, Alabama prior to coming jointly to Corinth. She had been enslaved by Lorenzo Guy. He was apparently enslaved by Edward Delony. They were married September 15, 1863 in Corinth by Chaplain Alexander. They didn't have children together but she had a child after the war with James Lee. As with the other residents of the refugee "contraband" camp at Corinth, she moved to Memphis at the end of 1863 or January 1864. She stayed at first in the house of James Hunt and his family in Memphis, paid for by Benton. For at least the period 1874-1877, she was living near the corner of Georgia and 6th Street South in Memphis, occupation laundress.
He enlisted in Company A of the 1st Alabama Siege Artillery on May 29, 1863 at Corinth, Mississippi. That regiment was re-designated in March 1864 as the 6th U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery. (In 1865, the regimental designation changed again, to the 11th U.S. Colored Infantry, new organization; the personnel records are now filed under that designation. The company designations remained the same.)
Many enslaved people escaped to the Corinth and Shiloh area following the advance of the Union Army into that region, and also following the Emancipation Proclamation. The Union Army therefore created a camp for these "contraband" refugees, as they were called. It was from this camp that he enlisted.
The men who died in the Fort Pillow Massacre were buried at the time in mass graves. After the war they were re-interred in the Fort Pillow section of the Memphis National Cemetery. The USCT dead from Fort Pillow are buried in graves 1512 and 1523-1630 of Section B, all of which are labeled unknown. Although these 109 grave plots are far fewer than the number of USCT soldiers who were killed at Fort Pillow on April 12, they represent the only known final resting place for the USCT soldiers who died that day.
"For the remainder of the war, 'Remember Fort Pillow' became the rallying cry of the nearly 179,000 African-American soldiers who fought to free the country from the scourge of slavery." --from the memorial plaque honoring the Fort Pillow dead at the front gate of the Memphis National Cemetery.
His widow, Cracy nee Guy (her forename was also given as Grace and Gracy), born about 1836, received a widow's pension. The application reveals additional information about the couple. Both were said to have lived near Tuscumbia, Alabama prior to coming jointly to Corinth. She had been enslaved by Lorenzo Guy. He was apparently enslaved by Edward Delony. They were married September 15, 1863 in Corinth by Chaplain Alexander. They didn't have children together but she had a child after the war with James Lee. As with the other residents of the refugee "contraband" camp at Corinth, she moved to Memphis at the end of 1863 or January 1864. She stayed at first in the house of James Hunt and his family in Memphis, paid for by Benton. For at least the period 1874-1877, she was living near the corner of Georgia and 6th Street South in Memphis, occupation laundress.
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