56th United States Colored Infantry Monument (St. Louis, Missouri)

Photograph of the 56th United States Colored Infantry Monument in St. Louis, Missouri. The marble obelisk, which stands on a square base, honors the memory of the 175 African American soldiers of the 56th United States Colored Infantry who died of cholera in August 1866.
Photograph of the 56th United States Colored Infantry Monument in St. Louis, Missouri. Detail of the bronze plaque with the names of the 173 reinterred USCT soldiers.

Dublin Core

Title

56th United States Colored Infantry Monument (St. Louis, Missouri)

Subject

Subject (Topic)
African Americans--History
Cemeteries--Missouri
Missouri--St. Louis
United States Colored Troops
United States--Missouri--Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery

Subject (Object Type)
Commemorative sculpture

Description

The marble obelisk, which stands on a square stone base, honors the memory of the 173 African American soldiers of the 56th United States Colored Infantry who died of cholera in August 1866. The soldiers were originally buried at the city's old quarantine hospital near the Mississippi River. In 1939, responding to the organizing efforts of local citizens, the War Department reburied the soldiers at the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery. In the summer of 2014, the Veterans Administration, at the urging of local community members, placed a marker next to the obelisk that includes the names of the 118 soldiers of the 56th U.S. Colored Infantry who are buried at the site, plus 55 soldiers whose remains were never recovered.

Creator

Unknown

Source

Date

May 1936

Contributor

Members of the 56th United States Colored Infantry; Joseph E. Mitchell; Jacob Kuhl; War Department

Rights

National Cemetery Administration, U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue, NW, Washington, DC, United States

Format

JPEG

Language

English

Type

Visual Arts-Sculpture

Coverage

Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, 2900 Sheridan Rd, St. Louis, Missouri 63125, United States

Has Part

Inscription on obelisk:
To the memory of 175 non com. officers and privates of the 56. U.S.C. Infty. Died of cholera in August 1866.

Bronze plaque on base of obelisk:
1863- 1866
56th U.S. Colored Infantry
Their Memory Will Not Perish
Brigadier General N. B. Buford
July 27, 1864

This Monument and Remains Were
Removed from Quarantine Station, M.O.
By Authority of War Department
Collaborating with Citizens Committee,
And Dedicated May 1939
Joseph E. Mitchell, Chairman

Bronze plaque added August 2014:
Dedicated to the soldiers of the 56th Regiment U. S. Colored Troops who died of cholera while in transport along the Mississippi River and at St. Louis, Missouri, in summer 1866.

In 1939, the remains of many of these soldiers , buried in the Koch Hpspital Cemetery, were reinterred here. A marble obelisk that was placed at the hospital cemetery was also moved here. The soldiers buried here are:

See photograph for list of names

Other soldiers in the same regiment who died while in transport along the Mississippi River and whose remains are unrecoverable are memorialized here:

See photograph for list of names

May They Rest in Peace. August 2014.

Medium

Marble; Bronze

Bibliographic Citation

Leonard, Mary Delach. "African-American Union Army Soldiers Died on Their Way Home from War; Then History Lost Their Names." St. Louis Public Radio. Accessed January 23, 2019. https://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/african-american-union-army-soldiers-died-their-way-home-war-then-history-lost-their-names#stream/0.

Alan Skerrett, Jr, ed. "Monuments to the United States Colored Troops (USCT) [African American Civil War Soldiers: The List." Jubilo! The Emancipation Century Blog, May 30, 2011. Accessed February 11, 2026. https://jubiloemancipationcentury.wordpress.com/2011/05/30/monuments-to-the-united-states-colored-troops-usct-the-list/.

Rights Holder

Renée Ater

Still Image Item Type Metadata

Original Format

Sculpture

Citation

Unknown, “56th United States Colored Infantry Monument (St. Louis, Missouri),” Contemporary Monuments to the Slave Past, accessed October 1, 2026, https://slaverymonuments.org/items/show/1110.

Geolocation