They Served in 135th US Colored Infantry from Fayetteville and Cumberland County, NC on March 1865

An unidentified young African American soldier in Union uniform.

We have right in Fayetteville people who we can lift up for furthering a great cause in the advancement of Black people. Some of the earliest are listed below. They made up part of the 135th US Colored Infantry Company A-J, Company L-W. The complete list of soldiers enlisted are here: Soldiers from North Carolina in the 135th US COLORED INFANTRY. I have highlighted those who served from Fayetteville or Cumberland County. They left to go to enlist in Goldsboro, North Carolina.

I have not yet found any ancestors who I can say served in the Union Army during the Civil War, but I do not think it matters too much that I do not have any relations that I know of yet. I want to do something that will show them that I am eternally grateful for their sacrifice.

Because I live in Fayetteville, NC, I decided to publish the names of the 135th US Colored Infantry Company A-J, Company L-W who were born in Fayetteville and Cumberland County, NC, for starters. You have to understand something. One reason they are not talked about is that no one hardly knows of them. Maybe their descendants know of them and can come forward to tell their stories especially to Cheri Todd Molter who is collecting oral history for the North Carolina Civil War and Reconstruction Center.

We need to know who they are and what their lives were like and the service that they gave. Another reason why we might not know about them is that they had really rough times and people do not want to talk about it. Well, guess what? We have some rough times today. One truth I know about family history is that the rough times long ago paved the way, and we will pull through.

Here are the names of the 135th US Colored Infantry from Fayetteville or Cumberland County, NC. They enlisted in Goldsboro, NC on March 27, 1865, and mustered in March 28, 1865.

Soldiers from North Carolina in the 135th US COLORED INFANTRY: Alphabetical Roster Company A-J; Company L-W

See Berry Leech 83, Died in Robeson County, NC, and was in 135th US Colored Infantry.

Should any of you recognize any of their names, E-mail me: robinfoster@genealogyjustask.com.