Lawson Coffee promotion to Corporal

Print

Florence Arts and Museums

Name/Title

Lawson Coffee promotion to Corporal

Entry/Object ID

D.0015a

Description

Lawson Coffee promotion document to corporal of Company A, 110th Regiment

Artwork Details

Medium

Paper

Subject

Lawson Coffee

Context

Enslaved in Florence, Coffee escaped slavery to fight for the 110th Regiment United States Colored Troops during the Civil War. These documents chronicle Coffee’s promotion to colonel of Company A of the 110th. The 110th was stationed in north Alabama and Tennessee, guarding railroad lines for the U.S. Army and discharged from the army at Huntsville in 1866. Coffee actually served in the Pioneer Corps of the 2nd Division of the 16th Army Corps. The Pioneer Corps was responsible for making roads, building bridges, staying in front of the army to ensure the main body of soldiers could move quickly and easily between locations.