Photograph of Captain Thomas Abel (left) and Lieutenant William O. Kretzinger, officers in the 56th U. S. Colored Infantry.

Thomas Abel was born in Canada on February 15, 1837; he enlisted as a private in Company A, 4th Iowa Cavalry on September 9, 1861, at Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, and was assigned to General Samuel Curtis as an orderly and clerk. He was discharged from the 4th Iowa by General Scofield on August 11, 1863, to accept a commission as a captain in the 56th U. S. Colored Infantry.

Abel mustered into the 56th U. S. Colored Infantry as captain of Company B on August 12, 1863, at St. Louis, Missouri. On June 16, 1865, he was assigned duties as provost marshal for the Department of Arkansas. On December 4, 1865, he was transferred to Company I, and later detached to the Freedmen’s Bureau, Department of Arkansas.
He was mustered out of service on November 5, 1866, at Little Rock, Arkansas, and returned to Iowa.

William O. Kretzinger, a native of Maryland and resident of Black Jack, Douglas County, Kansas, enlisted in Company C, 4th Kansas Infantry in July 1861. When the 10th Kansas was organized from the 3rd and 4th Kansas in April 1862, Kretzinger became a sergeant in Company A. When the 56th United States Colored Infantry was organized in St. Louis as the 3rd Arkansas Infantry (African Descent) in August and September 1863, Kretzinger became a lieutenant in that regiment. On July 26, 1864, the 56th was involved in a battle at Wallace’s Ferry, Big Creek, Arkansas, near Helena. Kretzinger served as Lieutenant Colonel Moses Reed’s aide, and “behaved in a brave and gallant manner.” He resigned
from the army on July 18, 1865, as a first lieutenant.

Tintype by Unknown Photographer

Image Courtesy Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield; WICR 30784