Group photograph, consisting of five U. S. Colored Infantry officers who are identified by number: #1 Lt. Ira S. Smith; #2 Lt. Lysander S. Butler; #3 Col. Alonzo Jay Edgerton; #4 Lt. Charles Bornarth; and #5 Lt. Albert F. Hunt.

Ira Smith mustered into the 9th Minnesota Infantry on August 19, 1862, as a private; on November 27, 1862, he was transferred to the non-commissioned staff as sergeant-major. The 9th Minnesota Infantry saw service in Minnesota before being assigned to duty as railroad guards in Missouri. On February 15, 1864, Smith was discharged in order to serve in the 67th U. S. Colored Infantry; he was commissioned a first lieutenant on March 18, 1864, and served as the regiment’s adjutant. Smith was discharged on July 12, 1865, when the 67th U.S.C.I. was consolidated with the 65th U.S.C.I.

Lysander Butler served as a musician in the 7th Ohio Infantry from May through October 1861. Leaving the 7th Ohio, he joined the 3rd Colorado Infantry (later reorganized as the 2nd Colorado Cavalry) and served in that regiment until January 1864. After being discharged, Butler was commissioned a lieutenant in the 67th U. S. Colored Infantry; in July 1865 he transferred to the 65th U. S. Colored Infantry, where he served until the regiment was mustered out of service in January 1867.

Alonzo Jay Edgerton was born on June 7, 1827, in Rome, New York. A graduate of the Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut (1850), Edgerton settled in Minnesota in 1855 and was admitted to the bar. When the Civil War began, he was commissioned a captain in the 10th Minnesota Infantry. Edgerton was commissioned colonel of the 56th United States Colored Infantry in February 1864 and was brevetted a brigadier general of volunteers in 1865. Following the war, Edgerton served in the U.S. Senate (1881) and as chief justice of the Supreme Court of the Dakota Territory. He died on August 9, 1896, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Charles Bornarth enlisted in the 7th Minnesota Infantry, which was mustered into service on August 16, 1862, at Fort Snelling, Minnesota. He mustered out of the 7th Minnesota as a sergeant on March 11, 1864, to accept a commission as a lieutenant in the 67th U. S. Colored Infantry. On July 12, 1865, the 67th U. S. Colored Infantry was consolidated with the 65th U. S. Colored Infantry. The regiment was mustered out of service on January 8, 1867.

Albert F. Hunt enlisted as a private in Company C, 3rd Colorado Infantry, but on October 1, 1863, when the 2nd and 3rd Colorado were consolidated to form the 2nd Colorado Cavalry, Hunt became a member of the new regiment’s Company K. Hunt was discharged on January 1, 1864, for promotion to first lieutenant and assignment to Company A, 65th U. S. Colored Infantry; he was given a brevet promotion to major on March 13, 1865, and was given a full promotion to captain on May 26, 1866. The 65th U. S. Colored Infantry was organized from the 2nd Missouri Colored Infantry between December 11, 1863 and January 11, 1864, and assigned to garrison duty. Hunt was mustered out on January 8, 1867.

Carte-de-Visite by Unknown Photographer

Image Courtesy Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield; WICR 11705