The regiment was composed of African American enlisted men commanded by white officers and was authorized by the Bureau of Colored Troops which was created by the United States War Department on May 22, 1863.
Colored Infantry was recruited in Tennessee July 24 through August 14, 1863 and mustered in for three-year service under the command of Colonel Charles Robinson Thompson.
The regiment was attached to Defenses of Nashville & Northwestern Railroad, Department of the Cumberland, to October 1864.
3rd Sub-District, District Middle Tennessee, Department of the Cumberland, to January 1866.
Action at Buford's Station, Section 37, Nashville & Northwestern Railroad, November 24.