Emanuel Patterson, Co. D, 6th USCT

I found some interesting material on the only Black resident from Greene County identified by Samuel Bates as being killed in action in the Civil War.  Bates identifies the man as Emanuel Patterson, Company D, 6^th United States Colored Troops Regiment.  Patterson was mustered into the service on July 16, 1863, and was killed at New Market Heights, Virginia, on September 29, 1864.  Company D suffered 87% casualties in the charge made by the 6^th USCT that day.  The Captain of Company D, John McMurray described the terrible action in a memoir he published after the war.  In that memoir, he relates the circumstances surrounding the death of Emanuel Patterson.  The matter is discussed in a book by Noah Andre Trudeau, “Like Men of War:  Black Troops in the Civil War 1862-1865” (Castle Books, 2002), pp. 286-289.  On the morning of the battle, McMurray noticed that Patterson was looking ill and he sent him to the regimental surgeon.  The surgeon pronounced Patterson fit for duty, and McMurray noticed him in the ranks when the 6^th USCT began its charge against Confederate entrenchments at New Market Heights.  McMurray later found Patterson dying on the field from a severe wound to the abdomen.  McMurray stated that he never forgave himself for not having Patterson relieved from duty that day.  My research continues.