Archives of Maryland
(Biographical Series)

Robert O. Scott (b. circa 1845 - d. 1864)
MSA SC 5496-050580
Enlisted with Company J, 30th Regiment, USCT, in Montgomery County, 1864

Biography:

According to Civil War muster rolls, Robert O. Scott was born in Montgomery County around 1845 and was the slave of James Riggs.1 Since James Riggs does not appear in contemporary census records or maps for Montgomery County, it is possible that the slaveholder was actually Brookeville farmer John A. Riggs, who owned a slave Scott's age in 1860.2

On March 14, 1864, Scott enlisted with the 30th Regiment of the Maryland Volunteer Infantry, appearing in their muster rolls as nineteen years old and six feet tall.3 Scott was mustered in as a private four days later while the company stayed at the barracks at Camp Birney in Baltimore. Located on Druid Hill, Camp Birney took its name from General William Birney, who had organized several regiments of the United States Colored Troops.4 George H. Walcott, another African American soldier mustered into service in March, described his fellow soldiers at Camp Birney as "young, ambitious, of good principles, and good companions."5

Upon enlistment, Scott received the following articles of clothing and insignia, worth $30.04 total: "one Haversack, one Knapsack, one Canteen, one pr [pair] Shoulder Scales Metalic, one cap bugle and letter [and] one pr. of Over Coat straps." The "bugle and letter" referred to the brass bugle insignia and the brass company letter worn on a Union infantry cap.6

Tragically, Scott died the following month from "rubeola," or measles, at the Regimental Hospital in the Belger Barracks.7 The date of his death varies from the April 7, 1864, to April 12, depending on the record. His death most likely occurred on the 7th as marked on his headstone.8 Scott was buried at Laurel Cemetery, an African American cemetery near Baltimore, Maryland.9 In 1884, the graves of many of the soldiers buried at the cemetery, including Robert O. Scott's, were moved to Loudon Park National Cemetery in Baltimore.10 His grave lies in section R, plot 84.11
 

1.     ADJUTANT GENERAL, (Muster Rolls), 1864-1865, Slaves mustered into U.S. Colored Troops, [MSA S936-51]. Robert O. Scott, Montgomery County, Folder No. 2.

2.     U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) for John A. Riggs, Slaves, 1860, Montgomery County, District 1, Page 5, Line 2 [MSA SM61-239, M 7230-2].

3.     ADJUTANT GENERAL, (Muster Roll Record), 1863-1865, Colored, [MSA S343-5]. Robert O. Scott, Company J, 30th Regiment.
        U.S. Colored Troops Military Service Records, 1861-1865, for Robert O. Scott, 30th United States Colored Infantry. The Generations Network, Inc., 200. Ancestry.com. Page 1172 electronic. www.ancestry.com.

4.     Eden Unger Bowditch and Anne Draddy. Druid Hill Park: The Heart of Historic Baltimore (Charleston, SC: The History Press: 2008) 50.

5.     C. M. Tyler. Memorials of Lieut. George H. Walcott, Late of the 30th U.S. Colored Troops (Boston, MA: Massachusetts Sabbath-School Society, 1865) 50.

6.     Ron Field and Robin Smith. Uniforms of the Civil War: An Illustrated Guide for Historians, Collectors, and Reenactors (Guileford, CT: Lyons Press, 2001) 127.

7.     ADJUTANT GENERAL, (Muster Roll Record), Date: 1863-1865, Description: Colored, Location: 02/08/05/025, MdHR Number: 5598, MSA Citation: MSA S343-5. Robert O. Scott, Company J, 30th Regiment.
        U.S. Colored Troops Military Service Records, 1861-1865, for Robert O. Scott, 30th United States Colored Infantry. www.ancestry.com.
        Austin Flint and Frederick Porteous Henry. A Treatise on the Principles and Practice of Medicine: Designed for the Use of Practitioners and Students of Medicine (Philadelphia, PA: Lea Brothers & Co., 1894) 1018.

8.     U.S. Colored Troops Military Service Records. Pages 1165 - 1175 electronic. www.ancestry.com.
        "Loudon Park National Cemetery." United States Department of Veteran Affairs. http://www.cem.va.gov/cems/nchp/loudonpark.asp.
        "Robert Scott." Nationwide Gravesite Locator. United States Department of Veteran Affairs. http://gravelocator.cem.va.gov/j2ee/servlet/NGL_v1.

9.     U.S. Colored Troops Military Service Records. Page 1172 electronic. www.ancestry.com.
        Roll of Honor, Vol. XIX, Page 48, Record for Robert Scott, Laurel National Cemetery, Baltimore, Maryland. www.ancestry.com.

10.   "Loudon Park National Cemetery." United States Department of Veteran Affairs. http://www.cem.va.gov/cems/nchp/loudonpark.asp.

11.   "Robert Scott." Nationwide Gravesite Locator. United States Department of Veteran Affairs. http://gravelocator.cem.va.gov/j2ee/servlet/NGL_v1.
   

Researched and written by Rachel Frazier, 2010.

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