John C. Cole (died 1864)

A Black shoemaker of Pottsville who gave his life in the United States Colored Troops, and whose obituary the local paper headed “Death of a Patriotic Colored Man.” Markers: ★ verified · ✔ confirmed · ✎ corrects a common error · ⚑ open/caution.

John C. Cole was a Black shoemaker who had lived in Pottsville for more than fifteen years when he enlisted in the United States Colored Troops in March 1864 — Company E of the 43rd U.S. Colored Infantry. ★ A respected, established tradesman with a wife and family, he enlisted, his obituary said, “in defense of the great principle of human freedom.” ★

He was wounded at the Battle of the Crater near Petersburg on July 30, 1864 — the assault that followed the explosion of the mine dug by the 48th Pennsylvania Infantry, the Schuylkill County regiment. Many Black soldiers wounded or captured at the Crater were murdered on the field; Cole survived it, but died of his wounds on August 4, 1864, en route to the hospital at City Point. ★ He left a wife and five children and lies in City Point National Cemetery, Virginia. ★

The Miners’ Journal marked his death with an obituary headed “Death of a Patriotic Colored Man,” calling him a respected workman who had enlisted from patriotic motives though “he was doing a good business as a shoemaker.” ★ In a county defined by coal, its small Black community was almost never in the mines; Cole’s trade and his service are part of why his is one of the clearest documented African American soldier’s stories the county has.

His fuller context sits within the African Americans of Schuylkill County profile.

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Sources

• John David Hoptak — 'A Good Man Gone: The Story of Private John C. Cole, of Pottsville' (48th Pennsylvania blog)
  License: reference

  The archivally-grounded account; carries the March 30 1864 enlistment in Co. E, 43rd USCT, the Crater wounding, the Aug 4 1864 death, the City Point burial, and the wife and five children. Facts here are summarized, not reproduced.

• Jake Wynn — 'John Cole, USCT, and the Battle of the Crater' (Wynning History)
  License: reference

  Quotes the Miners' Journal obituary verbatim, headed 'Death of a Patriotic Colored Man' (September 3, 1864).

• National Park Service — 43rd Regiment, U.S. Colored Infantry (unit record)
  License: reference

Frequently asked

Who was John C. Cole?

A Black shoemaker who had been a respected resident of Pottsville for more than fifteen years when he enlisted in Company E of the 43rd U.S. Colored Infantry in March 1864. He was wounded at the Battle of the Crater near Petersburg on July 30, 1864, and died of his wounds on August 4, leaving a wife and five children. He is buried at City Point National Cemetery, Virginia.

What was the Battle of the Crater's Schuylkill County connection?

The mine beneath the Confederate lines at Petersburg was dug by the 48th Pennsylvania Infantry — the Schuylkill County regiment, many of them coal miners. Cole, a Pottsville man in the U.S. Colored Troops, was wounded in the failed assault that followed the explosion on July 30, 1864.