Proving Mack Banks

I have reviewed more than 165 United States Colored Troop veteran pension files for men enlisted for service in or near Cape Girardeau during the Civil War. Amid the intriguing stories of courage, risk and relationships revealed in testimonies of the soldiers, their comrades, friends and former enslavers, I have uncovered only one photograph of a soldier from that distinctive group of 19th-century military veterans.

The pension file for Mack Banks, conserved at the National Archives in Washington, D.C, is a hefty set of documents. Thick files are sure indication the veteran ran into problems proving his claim for benefits. Most Black men who enlisted in Missouri (1863-64) had been enslaved and lacked documentary proof of their identity. Military record inconsistencies started with personal data orally conveyed at enlistment. Mismatched details plagued many veterans claiming rightful benefits in later years.

Banks was particularly vexed by proving his true identity. His own affidavits recounted his path to freedom: born in Weston, Missouri, and enslaved with mother, Maria Banks, he ran off at age 18, a fugitive slave headed to St. Louis. He cooked at the Linden Hotel before enlisting with the Union Army in St. Louis, on Sept. 22, 1864.

Another "Mack Banks" had already enlisted in Company K, 18th United States Colored Infantry, so the officer enlisted him as "Peter Greenwood," incorrectly recording his birthplace as Vicksburg. Unable to read or write, Banks signed his enlistment papers with an "X," unaware of the extent of his fictionalized identity. Unaccustomed to his new name, he often answered roll call for the other Mack, a larger, older, darker-complexed man.

The 18th USCI regiment had a tough and extensive tour -- Memphis, Chattanooga, Nashville and Corinth in Tennessee; Bridgeport, Alabama; Little Rock, Arkansas; New Orleans; Jackson, Mississippi -- with many battle skirmishes. Banks said he incurred a gunshot wound in action at Chattanooga. But Banks survived, was honorably discharged, returned to St. Louis to cook, then worked on the steamboat Belle Memphis. Reclaiming his birth name, he moved to New Madrid County about 1873, working on a farm until his death in 1916.

Banks first filed for an Invalid Pension in 1889, but was denied. His persistence to pursue what was rightfully owed him, and the affidavits of many persons who testified on his behalf, added to his thick file.

A Special Inspector, assigned to determine if "Mack Banks" was one and the same as "Private Peter Greenwood," interviewed many old 18th USCI comrades. Utilizing new-fangled technology, the inspector's snapshot of Banks was shown to Robert E. Lee Turner (aka Levi Thompson) of Pulaski, Illinois. Turner said, "the face is familiar ... we didn't look as we do now ... has a smile like Greenwood, tho the whiskers fool me." And Charles Edwards of Creve Coeur humorously responded, "No, this picture does not look like any men in my company because we had no men that old."

Banks finally received an invalid pension certificate in 1911, and his wife, Elnora, awarded her widow's pension, for his service, in 1920.