In November 1863, he was appointed colonel of the 2nd Kansas (Colored) Infantry (later the 83rd U.S. Colored Troops). His regiment participated in the Camden Expedition and performed admirably in the Battle of Jenkins' Ferry where it relieved an Indiana regiment and captured a rebel artillery battery consisting of three guns. In March 1864, he joined General Frederick Steele on an expedition to the Red River under the general command of General Nathaniel Banks. At Jenkins Ferry his command lost heavily and his own horse was shot.