General Order No. 143 was the title of a 1863 United States War Department directive which authorized the establishment of a bureau regulating the recruitment, training and organization of the U.S. Army's first regiments composed entirely of African-American soldiers. While state-raised units like the 1st South Carolina Volunteers and the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment had already begun recruitment and training, the order issued May 22, 1863, directly created a new designation among regular U.S Army regiments: United States Colored Troops.
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- Images of the official order at Ourdocuments.gov
The original article can be found at General Order No. 143 and the edit history here.