7 15/16 x 10 in. partly printed document (minor toning, short marginal separation along old fold). Docketed to verso. 

The partly printed form, printed by the Government Printing Office in July 1862, has been amended in manuscript to note the form is for "colored" volunteers. The form is signed by mark by Williams. The document is also signed by recruiting officer 2nd Lieutenant John Hayes and Assistant Surgeon A.D. Tenney of the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry. 

Williams originally enlisted as a corporal on 24 January 1863 and mustered into Company H with the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry on 1 May 1863. The regiment served primarily in Missouri, engaging the Confederates several times, including at the Battle of Honey Springs. They were stationed at Fort Smith, Arkansas from May 1864 until 16 January 1865, and were redesignated as the 79th United States Colored Infantry Regiment in December 1864. Williams mustered out with the regiment at Pine Bluff, AR on 1 October 1865