31-year-old Jeremiah Pinkney was a free farmer working in Talbot County, Maryland when he enlisted there on December 17, 1863. He mustered into the 19th Regiment at Camp Stanton on January 3, 1864.

Pinkney’s feet were frostbitten while on picket duty in front of Petersburg. He suffered from its effects for the rest of his life. His pension file contains his affidavit that:

… while in camp with his regiment in front of Petersburg, Virginia on or about the 10th day of December 1864, and while on picket duty in said camp the weather being bitter cold and the guard not being relieved he was compelled to remain on duty four hours and it being so intensely cold his feet became numb and when relieved was so cold and numb, stimulants and other remedies had to be used to restore him to proper consciousness, and from the effects of this exposure his feet were badly frosted and tender. He however remained with his company until the expiration of the rebellion although suffering great misery and pain.

Pinkney served with the regiment for the rest of the war, and went with the regiment after the war to Texas. He mustered out with the rest of the regiment on January 15, 1867 at Brownsville, Texas.

After the war, Pinkney worked for the Kimball, Tyler & Co. Steam Barrel Factory in Baltimore. He opened a Freedman's Bank account shortly after returning to Baltimore, on February 16, 1867, along with a number of other 19 USCT soldiers.

Pinkney married 25-year-old Henrietta Johnson on November 4, 1869. They had five children, Rebecca, Samuel, Carrie, Lauretta, and Isiah. He died on January 25, 1889 in Baltimore, Maryland, and was buried in Laurel Cemetery. His widow Henrietta survived him for several years. She died in Baltimore on March 17, 1924.