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American military units remained segregated until army policy changed in the mid-20th century. In mid-1862 officials were still debating U.S. policy concerning ANY recruitment of African-American soldiers.
Ordianrily, soldiers enrolled in regiments like the 5th Kansas Cavalry would have to be considered white males in order to join. Sometimes former slaves were allowed to join as cooks or servants, but not soldiers like the others.
Hannibal Wilson's 1880 census information taken in Emporia, Lyon County KS, tells us that he was a black male, born about 1834 in Arkansas. Evidently family members lived in Texas in 1870. Based on the 1880 census, we could guess that Hannibal Wilson either lived in Helena AR or someplace nearby, and availed himself of the opportunity to enroll shortly after Federal forces occupied the town in July 1862.
The date discrepancy on enlistment information taken from Ancestry is exactly one year off. This suggest that a transcription error created the one year gap between date of enlistment and date of muster (July 26, 1862 -- July 26, 1863). You need to see a copy of the soldier's actual service file to be certain. It should also contain particulars concerning his service.
You may be interested in this recent article --
"This Godforsaken Town": Death and Disease at Helena, Arkansas, 1862-63, by Rhonda M. Kohl; Civil War History, Vol. 50, 2004.
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