The 54th Massachusetts Infantry

by Michael Rucker

Title

The 54th Massachusetts Infantry

Artist

Michael Rucker

Medium

Photograph - Photo / Digital

Description

The regiment was formed in March 1863 after the Emancipation Proclamation and organized by the governor of Massachusetts, John A. Andrew. Colonel Robert Gould Shaw commanded the regiment, and Andrew himself handpicked the officers. Prominent blacks such as Frederick Douglass recruited the soldiers
How many soldiers died in the 54th Massachusetts Regiment?
The men of the 54th were outgunned and outnumbered. Two hundred and eighty one of the 600 charging soldiers were killed, wounded or captured.
Significance. Because of the valor shown by the men of the 54th, the US Army increased the number of black enlistments so that by 1865 almost two hundred thousand African Americans had served from 1863-1865, comprising roughly ten percent of the American soldiers who served in the US Army during the Civil War.
What was the first black regiment?
54th Massachusetts Infantry (1863-1865) The Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Infantry was the first Northern black volunteer regiment enlisted to fight in the Civil War. Its accomplished combat record led to the general recruitment of African-Americans as soldiers.
William Carney was the first African-American recipient. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions on July 18, 1863 at Fort Wagner, S.C. while a member of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment in the Civil War - the state's first all-black regiment.
On July 18, 1863, the 54th Massachusetts prepared to storm Fort Wagner, which guarded the Port of Charleston. At dusk, Shaw gathered 600 of his men on a narrow strip of sand just outside Wagner’s fortified walls and readied them for action. “I want you to prove yourselves,” he said. “The eyes of thousands will look on what you do tonight.”

As night fell, Shaw led his men over the walls of the fort. (This was unusual; typically, officers followed their soldiers into battle.) Unfortunately, the Union generals had miscalculated: 1,700 Confederate soldiers waited inside the fort, ready for battle. The men of the 54th were outgunned and outnumbered. Two hundred and eighty one of the 600 charging soldiers were killed, wounded or captured. Shaw himself was shot in the chest on his way over the wall and died instantly.

To show their contempt for the soldiers of the 54th, the Confederates dumped all of their bodies in a single unmarked trench and cabled Union leaders that “we have buried [Shaw] with his n******s.” The Southerners expected that this would be such an insult that white officers would no longer be willing to fight with black troops. In fact, the opposite was true: Shaw’s parents replied that there could be “no holier place” to be buried than “surrounded by…brave and devoted soldiers.”

The 54th lost the battle at Fort Wagner, but they did a great deal of damage there. Confederate troops abandoned the fort soon afterward. For the next two years, the regiment participated in a series of successful siege operations in South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. The 54th Massachusetts returned to Boston in September 1865.

The men of the 54th carry their muskets. In the background, conscript soldiers ('contraband') also carry the rifle. Confederate soldiers charge with their bayonet-affixed Enfields during the 54th's first engagement in the war, the Battle of Grimball's Landing.

Glory is the 1989 American Civil War film that recounts the formation of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment, the first all-black Union regiment to fight in the conflict. The film stars Matthew Broderick, Cary Elwes, Morgan Freeman, and Denzel Washington in his Oscar-winning role. Glory was directed by Edward Zwick, who went on to direct such war features

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January 24th, 2020

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