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America Accidentally Attacked the Soviet Union and Other Lesser Known History Moments

Khalid Elhassan February 27, 2020 34 min

Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star - Aircraft — American F-80s in action during the Korean War. Squdron

32. The Teenager Who Became the First African American Musician in the Civil War

Alexander H. Johnson. Massachusetts Historical Society

When the 54^th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment (depicted in the movie Glory) was formed during the Civil War, fourteen-year-old Alexander H. Johnson of Boston enlisted as a drummer boy. The 54th Massachusetts being one of the Union Army’s first colored regiments, young Alexander was likely the first African American musician to enlist in the Civil War.

The 54th Massachusetts storming Fort Wagner, by Kurz and Allison, 1890. Wikimedia

He saw significant service. He took part in the battles of Honey Hill, Boykins Mill, James Island, Olustee, and the siege of Charleston, was present at the murderous assault on Fort Wagner, and participated in Sherman’s march through the Carolinas. Alexander’s drum was struck by enemy fire six times, and he was wounded in the leg. He stayed with the 54th Massachusetts until war’s end and his discharge in 1865, when he returned home with the drum he had carried at Fort Wagner.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.