Robert Gould Shaw Led this Contentious All Black Regiment During the Civil War

2. Shaw was commissioned as an officer in the 2^nd Massachusetts infantry in 1861

In May, 1861, Robert Gould Shaw was commissioned as a lieutenant in the newly formed 2^nd Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, commanded by Colonel George Gordon. Shaw finally found the adventure he had long sought with the regiment, which was active in the Potomac region in Maryland and Virginia, and in the Shenandoah Campaign in early 1862, where it was outmaneuvered and outfought by Confederate troops under Stonewall Jackson. In the late summer of 1862, it was part of the Army under George McClellan, which faced the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia under Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Antietam.

The Battle of Antietam was then and remains today the bloodiest single-day combat of American history. Shaw was in the thick of the fighting as his unit attempted to advance upon fortified Confederate positions through a cornfield. It was some of the worst fighting of that day of violence and slaughter. Shaw, by then a captain, was wounded in the morning advance, and remained on the battlefield until the fighting was over. He was sent home to recuperate from the wound to his throat, and thus missed the slaughter encountered by his regiment in engagements at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg the following year.

3. Arming black troops was considered inadvisable by many in 1862

Numerous abolitionists throughout the Union, but especially in New England, advocated for the raising of regiments of black troops early in the Civil War. Among the advocates was the governor of Massachusetts, John Andrew. Andrew believed that black regiments would inspire uprisings in the South and freed slaves would be anxious to join the fight against slavery. He found his position to be strongly opposed, by both fellow abolitionists and military professionals. It was widely believed that the black troops would not be subject to discipline and that they would lack the necessary professionalism to perform as soldiers.

The widespread belief was that black troops, en masse, would be more difficult to manage than so many children, that they lacked the courage to stand in battle, and that they would be, rather than an asset, a liability to the men tasked with commanding them. The idea of having them serve alongside white troops (as many had during the Revolutionary War) was unthinkable. When Abraham Lincoln announced his Emancipation Proclamation in January 1863, Andrew traveled to Washington to meet with Secretary of War Edwin Stanton to propose a regiment of black soldiers, officered by whites, for service in the Union Army. Stanton approved additional Massachusetts regiments, including “persons of African descent, organized into special corps”.

4. Andrew personally requested the services of Shaw commanding the 54^th Massachusetts Regiment

Governor Andrew was a personal friend of long standing with Francis Shaw, father of Robert, and when Stanton approved the raising of black troops, the governor turned to his friend. Andrew wrote to Francis, describing the requirements of command, with emphasis on the special difficulties and intense scrutiny the commander would face. Included in the letter, which described the requirement for the officer to be “superior to the vulgar contempt for color” was a commission for Robert Shaw, as a colonel of the Massachusetts infantry. Francis Shaw carried the letter to his son, then stationed with the 2^nd Massachusetts in Virginia.

The 54^th was to be raised in Massachusetts, far from the fighting, and would not be fully manned and trained for some time, both factors which entered into Robert Shaw’s thinking as he considered the offer. He also believed as he told his father and friends, that the Union Army would never consider actually committing the regiment to battle. He believed they would be used as show troops, kept in garrison far from the front lines. Nor was he inclined to leave the unit in which he had served. Shaw was 24 years old, and the rank of colonel at that age was rare. It swayed his decision, and in February, 1863, he wired his father that he would accept the position.

5. Massachusetts couldn’t find enough soldiers to complete the regiment

The 54^th Massachusetts Regiment began recruiting soldiers at Camp Meigs in February, 1863. Camp Meigs was a training facility in Readville, Massachusetts, near Boston. When Shaw arrived there to take up his duties on February 15, 1863, the unit was far below its manning requirements. Boston abolitionists used their extensive networks across New England and the northeast to actively recruit soldiers for the new black regiment. Frederick Douglas joined in the recruiting effort, and two of his sons joined the regiment. Blacks already serving with the Union Army, as wagoners, cooks, and gravediggers were sought out and transferred to Camp Meigs. The unit was all-volunteer, at Shaw’s insistence.

Shaw’s colonelcy was dependent on the regiment being fully manned and prepared to depart the training camp by the end of May. Throughout March and April, the regiment was drilled by Shaw and his officers as additional recruits arrived and were absorbed into its companies. By mid-May more volunteers were in camp than were required to fill the regiment, and the 55^th Massachusetts was formed to accommodate them. At the end of April, the 54^th was armed, equipped with Enfield rifles and bayonets. Officers – all white – provided their own sidearms and swords. Shaw was promoted to full colonel that month, and the 54^th was ordered to South Carolina at the end of May.

6. The 54th Massachusetts recruited exceptionally healthy volunteers

Of the 29 officers who volunteered to serve in the 54th Massachusetts, 26 had prior experience in the army, an extraordinarily high number for a new regiment. The experience gave them an understanding of the importance of hygiene and personal discipline required of a unit in the field, values they instilled in the men of their command. As it became apparent that more volunteers would arrive than the regiment needed to fill its ranks, physical examinations became more rigid, and the troops were examined for contagious or chronic diseases. Death from disease during the Civil War was common among the troops, including the 54^th, though less so than most units.

Shaw demanded obedience and the observance of customary military courtesy among his officers, non-coms, and troops at all times. He insisted that his men appeared fully and properly turned out, with attention to every detail of uniform and accouterments. He applied the same standards to himself, at a time when many commanding officers displayed a flamboyant disregard for proper uniform as it applied to their own. He also insisted that every volunteer read or have read to them the Confederate proclamation of December 1862, that African-American troops and the white officers who led them were subject to immediate execution if captured, rather than treatment as prisoners of war.

7. The 54^th Massachusetts deployed to the South in the spring of 1863

After three months of assembly, training, and drilling the 54^th Massachusetts departed Camp Meigs on May 28, 1863, marching through Boston to the applause of abolitionists, and the jeers of opponents of arming black troops. They were assembled at the wharves for transfer aboard ship, unaware of their destination for the most part. They arrived in South Carolina at Port Royal during the first week of June. Their commanding general David Hunter took one look at the model regiment which had been created by Shaw and assigned it to duty loading and unloading cargo on the temporary docks and warehouses which had been built to support the Union troops. Shaw was anything but pleased with the assignment.

As an officer, Shaw retained the rebellious streak regarding higher authority which he had exhibited most of his short life. Going over the head of one’s senior officers was regarded as contrary to military discipline in the army, but Shaw did so many times. Whether he used his knowledge of improprieties concerning the misdirection of federal property at the warehouses or not is unknown, but he managed to persuade his commander to reassign the 54^th to a scene where it was more likely to see action against the enemy. On June 11 the regiment was assigned to participate in raids against towns in company with another all-black unit officered by whites, the 2^nd South Carolina Volunteers.

8. The 54^th Massachusetts’ first action was under the command of another officer

When Shaw was assigned to work in unison with the 2^nd South Carolina its commanding officer, Colonel James Montgomery, was the senior officer. Shaw was thus relegated to second in command for the operation, which consisted of a raid against the town of Darien, Georgia. The raid was intended to destroy supplies which were held there for the benefit of Confederate troops. When the combined force reached the town most items of military value had already been removed. Montgomery ordered the Union force to loot the town. Shaw ordered his troops to only take what would be of use to them in camp, and only permitted one of his companies (out of 8) to participate.

The 2^nd South Carolina troops took whatever they saw of any value, and many items simply to deprive their owners of them. When his men’s appetite for thievery was sated, Montgomery ordered the town burned, despite Shaw’s protests that there was no military advantage to be gained. When Montgomery ordered the men to burn the town Shaw refused to allow his regiment to participate. The 2^nd South Carolina followed its orders and the town was burned to the ground, brick buildings gutted by flames. The Union troops then returned, with many of them carrying the property stolen from private homes and public buildings, where Montgomery reported his triumph and Shaw’s reticence to follow orders.

9. Montgomery’s raids were endorsed by the Union commander, David Hunter

The raid on Darien was just one of several such raids conducted by Montgomery’s and other units, which were fully supported by General Hunter. Hunter believed that the destruction, carried out for the most part by black troops, was a suitable means of chastising the southern citizenry for their support of both the war and the institution of slavery. Shaw wrote a letter to the Assistant Adjutant General for X Corps (commanded by Hunter) in which he veiled his protest over the looting and burning of Darien as a question. In the letter, addressed to Lieutenant Colonel Charles Halpine, Shaw wrote, “I am perfectly willing to burn any place which resists”, but wondered if Montgomery was “in a private enterprise of his own”.

Whether Shaw received a reply from Halpine is unknown. What is known is that the Union command was aware of how well-connected Shaw was with politically influential abolitionists, and his displayed willingness to question orders and to violate the military’s sacrosanct chain of command was troubling. Officially, looting by troops was a crime, and officers profiting from it were subject to severe punishment. Shaw and the 54^th were moved closer to Charleston, where they were removed from the activity of raiding and looting towns along the coast. In July, 1863, they engaged enemy troops for the first time on James Island, an action in which they drove off a Confederate attack, at a cost of about 40 men.

10. Once in action the 54^th found they were to be paid less than promised

When recruits joined the 54^th at Camp Meigs, their inducements were their uniforms and other clothing, subsistence at the expense of the army, and pay equal to those of white troops. Privates were to receive $13 per month. Upon arrival in South Carolina, the responsibility for paying them shifted to the military Department of the South. That authority informed them that a private would be paid $10 per month, with $3 held back to offset the cost of their uniforms and other equipment. By contrast, white troops of the army received their full pay, and were not liable to pay for upkeep of their clothing. The pay reduction did not apply to the 54^th‘s white officers.

Shaw protested loudly, to the Department of the South and to the governor of Massachusetts and other authorities, once again ignoring the military’s chain of command. He refused to accept his own pay and urged his officers and men to do the same. Massachusetts responded by offering to make up the difference in pay. Shaw and his regiment simply refused to show up on paydays and collect their due until the matter was officially resolved by the Army. Eventually took action by the US Congress for the men of the 54^th to receive the pay at the levels they were promised, but by that time many of the men who were owed back amounts were dead, as were several of their officers.

11. The 54^th was sent to Charleston for another attempt to take the Southern port

Charleston was where the Civil War began, when the Confederates bombarded the still incomplete federal installation at Fort Sumter in April, 1861. For many in the north, the capture or destruction of Charleston was highly desired. With the Confederates holding Fort Sumter the US Navy could not enter Charleston harbor to assist in attacking the city. To the south, the Confederates had fortified positions on Morris Island and James Island which had to be reduced, allowing Fort Sumter to be bombarded by the captured positions. Union troops had occupied nearby Folly Island in April, 1863, which allowed them to attack Morris Island with artillery, but capturing it required an infantry assault.

At the northern end of Morris Island was the Confederate installation known to them as Battery Wagner, most of its heavy guns facing in the direction of Fort Sumter. Several smaller batteries dotted Morris Island from its southern tip to the open ground before Battery Wagner, known to Union commanders as Fort Wagner. Despite the forbidding nature of the defenses, Union leaders believed the Confederate stronghold could be captured by a joint army-navy operation, and four US Navy ironclad gunboats were assigned to the operation. The first attempt to seize Fort Wagner was launched in July, 1863.

12. The First Battle of Fort Wagner

On July 10, 1863, Union batteries on Folly Island opened fire on the Confederate positions on the south end of Morris Island. They were supported by heavy fire from US Navy gunboats under the command of Admiral John Dahlgren. The Confederates responded and the heavy bombardment served as cover for the movement of a brigade under Brigadier General George Crockett Strong to land on Morris Island. The brigade landed under fire, formed up and swept up several Confederate batteries before coming within range of Fort Wagner. The only approach by land was an open area directly south of the fort, which was protected to the west by swamp, and to the east by the sea. Strong paused just out of range of the Confederate defenders, to rest his troops and prepare for the assault.

Strong launched his assault on the bastion at dawn on July 11. The dawn brought with it heavy fog, which covered his troops somewhat as they advanced over the open ground. Additional troops could not be brought forward to assist in the attack due to the fog and the heavy return fire from Fort Wagner. The garrison of over 1700 Confederate troops tore the attacking Union troops to pieces once they were exposed, and Union forces suffered 339 casualties, including 167 either captured or missing when the Union troops withdrew. Confederate losses were 12 men.

13. The defeat at Fort Wagner was a blow to Union pride

July 1863 had begun with victories for Union forces in both the Eastern and Western Theaters. The Army of Northern Virginia had suffered its first major defeat of the war at Gettysburg, and in early July was still retreating from Pennsylvania to the relative safety of Virginia. In the west, the siege of Vicksburg, which had been a masterpiece of joint military-naval operations, had been successfully concluded when the Confederate garrison surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant. The bloody repulse at Fort Wagner drew negative opinions over the competence of the command of troops and ships in the southeast, where recent command changes had occurred.

In June, Major General David Hunter had been relieved of command (he would later wreak havoc in the Shenandoah Valley, including burning VMI) and was replaced by Brigadier General Quincy Gillmore. Gillmore was an officer of the Corps of Engineers who had successfully reduced Fort Pulaski through the use of heavy guns. He believed that the capture of Fort Wagner would allow him to repeat his success at Fort Pulaski by reducing Fort Sumter, allowing the US Navy access to Charleston Harbor, as Fort Pulaski’s fall had allowed it to enter the Savannah River and close the port. To Gillmore, Fort Wagner had to be taken.

14. Fort Wagner’s defenses were formidable from both land and sea

Although initially constructed as a battery to protect the southern approaches to Charleston Harbor, which wound between the islands, Fort Wagner was a powerful obstacle to Gillmore’s plans to take Charleston. Its parapets were built of sand, reinforced with palmetto logs, which allowed them to absorb shot rather than repel it. They towered 30 feet over the beach below, and fourteen heavy guns were mounted behind the walls, offering a deadly reception to approach by water. The swamp to the west of the fort was all but impassable, troops mired in it would be exposed to devastating fire. The only side approachable by land was protected with a moat.

The moat was a ditch, five feet deep and ten feet wide, itself protected with sharpened stakes made of palmetto. Fort Wagner also contained a bombproof, covered with a beamed ceiling under ten feet of sand, and capable of holding up to one thousand men. Unlike Fort Pulaski, which had been reduced under the bombardment of rifled guns, the construction of Fort Wagner was such that heavy bombardment simply did less damage to the fortress. General Strong was ordered to resume his assault on the Confederate fortification, after additional troops were sent to reinforce his brigade. One of the units sent was the 54^th Massachusetts, only two days after their baptism of fire on James Island.

15. Heavy bombardment of the position was to precede a series of assault waves

Gillmore decided to repeat his success at Fort Pulaski through a lengthy bombardment of the fortification using both land-based and naval guns. Among the 11 ships assigned to the bombardment was USS New Ironsides, a sail and steam-driven ship with an armor-plated hull which carried, among other cannon, fourteen 11-inch Dahlgren guns. In April 1863, the ship had been one of nine which bombarded Fort Sumter for several hours with little effect. Gillmore believed that the bombardment of Fort Wagner would be more effective. Gillmore was unaware of the garrison’s ability to shelter in the bombproof.

As additional protection, the Confederate garrison had prepared sandbags with which to cover the guns within the bastion, withdrawing the majority of the garrison in the bombproof, secure in the knowledge that any bombardment would have to be lifted once an infantry assault was launched. Had Strong used a bombardment prior to his assault on July 11 (he hadn’t, relying on surprise and the fog) this tactic may have been revealed. As he prepared for his second assault on Fort Wagner he planned a series of assaults, each launched to support its predecessor, in order to carry the fort following a lengthy bombardment.

16. The artillery bombardment began on July 18, 1863

Shortly after 8 o’clock in the morning of July 18, one week after Strong’s failed assault of Fort Wagner, Union batteries began to pound its walls. As planned, just over half of the garrison sheltered in the bombproof. The rest, South Carolina troops under Lieutenant Colonel Gaillard, remained on the fort’s walls, taking what shelter they could. There were simply more men in the garrison than the bombproof could hold. The Union land-based guns were soon joined by those on the Navy ships, which sent both shot and shell into the fortifications. The pounding went on throughout the day. By midafternoon New Ironsides closed to within 300 yards of the fort.

The ship was accompanied by ironclad monitors, raftlike turreted vessels which carried one or two guns of immense size. At one point, Fort Wagner’s flag was shot away but a replacement appeared on the walls before Union officers could ask if the facility had surrendered. The entire area of the island and the sea about the ships were covered in thick, heavy, dark smoke from the guns and the bursting of shells. The fort seemed to change shape as the sand was shifted about by the impact of shot and the bursting of shells. After a full day of pounding, just as the sun was about to set, the massive bombardment suddenly increased in ferocity briefly, before coming to a halt.

17. The 54^th Massachusetts was selected to lead the assault waves on Fort Wagner

Strong’s attack on Fort Wagner was planned to be a series of assaults by brigades, led by his own. He was assigned the task of leading the assault across the narrow strip of sand bordered by sea and swamp on either side to the 54^th Massachusetts. Though later accounts had Shaw requesting the honor, eyewitness accounts by participants in the battle do not. Captain Luis Emilio, who commanded Company E of the 54^th during the assault, reported that when given the assignment Shaw paled, but did not protest that his recently arrived men were exhausted, even though Strong gave him the opportunity to do so.

“Your men, I know, are worn out”, Strong told Shaw, but the colonel, then 25 years of age, simply accepted the assignment. It was to be the second time the regiment saw action, the first having occurred just two days earlier. As the massive bombardment continued during the early dusk, Shaw formed the regiment at the end of the strip of sand, moving them forward at 7.45 PM. The 54^th Massachusetts went forward with 624 officers and men. The plan was for the second wave of the assault to begin as the 54^th hit the ramparts of Fort Wagner, with each successive assault following a similar timetable.

18. The first assault was hit with artillery and musket fire as in moved forward

A half dozen guns had survived the bombardment, and they were supported by a howitzer battery at Battery Gregg. The 54^th advanced first at quick march, maintaining ranks with four companies abreast of each other, followed by the other four. As the strip of land, they had to cross grew narrower approaching the fort they were funneled in toward each other, forming a point with Shaw at its tip. As they approached, the bombardment died out and the defenders of Fort Wagner emerged from the bombproof and took positions on the ramparts. About two hundred yards from the fort Shaw gave the order to charge. The Confederates responded with a withering hail of musketry and artillery fire.

The 54^th struggled through the moat, which in some areas had been filled with sand by the bombardment, while under heavy and continuous fire by the Confederates. Shaw made it to the parapet, where as he shouted encouragement to his men he was hit by at least three shots, dying instantly. Without him, the regiment struggled to crest the ramparts, but few did. Those that did break over the walls found fierce resistance from the Confederate defenders, who were outraged at the sight of black troops. Many never made it to the ramparts at all, falling between the moat and the fort itself. The 54^th was still struggling at the ramparts when the next wave of the assault swept over the moat and drove towards Fort Wagner.

19. Strong’s brigade breached the ramparts, but was eventually driven back

Accounts of the assault on Fort Wagner often begin and end with the assault of the 54^th Massachusetts, but such was not the case that night. Strong’s brigade launched its attack on time, striking the Confederate ramparts at other positions, and in the southeast section of the fort units from Connecticut and New York managed to enter the fort and engage Confederate troops in hand-to-hand combat. Units following them were unable to reach the moat after Confederate howitzers fired on them from their flanks as they attempted to advance. Nearly all of Strong’s brigade was thrust into a chaotic scene of troops moving forward, others rearward, and all under a hail of fire from the fort and the flanks.

About 45 minutes after Shaw had launched his attack another brigade, commanded by Haldimand Putnam, was committed to the assault after having been delayed on the order of Gillmore, who had little idea of the carnage suffered by the Union troops. Putnam’s brigade fired at figures seen on the ramparts indiscriminately, adding friendly fire casualties to the already ravaged Union forces struggling to enter the fort. Several units of Putnam’s force managed to fight their way into the southeast corner of the fort, where they joined the survivors of the forces which had earlier managed to breach the ramparts. They called for additional troops to move forward to their support, as planned. None did.

20. The Union troops inside Fort Wagner shifted to the defensive

With no fresh troops moving forward to support them the Union troops within Fort Wagner shifted to defending themselves from Confederate counterattacks. Putnam tried to organize a fighting withdrawal before he was hit in the head, dying instantly. Major Lewis Butler of Ohio began withdrawing troops under fire, in small groups at first, while others used makeshift cover within the fort to resist Confederate assaults. Meanwhile, fresh troops from Charleston were ferried to Morris Island and joined in the assault on the remaining Union troops. The Union men either died, surrendered, or ran for their lives. Many who attempted to surrender were shown no quarter.

Gradually the firing died down, though many of the wounded remained where they lay throughout the night. Confederate troops who spotted wounded black troops shot or bayoneted them. The daylong bombardment and the wave of assaults had cost the Confederate garrison 36 killed, and about 140 wounded. The Union troops suffered over 1,500 casualties. The 54^th Massachusetts suffered 281 casualties, nearly half of the men who had advanced into battle behind Colonel Shaw. 54 were known dead, and another 48 were never heard from again, presumably, they were also killed by the Confederates during the fighting or once it was over.

21. Colonel Shaw was buried with his men, an intended insult by the Confederates

During the American Civil War is was customary for the bodies of officers killed in battle to be returned to the other side for burial. Where circumstances rendered the courtesy impractical, they were buried with full military honors, their personal effects preserved, and the location of the grave made known. The Confederates made no such gesture in the burial of Robert Gould Shaw, he was consigned, without ceremony, to the same common grave shared with the men of the 54^th who had fallen. The event was reported in Southern newspapers, including the widely read Charleston Mercury, as a fate befitting a man who dared to lead black troops against the South.

The bodies of officers commanding and leading white troops at Fort Wagner were all returned and Confederate General Johnson Hagood informed Union commanders that Shaw had been killed, but that his body would not be returned. Numerous efforts by Northerners to recover Shaw’s body were stopped by his father, Francis Shaw, who announced that he was proud that his son was buried with the men he had led. Shaw wrote the 54^th‘s regimental surgeon that he could “imagine no holier place than that in which he lies, among his brave and devoted followers, nor wish for him better company – what a bodyguard he has!”

22. The war was not over for Fort Wagner

After two bloody and unsuccessful assaults at Fort Wagner, General Gillmore came to the conclusion that the fortifications could not be carried by infantry. The only solution to reducing the position was siege warfare. Union troops including the shattered 54^th remained on Morris Island. Naval bombardment of the fort became a routine. It was joined by steadily expanding land-based bombardment from heavy Union guns. The heavy pounding of the fort continued through the rest of July and entirely through the month of August.

By September the steady bombardment of the Confederate positions had rendered them useless; the guns nearly all dismounted and the garrison was no longer capable of mounting a defense, though the idea of another frontal assault on Fort Wagner was unpalatable among the Union commanders. The siege continued until September 7, when the Confederates abandoned Morris Island and the remains of Fort Wagner fell into Union hands. By seizing the fort the port of Charleston was effectively closed, though Fort Sumter in the harbor and the city itself remained in Confederate hands.

23. The war was not over for the 54^th Massachusetts Regiment either

The 54^th remained in the Charleston region as it was reconstituted with replacements for the lost men and officers who died at Fort Wagner. In 1864 it was part of a Union expedition to Florida, landing at Jacksonville to conduct operations intended to disrupt the food supplies from the state reaching the main Confederate Armies in Virginia and Georgia. Following the Battle of Olustee in 1864 – a Union defeat – the 54^th served as a rearguard for the retreating Union Army. It engaged several Confederate units before beginning its own orderly withdrawal toward Jacksonville.

While heading toward Jacksonville it was ordered to reverse itself and moved toward the Confederate position until it reached Ten-Mile Station. There a train loaded with Union wounded was stranded. When the regiment arrived it attached ropes to the train, including the broken-down locomotive, and pulled it about three miles to a Union camp, where the men of the 54^th were replaced with horses and mules. The train was then pulled to Jacksonville, with the 54^th remaining as escorts until they arrived. The distance to Jacksonville was about ten miles, and the journey took just over 42 hours before the wounded men arrived safely in the Union held city.

24. The 54^th Massachusetts returned to South Carolina after the Florida expedition

In 1864 the 54^th returned to operations in and around Charleston Harbor. In November, 1864, the 54^th and 55^th Massachusetts Regiments were part of an operation to sever the Charleston and Savannah Railroad in support of General William Tecumseh Sherman’s March to the Sea. At Honey Hill, the Union troops encountered an entrenched Confederate force defending the railroad and several attacks proved that the Confederate position was too strong to be carried. Both the 54^th and 55^th were engaged in the fighting, which proved to be a defensive Confederate victory. The 54^th withdrew to its position at Hilton Head.

In April 1865, the 54^th saw its last action of the war several days after the surrender of Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia, and just four days after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. The 54^th engaged with Confederate troops, again in fortified positions near the town of Boykin, South Carolina. The battle, which was a sharply contested skirmish, ended when the 54^th drove the Confederates from their position. Of the fifteen casualties sustained by the regiment in the action two were fatalities, including Lieutenant E. L. Stevens, the last Union officer to lose his life in the Civil War.

25. The 54^th was the most famous of the black units of the Civil War

Because of the debacle at Fort Wagner, the 54^th Massachusetts became the most well-known of the black regiments formed during the American Civil War, a distinction which it retains. After the war was over the regiment was mustered out in South Carolina, and most men returned to their homes before the war. The bodies of the men killed at Fort Wagner were disinterred and moved to Beaufort, South Carolina, where they were reinterred with full honors, with the gravesite marked as Unknown. Presumably, that is where Robert Gould Shaw rests today, still with the troops he commanded.

By the end of the Civil War, entirely segregated black units numbered over 160 in the Union army, and nearly 180,000 black Americans served in them. Many others served in support roles, as laborers, blacksmiths and armorers, cooks and ambulance drivers, and as gravediggers. They served in the Navy as well, on ships which were not segregated, in a variety of naval disciplines. In 1863, while at Vicksburg, U. S. Grant praised the performance and discipline of the black troops under his command, stating that it was easier to enforce discipline on them than on white troops, firmly refuting the beliefs which opponents to their use had long stated.

Where do we find this stuff? Here are our sources:

“‘One Gallant Rush’: Robert Gould Shaw and his Brave Black Regiment”. Peter Burchard. 1965

“Undying Glory: The Story of the Massachusetts 54^th Regiment”. Clinton Cox. 1991

“Blue Eyed Child of Fortune: The Civil War Letters of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw. Robert Gould Shaw. Russell Duncan ed. 1999

“Civil War Boston”. Thomas O’Connor. 1997

“54^th Regiment!”. Entry, Massachusetts Historical Society. Online

“Montgomery’s Raids in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina”. William Lee Apthorp, Lt. Col, United States Colored Infantry. June, 1864. Online

“History of the Fifty-fourth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, 1863 – 1865”. Luis Emilio. 1894

“Fort Wagner”. Article, American Battlefield Trust. Online

“Engineer and artillery operations against the defenses of Charleston harbor in 1863”. Quincy Adams Gillmore. 1865

“The Old Steam Navy: The Ironclads, 1842 – 1885”. Donald L. Canney. 1993

“Fort Wagner and the 54^th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry”. Brian C. Pohanka, HistoryNet. Online

“Second Battle of Fort Wagner”. Simon Adams, Encyclopedia Britannica. Online

“Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders”. Ezra J. Warner. 1959

“Confederate Florida: The Road to Olustee”. William H. Nulty. 1990

“54^th Massachusetts Regiment”. Article, National Park Service. Online

“The U. S. Colored Troops in the Civil War”. Mark L. Bradley, Center of Military History, United States Army. 2015. Online