The
Massachusetts
th
54
By: Brian Beeco and Nick DiGuilio
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The Massachusetts 54th was one of the
first official all Black regiments in the
United States armed forces.
This infantry unit fought during the Civil
War. Black soldiers did fight during the
Revolutionary War and the War of 1812
but they were never organized into a
formal military unit.
After the signing of
the Emancipation
Proclamation and
the demand for new
recruits, the Lincoln
administration
agreed to enlist
black men. Only
white men, however,
could serve as
officers.
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Colonel Robert Gould Shaw
The regiment, organized
in March 1863 by the
Governor of
Massachusetts, John A.
Andrew, and was
commanded by Colonel
Robert Gould Shaw.
Colonel Shaw was handpicked by Gov. Andrew
himself. Shaw was the 25
year old son of very
wealthy abolitionist
parents.
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Soldiers were recruited by
white abolitionists
(including Shaw's
parents). By the middle of
May, over a thousand
black men from 24 states
(15 northern, five
southern, and four Border
States) had been accepted
into the Massachusetts
54th
Two of the recruits were
sons of famed abolitionist
Frederick Douglass
The 54th left Boston to
fight for the Union on
May 28, 1863
Frederick Douglass
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The regiment gained international fame
on July 18, 1863, when it spearheaded
an assault on Fort Wagner near
Charleston, South Carolina. Of the six
hundred men that stormed Fort Wagner,
one hundred and sixteen were killed.
Another hundred and fifty-six were
wounded or captured.
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Colonel Shaw was also killed. He was buried in a common
grave alongside 74 of his men.
Although the Union was not able to take and hold the
fort, the 54th was widely acclaimed for its valor, and the
event helped encourage the further enlistment and
mobilization of African-American troops.
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The Fifty-fourth continued to serve throughout
the remainder of the war. They fought at
Olustee, Florida; Honey Hill, South Carolina;
and finally at Boykin's Mills, South Carolina.
Salary Conflict
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The black soldiers were
supposed be treated
equally to the white, but
unfortunately that
wasn’t happening.
When enlisted they were
supposed to receive $13
a month, plus food and
clothing. But they were
only receiving $10 a
month and $3 was
coming out for clothing.
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Outraged by the obvious injustice, the men of the 54th Infantry
refused to accept their pay, an act instigated by Colonel Shaw.
On 15 June 1864, Massachusetts Senator Wilson’s proposal
passed and black soldiers finally received the pay they
deserved. In addition to providing for the new wages, the act
also allowed that any black soldier who had enlisted in the army
after 19 April 1861 was to be paid the difference of what they
had made and what they should have made.
Legacy
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Decades later,
Sergeant William
Harvey Carney, who
grabbed the US flag as
the flag bearer fell
and carried the flag
to the enemy
ramparts and back
during the attack,
became the first
African-American
soldier to be awarded
the Medal of Honor.
Sergeant William Harvey Carney
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The 54th’s refusal of lesser pay and
their heroics at Fort Wagner paved
the way for equal treatment to all
enlisted black soldiers during their
time, as well as the more than
180,000 black soldiers that enlisted
from 1863–65 as a direct result of
the 54th's performance and
publicity.
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The regiment's survivors received their discharge
papers on September 1, 1865. Almost immediately
the black community in Boston launched a drive to
erect a memorial to the 54th. It would be more
than 30 years before the memorial was completed.
It took 12 years for the great American sculptor
Augustus Saint-Gaudens complete the memorial. It
was unveiled on Memorial Day 1897.
The names of the five white officers killed in battle were
inscribed on the back of the monument. It was only in
1981 that the names of the black soldiers killed in
action were added.
The End
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rawwMraLLl4