54th massachusetts
In February 1863, the governor of Massachusetts issued the first call for African-American soldiers. Massachusetts did not have any African-American residents, but by the time the infantry regiment headed off to training camp two weeks later, more than 1000 men had joined. Many people came from other states such as Indiana and Ohio, and some even came from Canada. The soldiers were led by a young officer named Robert Shaw, who had recently joined the army at the age of 25.
The most famous people of the regiment were Charles and Louis Douglass, who were the sons of famous abolitionist Frederick Douglass. The soldiers fought to end slavery, but they also fought against getting lower wages in the army than white men. They did not get fair wages until the war was almost over. Fort Wagner The event that 54th Massachusetts is known for was the attack on Fort Wagner. At night they went over the walls of the fort, but they had miscalculated the number of Confederate soldiers inside the fort, and they were easily outnumbered. 281 of the 600 men were killed, injured, or captured. Their leader, Robert Shaw, died in the attack as well. To show their hatred of the soldiers of the 54th, the Confederates dumped all the bodies in an unmarked trench. Even though the regiment lost the battle at Fort Wagner, they did a lot of damage. The Confederates abandon the fort soon after. Later on 54th Massachusetts did a series of successful siege operations in the South, and returned to Boston in 1865. |