Role of Black Soldiers in the American Civil War
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
Antebellum American History tells of wars fought by vast mono-ethnic armies. With few exceptions, American warriors were white. The turmoil of the War of Rebellion, however, was the catalyst needed to bring about an abrupt and drastic change in the unanimous popular mentality. One instance in particular can be identified as the pebble that begins an avalanche. This pebble was the 54th Massachusetts Colored Regiment, or the "54th," as it is commonly called.
The story of the 54th begins with Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, a young officer weary of the long and bloody conflict. Shaw had served in the Seventh New York National Guard and the Second Massachusetts Infantry. Wounded in action, he was sent home to rest and recuperate. During his sojourn, Shaw was selected to lead an "experimental" regiment - the first all black fighting unit ever in the history of the country. Robert consented, and in 1863 he found himself at Camp Meigs near Readville, Massachusetts.
As one of the first black units organized in the northern states, the Fifty-fourth was the object of great interest and curiosity, and its performance would be considered an important indication of the possibilities surrounding the abilities of blacks in combat. The regiment was composed primarily of free blacks from throughout the north, particularly Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. Amongst its recruits were Lewis N. Douglas and Charles Douglas, sons of the famous ex-slave and abolitionist, Frederick Douglas.
After a period of recruiting and training, the unit proceeded to the Department of the South, arriving at Hilton Head, South Carolina, on June 3, 1863. The unit was assigned various menial tasks of hard labor and soon grew discontent. Shaw was able to persuade his superiors to upgrade them to combat status, and soon thereafter encountered the enemy at James Island. They met a small confederate party of infantry and cavalry. In the ensuing charge and countercharge the 54th gained a decisive victory. (Their story never made news, as it was in contention with the battle at Gettysburg.)
This first trial, however, foreshadowed nothing of what lay ahead of them. On July 18 of 1863, the 54th , in spite of warnings of extreme casualties, requested the honor of leading the charge in the direct assault on the Confederate-held Battery Wagner. In this desperate attack, the Fifty-fourth was placed in the vanguard and over 250 men of the regiment became casualties. Shaw, the regiment's young colonel, died on the crest of the enemy parapet, shouting, "Forward, Fifty-fourth!" Frederick Douglass' son Lewis wrote to his sweetheart shortly after the battle, "This regiment has established itself as a fighting regiment...not a man flinched, though it was a trying time...Remember if I die, I die in a good cause. I wish we had a hundred thousand colored troops--we would put an end to this war."
That heroic charge, coupled with Shaw's death, made the regiment a household name throughout the north, and helped spur black recruiting. For the remainder of 1863 the unit participated in siege operations around Charleston, before boarding transports for Florida early in February 1864. The regiment numbered 510 officers and men at the opening of the Florida Campaign, and its new commander was Edward N. Howell, a twenty-seven year old merchant from Medford, Massachusetts. Anxious to avenge the Battery Wagner repulse, the Fifty-fourth was the best black regiment available to General Seymore, the Union commander.
Along with the 35th United States colored troops, the Fifty-fourth entered the fighting late in the day at Olustee, and helped save the Union army from complete disaster. The 54th, as well as the 35th, served as the rearguard for the Union Army and possibly prevented its destruction. The Fifty-fourth marched into battle yelling, "Three cheers for Massachusetts and seven dollars a month." The latter referred to the difference in pay between white and colored Union infantry, long a sore point with colored troops. Congress had just passed a bill correcting this and giving colored troops equal pay. However, word of the bill would not reach these troops until after the battle of Olustee. The regiment lost eighty-six men in the battle, the lowest number of the three black regiments present.
After the battle of Olustee, the Fifty-fourth was not sent to participate in the bloody Virginia campaigns of 1864-1865. Instead it remained in the Department of the South, fighting in a number of actions, including the battles of Honey Hill and Boykin's Mill before Charleston and Savannah. Finally it was mustered out in August, 1865.
The army may not be what it is today if the brave men of the 54th had not risked all. However, they had a lasting influence upon the attitude towards blacks in the military, and ultimately the entire race. The men, it can be said, evolved into respectable and capable military units. However, it may be more correctly said that the men themselves weren't changing. In fact, the only change truly occurring was the slow deterioration of the white man's racial eyesight, until the point where it reached complete and utter color blindness.
"Through the cannon smoke of that dark night, the manhood of the colored race shines before many eyes that would not see."
- The New York Tribune July, 1863
The story of the 54th begins with Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, a young officer weary of the long and bloody conflict. Shaw had served in the Seventh New York National Guard and the Second Massachusetts Infantry. Wounded in action, he was sent home to rest and recuperate. During his sojourn, Shaw was selected to lead an "experimental" regiment - the first all black fighting unit ever in the history of the country. Robert consented, and in 1863 he found himself at Camp Meigs near Readville, Massachusetts.
As one of the first black units organized in the northern states, the Fifty-fourth was the object of great interest and curiosity, and its performance would be considered an important indication of the possibilities surrounding the abilities of blacks in combat. The regiment was composed primarily of free blacks from throughout the north, particularly Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. Amongst its recruits were Lewis N. Douglas and Charles Douglas, sons of the famous ex-slave and abolitionist, Frederick Douglas.
After a period of recruiting and training, the unit proceeded to the Department of the South, arriving at Hilton Head, South Carolina, on June 3, 1863. The unit was assigned various menial tasks of hard labor and soon grew discontent. Shaw was able to persuade his superiors to upgrade them to combat status, and soon thereafter encountered the enemy at James Island. They met a small confederate party of infantry and cavalry. In the ensuing charge and countercharge the 54th gained a decisive victory. (Their story never made news, as it was in contention with the battle at Gettysburg.)
This first trial, however, foreshadowed nothing of what lay ahead of them. On July 18 of 1863, the 54th , in spite of warnings of extreme casualties, requested the honor of leading the charge in the direct assault on the Confederate-held Battery Wagner. In this desperate attack, the Fifty-fourth was placed in the vanguard and over 250 men of the regiment became casualties. Shaw, the regiment's young colonel, died on the crest of the enemy parapet, shouting, "Forward, Fifty-fourth!" Frederick Douglass' son Lewis wrote to his sweetheart shortly after the battle, "This regiment has established itself as a fighting regiment...not a man flinched, though it was a trying time...Remember if I die, I die in a good cause. I wish we had a hundred thousand colored troops--we would put an end to this war."
That heroic charge, coupled with Shaw's death, made the regiment a household name throughout the north, and helped spur black recruiting. For the remainder of 1863 the unit participated in siege operations around Charleston, before boarding transports for Florida early in February 1864. The regiment numbered 510 officers and men at the opening of the Florida Campaign, and its new commander was Edward N. Howell, a twenty-seven year old merchant from Medford, Massachusetts. Anxious to avenge the Battery Wagner repulse, the Fifty-fourth was the best black regiment available to General Seymore, the Union commander.
Along with the 35th United States colored troops, the Fifty-fourth entered the fighting late in the day at Olustee, and helped save the Union army from complete disaster. The 54th, as well as the 35th, served as the rearguard for the Union Army and possibly prevented its destruction. The Fifty-fourth marched into battle yelling, "Three cheers for Massachusetts and seven dollars a month." The latter referred to the difference in pay between white and colored Union infantry, long a sore point with colored troops. Congress had just passed a bill correcting this and giving colored troops equal pay. However, word of the bill would not reach these troops until after the battle of Olustee. The regiment lost eighty-six men in the battle, the lowest number of the three black regiments present.
After the battle of Olustee, the Fifty-fourth was not sent to participate in the bloody Virginia campaigns of 1864-1865. Instead it remained in the Department of the South, fighting in a number of actions, including the battles of Honey Hill and Boykin's Mill before Charleston and Savannah. Finally it was mustered out in August, 1865.
The army may not be what it is today if the brave men of the 54th had not risked all. However, they had a lasting influence upon the attitude towards blacks in the military, and ultimately the entire race. The men, it can be said, evolved into respectable and capable military units. However, it may be more correctly said that the men themselves weren't changing. In fact, the only change truly occurring was the slow deterioration of the white man's racial eyesight, until the point where it reached complete and utter color blindness.
"Through the cannon smoke of that dark night, the manhood of the colored race shines before many eyes that would not see."
- The New York Tribune July, 1863
