54th Massachusetts was the first African American regiment recruited in the North during the American Civil War (1861-1865). The regiment’s bravery during the 1863 Battle of Fort Wagner helped turn the tide of Northern public opinion to accept African American troops.
In January 1863, President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation went into effect, allowing blacks to serve in the Union Army. John Andrews, the antislavery governor of Massachusetts , a state in the northeastern United States, soon organized the 54th Massachusetts Infantry regiment. Andrews recruited African Americans from Massachusetts and other states to serve in an all-black regiment. African Americans from across the North volunteered to serve in the unit. Andrews selected Robert Gould Shaw , a young white officer and abolitionist, to lead and train these men. Lewis Douglass, a son of famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass , was a sergeant major in the regiment, the highest rank an African American could hold at the time.
In May 1863, after a few months of training, the 54th Massachusetts left Boston and headed for South Carolina , where the Union was attempting to capture Charleston . On July 18, the regiment led the attack on Fort Wagner, part of the Charleston harbor defenses. Of the regiment’s 600 soldiers who attacked the fort, nearly half were killed, wounded, or captured. Shaw himself was killed after he reached the top of the fort. He was later buried in a mass grave with other soldiers from the regiment. Lewis Douglass was wounded in the battle. William Harvey Carney famously rescued the regiment’s flag after its flag bearer was shot. Carney carried the flag throughout the battle despite being wounded multiple times. In 1900, Carney received the Medal of Honor for his bravery at Fort Wagner. He was the first African American to be awarded the highest military decoration that the United States grants to members of its armed forces.
After Fort Wagner, Colonel Edward Hallowell led the 54th Massachusetts. In February 1864, the regiment fought in the Battle of Olustee, Florida. The regiment later fought in the Battle of Honey Hill and in the Battle of Boykin’s Mill, both in South Carolina. In August 1865, after the war ended, the regiment was disbanded.
