African-american Troops In The Civil War: The 54th Massachusetts :: essays research papers

African-American Troops in the Civil War The 54th milliampere     The Fifty-fourth mommy was organized in early 1863 by RobertGould Shaw, twenty-six year old member of a prominent Boston abolitionist family.Shaw had earlier served in the Seventh New York National Guard and the SecondMassachusetts Infantry, and was appointed colonel of the Fifty-fourth inFebruary 1863 by Massachusetts governor John A. Andrew.     As one of the first fateful units organized in the northern states, theFifty-fourth was the object of keen interest and curiosity, and its performancewould be considered an important indication of the possibilities surrounding theuse of blacks in combat. The command was composed primarily of free blacks fromthroughout the north, particularly Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. Amongst itsrecruits was Lewis N. Douglass, son of the famous ex-slave and abolitionist,Frederick Douglass.     After a period of recruiting and training, the unit proceeded to theDepartment of the South, arriving at Hilton Head, South Carolina, on June 3,1863. The regiment earned its greatest fame on July 18, 1863, when it conduct theunsuccessful and controversial assault on the Confederate positions at BatteryWagner. In this desperate attack, the Fifty-fourth was placed in the vanguardand over 250 men of the regiment became casualties. Shaw, the regiments youngcolonel, died on the crest of the enemy parapet, shouting, "Forward, Fifty-fourth"     That heroic charge, coupled with Shaws death, made the regiment ahousehold name throughout the north, and helped spur black recruiting. For theremainder of 1863 the unit participated in siege operations around Charleston,before boarding transports for Florida early in February 1864. The regimentnumbered 510 officers and men at the opening of the Florida Campaign, and its refreshful commander was Edward N. Hallowell, a twenty-seven year old merchant fromMedford, Massachusetts. Anxious to avenge the Battery Wagner repulse, the Fifty-fourth was the best black regiment available to full general Seymour, the Unioncommander.     Along with the First North Carolina Colored Infantry, the Fifty-fourthentered the fighting late in the day at Olustee, and helped save the Union armyfrom complete disaster. The Fifty-fourth marched into difference of opinion yelling, "Threecheers for Massachusetts and seven dollars a month." The latter referred to thedifference in pay between white and colored Union infantry, long a brainsick pointwith colored military man. Congress had just passed a bill correcting this and givingcolored troops equal pay. However, word of the bill would not reach these troopsuntil after the battle of Olustee. The regiment lost eighty-six men in thebattle, the lowest number of the three black regiments present. After Olustee,the Fifty-fourth was not sent to participate in the bloody Virginia c ampaigns