The 54th Massachusetts | New England’s Gifts

Why was the 54th Massachusetts unique? It was the first black regiment ever raised in the Northern states.

On July 18, 1863, the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment found itself in front of Fort Wagner—one of the strongest earthworks ever constructed. Built to protect Charleston, South Carolina, Wagner contained 1,700 Confederates. This was the moment that Colonel Robert Gould Shaw and his regiment had worked for and planned for—a major assault. The 54th was unique: the first black regiment ever raised in the Northern states. Despite the perception that black troops were not up to fighting, the Boston-born Shaw, a white man, knew that his men were the equal of any in the Union Army.

As dusk fell, Shaw ordered his regiment, about 600 men, to lie down with bayonets fixed. During lulls in the cannonfire, the men could hear waves breaking on the beach. Shaw moved quietly among his troops. “I want you to prove yourselves,” he told them. “The eyes of thousands will look on what you do tonight.”

At 7:45 the waiting ended, as Shaw moved to the center of the line. “Move in quick time until within 100 yards of the fort,” he ordered. “Then double-quick and charge!” Two hundred yards from the fort, the night exploded. Men began to fall; the survivors closed up and doubled the pace. The southeast bastion loomed up in the dark. Shaw clambered up the wall, the remnants of his regiment close on his heels. Gaining the crest he cried, “Forward, Fifty-Fourth!”

Those men who had survived the dash to the wall found themselves caught in a death trap. They were too few, the defenders too many. Still, they fought with bullet, bayonet, and musket butt. In less than an hour the regiment suffered more than 30 percent losses, including its leader, Colonel Shaw, shot through the chest.

Though it meant his death and the death of many of his troops, Shaw’s confidence in his black soldiers was borne out by the events of that awful night. Even doomed, the regiment had fought with incredible tenacity, removing all doubt that black men would and could fight. He and his men had paved the way for widespread acceptance of the black soldier. By war’s end, 180,000 blacks were in uniform, nearly 10 percent of the Federal forces. They won 17 Medals of Honor, and in Lincoln’s opinion they tipped the balance in favor of the Union.

In accepting command of the 54th Massachusetts, Shaw had believed it his task to help his men prove “that a Negro can be made into a good soldier.” He had acted according to his conscience—and history proved him right.

—“Forward, Fifty-Fourth!” by James Hallas, July 1981