54th Massachusetts Attacks Fort Wagner - July 18, 1863 (1 Viewer)

[jazzeum]

On July 18, 1863, the 54th Massachusetts Infantry’s attempted to storm Fort Wagner, South Carolina and suffered 45 percent casualties in its futile frontal assault. The 54th Massachusetts was a unit raised by Gov. John Andrew of Massachusetts, an abolitionist. It consisted of men from all over the United States, not just Massachusetts. It was primarily made up of free men who had never been slaves. It was the first black military unit raised in the North. Although the 54th Massachusetts did not win in strictly military terms , they won a costly moral victory by showing that black men would fight and die as bravely of white men in similarly adverse circumstances, when detractors had long claimed African Americans could not be trained as soldiers and would flee from the battlefield at the first hint of danger.

The 54th Massachusetts was led by Colonel Robert Shaw, who died leading his men on the assault. Shaw and his men were buried unceremoniously by being tossed in a burial trench. After the war, his family refused to have his bodied removed from this trench.





“Storming Ft. Wagner” (1890), Kurz & Allison Art Publishers




Colonel Shaw (from April 15, 1863 edition of Harper's Weekly)




Memorial to Robert Gould Shaw and the Massachusetts Fifty-Fourth Regiment by Augustus Saint-Gaudens. The sculpture depicts the 54th Regiment marching down Beacon Street in Boston on May 28, 1863.

 

[jazzeum]

In Striking the Blow at Fort Wagner, Glenn David Brasher, recounts the story of the 54th Mass, from the time it received its flag on May 18, 1863 from Governor Andrew of Massachusetts until its frontal assault on Fort Wagner.

According to Brasher, because the assault involved Charleston, it received more attention than other actions by other Black troops in the Western theatre. Papers criticized the planning of the attack but praised the 54th.

In an editorial seen in papers across the country, The New York Times exalted “the gallant negroes” and their “gallant Col. Shaw,” and related Carney’s heroic retrieval of the colors (which later earned him the Medal of Honor). The Chicago Tribune proclaimed that the regiment had proved its manliness when “fighting in that deadly breach till almost every officer had fallen and three hundred of its men lay dead.” The Herald’s reporter admitted having been a critic of black troops, but now changed his mind. “I must [give] this regiment credit [for] fighting bravely and well.” Even if they were “darkeys,” he maintained, “The Massachusetts negro regiment is evidently made of good stuff.” Shaw’s men had helped prove that African-Americans would heroically and manfully serve their country.​

The article may be accessed here, http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/18/striking-the-blow-at-fort-wagner/

 

[jazzeum]

Ronald Coddington in "The Old Flag Never Touched the Ground" discusses Sgt. William Carney of the 54th Massachusetts, originally born a slave who escaped through the Underground Railroad and came to live in New Bedford, Mass.

Coddington recounts the action that day at Fort Wagner and how Sgt. Carney of Company G carried the colors. Writes Coddington

Carney climbed the rampart with the Stars and Stripes. “All around me were the dead and wounded, lying one upon top the other,” he observed, describing the scene. “It seemed a miracle that I should have been spared in that awful slaughter. When I recovered from my semi stupor, on account of the scenes of blood about me, I found myself standing on the top of the embankment, all alone. It were folly for me to try to advance, so I dropped on my knees among my dead comrades, and I laid as low and quiet as possible.”​

Carney planted the bottom of the flagstaff into the ground as musket bullets and canister shots plowed into the earth near his feet and sprayed sand into the air. “I was almost blinded by the dirt flying around me and nearly distracted by the shrieks and groans of the wounded and dying men about me. As soon as I could distinguish anything in the darkness, I could see dimly on one side a line of men mounting the ramparts and going down into the fort. I thought they must be our own men, but in the light of a cannon flash I saw they were the enemy.”​

As Carney attempted to retreat, he was shot twice, once in the hip (fracturing the thighbone) and then, as a member of the 100th NY Infantry was helping him, in his head by canister.

When he returned to the rear, he uttered the words that made him famous: "Boys, the old flag never touched the ground."



William H. Carney holding the Stars and Stripes, circa 1863-1864

In 1900 he was awarded the Medal of Honor.

The full article can be accessed here, http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/19/the-old-flag-never-touched-the-ground/

 

[Poppo]

Right, a futile and unuseful attack: all the yankee tactics to take Charleston from the coast were a disaster and a waste of lives and time( same mistake did Mc Clellan earlier in the war). Even when fort Wagner fell, other confederate batteries and forts ( incuded fort Sumter) resisted in the bay and islands to the attacks.Charleston was bombed from fort Wagner with no results: the maritime traffic was no affected and the town resisted.

The british army made the same type of mistake during the war for american independence, they kept the coasts but coudn' t reach the inner lands.
Charleston was finally taken by Sherman in his march to the sea from the inside lands.
Beauregard had defended the town with great ability almost till the end of the war.

 

[mikemiller1955]

Broderick actually favors Shaw...

 

[mikemiller1955]

pic...

 

[Warrior]

Thanks for posting this Brad, I attended Robert Shaw middle school in West Roxbury, the 54th was raised and trained in Readville MA, aka Hyde Park, about ten minutes from where I was born.

The monument in Boston was in rough shape until the movie came out, then it was magically spruced up, what a shocker..............

 

[Warrior]

Right, a futile and unuseful attack: all the yankee tactics to take Charleston from the coast were a disaster and a waste of lives and time( same mistake did Mc Clellan earlier in the war). Even when fort Wagner fell, other confederate batteries and forts ( incuded fort Sumter) resisted in the bay and islands to the attacks.Charleston was bombed from fort Wagner with no results: the maritime traffic was no affected and the town resisted.

The british army made the same type of mistake during the war for american independence, they kept the coasts but coudn' t reach the inner lands.
Charleston was finally taken by Sherman in his march to the sea from the inside lands.
Beauregard had defended the town with great ability almost till the end of the war.

Those Yankees; couldn't do anything right, amazing they even won the war considering how inept they were........:rolleyes2:

 

[The Military Workshop]

Right, a futile and unuseful attack: .

My memory of watching the movie and re-inforced by this good post by Brad is one of admiration
for Col Shaw and his men particularly in view of the negative opinions some at the time had about
their fighting ability and courage.

I am no ACW historian but some might consider Pickett's charge "futile and unuseful" but neverthe
less they are much admired for their bravery.

The actual men were following orders in both cases and in neither case can their determination
and bravery be faulted.

Brett
PS Good on Shaw's family for letting his body remain with his men.

 

[jazzeum]

Thanks for posting this Brad, I attended Robert Shaw middle school in West Roxbury, the 54th was raised and trained in Readville MA, aka Hyde Park, about ten minutes from where I was born.

The monument in Boston was in rough shape until the movie came out, then it was magically spruced up, what a shocker..............

George,

Glad to do it and had no idea you went there. Had meant to post it last week but thins got busy. Regarding the monument being in rough shape I'm glad they fixed that.

Brad

 

[Warrior]

George,

Glad to do it and had no idea you went there. Had meant to post it last week but thins got busy. Regarding the monument being in rough shape I'm glad they fixed that.

Brad

Yes I did, 7th and 8th grade, also attended Joyce Kilmer elementary school, grades K-6, also in West Roxbury.

The monument is right outside the state house across the street, it was vandalized awhile ago by someone who was chopping but no chips were flying, she was off her rocker, it was a bit of a project to fix it.