54th Massachusetts: The "Brave Black Regiment"

General Hunter wrote to Gov. Andrew reporting the arrival of the 54th:

Headquarters Dep't op the South, Hilton Head, Port Royal, S. C,
June 3, 1863.
His Excellency, Governor Andrew, Massachusetts. Governor, —

I have the honor to announce that the Fifty . fourth Massachusetts (colored) troops, Colonel Shaw command ing, arrived safely in this harbor this afternoon and have been sent to Port Royal Island. The regiment had an excellent pas sage, and from the appearance of the men I doubt not that this command will yet win a reputation and place in history deserv ing the patronage you have given them. Just as they were steaming up the bay I received from Col. James Montgomery, commanding Second South Carolina Regiment, a telegraphic despatch, of which certified copy is enclosed. Colonel Montgomery's is but the initial step of a system of operations which will rapidly compel the Rebels either to lay down their arms and sue for restoration to the Union or to withdraw their slaves into the interior, thus leaving desolate the most fertile and pro ductive of their counties along the Atlantic seaboard. The Fifty-fourth Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers shall soon be profitably and honorably employed ; and I beg that you will send for service in this department the other colored regiment which Colonel Shaw tells me you are now organizing and have in forward preparation. Thanking you heartily for the kindness and promptness with which you have met my views in this matter, and referring you to my letter to Mr. Jefferson Davis as a guarantee that all sol diers fighting for the flag of their country in this department will be protected, irrespective of any accident of color or birth, I have the honor to be, Governor, with the highest esteem, Your very obedient servant,

D. Hunter, Major-General Commanding.
 
Glory is great movie that portrayed this regiment. This scene gives me chills.


This has always been one of my favorite movies. I first saw this movie when I was in the 6th grade and it is what made me interested in the War Between the States. These brave men not only had to fight physical battles but they also had to deal with emotional battles with the racism of the day. The men of the 54th Massachusetts are heroes and I applaud their courage.
 
This has always been one of my favorite movies. I first saw this movie when I was in the 6th grade and it is what made me interested in the War Between the States. These brave men not only had to fight physical battles but they also had to deal with emotional battles with the racism of the day. The men of the 54th Massachusetts are heroes and I applaud their courage.
I wonder how many others of your generation had the same experience.
 
After a brief time in Beaufort, SC, the 54th was sent to St. Simon's Island. That post was commanded by Col. James Montgomery. In early June, Montgomery led an expedition against Darien in which the 54th Mass and other black units participated.

Emilio describes what happened:

Darien, the New Inverness of early days, was a most beautiful town as Montgomery's forayers entered it that fateful June day. A broad street extended along the river, with others running into it, all shaded with mul berry and oak trees of great size and beauty. Storehouses and mills along the river-bank held quantities of rice and resin. There might have been from seventy-five to one hundred residences in the place. There were three churches, a market-house, jail, clerk's office, court-house, and an academy. After forming line, orders came for the Fifty-fourth to make details and secure from the houses such things as would be useful in camp, besides live-stock, resin, lumber, etc. Soon the plundering thus legitimized began. An officer thus describes the scene : —

" The men began to come in by twos, threes, and dozens, loaded with every species and all sorts and quantities of furni ture, stores, trinkets, etc., till one would be tired enumerating. We had sofas, tables, pianos, chairs, mirrors, carpets, beds, bedsteads, carpenter's tools, cooper's tools, books, law-books, account-books in unlimited supply, china sets, tinware, earthen ware, Confederate shinplasters, old letters, papers, etc. A private would come along with a slate, yard-stick, and a brace of chickens in one hand, and in the other hand a rope with a cow attached."

But the crowning act of vandalism is thus set forth in one of Colonel Shaw's letters : —

" After the town was pretty thoroughly disembowelled, he [Montgomery] said to me, ' I shall burn this town.' He speaks in a very low tone, and has quite a sweet smile when addressing you. I told him I did not want the responsibility of it, and he was only too happy to take it all on his own shoulders. . . . The reasons he gave me for destroying Darien were that the Southerners must be made to feel that this was a real war, and that they were to be swept away by the hand of God like the Jews of old. In theory it may seem all right to some ; but when it comes to being made the instrument of the Lord's ven geance, I myself don't like it. Then he says, 'We are out lawed, and therefore not bound by the rules of regular war fare.' But that makes it none the less revolting to wreak our vengeance on the innocent and defenceless."

By Montgomery's express orders, therefore, the town was fired, only one company of the Fifty-fourth partici pating with the Second South Carolina, Montgomery ap plying the torch to the last buildings with his own hand. Fanned by a high wind, the flames eventually destroyed everything but a church, a few houses, and some lumber works owned in the North. The schooner "Pet," with fifty-five bales of cotton for Nassau, lying in a small creek four miles above, was captured, and a flatboat with twenty- five bales near by was also secured. Our transports had been loaded with plunder, and late in the afternoon the troops rc-cmbarked. Some ware houses had been fired, and the river-bank was a sheet of flame. A few moments' delay or a change of wind might have resulted disastrously. The heat was so intense that all were driven to the farther side of our boat, and gun- barrels became so hot that the men were ordered to hold them upward. Five miles below the town the steamer anchored. The light of the fire was seen that night at St. Simon's, fifteen miles away. Emilio 42-43
 
Col. shaw was very angry at the burning of the town and he wrote a letter to Gov. Andrew informing him of what had happened. He also wrote to Charles Halpine (an Irish immigrant) who served as Gen. Hunter's adjutant:

St. Simon's Island, Ga., June 14, 1863.
Li euten ant-Colonel Halpine, A. A. G. Tenth Army Corps, and Department of the South.

Dear Sir, —

Will you allow me to ask you a private ques tion, which of course you are at liberty to answer or not? Has Colonel Montgomery orders from General Hunter to burn and destroy all town and dwelling houses he may capture? On the 11th inst., as you know, we took the town of Darien without opposition, the place being occupied, as far as we ascer tained, by non-combatants ; Colonel Montgomery burned it to the ground, and at leaving finally, shelled it from the river. If he does this on his own responsibility, I shall refuse to have a share in it, and take the consequences ; but, of course, if it is an order from headquarters, it is a different matter, as in that case I suppose it to have been found necessary to adopt that policy. He ordered me, if separated from him, to burn all the plantation houses I came across. Now, I am perfectly ready to burn any place which resists, and gives some reason for such a proceeding ; but it seems to me barbarous to turn women and children adrift in that way ; and if I am only assisting Colonel Montgomery in a private enterprise of his own, it is very distasteful to me. I am aware that this is not a military way of getting informa tion ; and I hope you will feel that I shall not be hurt if you refuse to answer my question. Believe me, very truly yours,

Shaw,

Colonel Commanding Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Regiment.


According to Emilio, Shaw later learned that Montgomery's actions were consistent with Hunter's orders.
 
On June 23, 1863, the 54th was ordered to Hilton Head. Rumors began to circulate that the pay-equality which the men of the 54th had been promised would not be adhered to. Shaw wrote to Gov. Andrew:

St. Helena Island, S. C, July 2, 1863.

HIS ExCELLENCY GOVERNOR ANDREW.

Dear Sir, — Since I last wrote you, the Fifty-fourth has left St. Simon's Island and returned to St. Helena near Hilton Head. We are now encamped in a healthy place, close to the harbor, where we get the sea breeze. You have probably seen the order from Washington which cuts down the pay of colored troops from $13 to 010. Of course if this affects Massachusetts regiments, it will be a great piece of injustice to them, as they were enlisted on the express understanding that they were to be on precisely the same foot ing as all other Massachusetts troops. In my opinion they should be mustered out of the service or receive the full pay which was promised them. The paymaster here is inclined to class us with the contraband regiments, and pay the men only 810. If he does not change his mind, I shall refuse to have the regiment paid until I hear from you on the subject. And at any rate I trust you will take the matter in hand, for every pay-day we shall have the same trouble unless there is a special order to prevent it. Another change that has been spoken of was the arming of negro troops with pikes instead of firearms. Whoever proposed it must have been looking for a means of annihilating negro troops altogether, I should think — or have never been under a heavy musketry fire, nor observed its effects. The project is now abandoned, I believe.

My men are well and in good spirits. We have only five in hospital. We are encamped near the Second South Carolina near General Strong's brigade, and are under his immediate command. He seems anxious to do all he can for us, and if there is a fight in the Department will no doubt give the black troops a chance to show what stuff they are made of. With many wishes for your good health and happiness, I remain,
 
Morale among the black troops was further harmed by a summary execution of a black soldier by Col. Montgomery:

A deserter from the Second South Carolina was brought by Lieut. George W. Brush of his regiment before Colonel Montgomery on June 28. After questioning him, the colonel ordered him to be taken away and shot, which was done at once. Montgomery was never taken to task for this illegal action. (Emilio p. 48)
 
In July, 1863, the regiment went to James Island. On July 16, it had its first skirmish with the Confederates.

In the gray of early dawn of July 16, the troops in bivouac on James Island were awakened by dropping shots, and then heavy firing on the picket line to the right. Clambering to the top of a pile of cracker-boxes, an officer of the Fifty-fourth, looking in the direction of the firing, saw the flashes of musketry along the out posts. In a few moments came the sharp metallic ex plosions from field-guns to the left by the river-bank. Wilkie James, the adjutant, rode in post-haste along the line, with cheery voice but unusually excited manner, ordering company commanders to form. "Fall in! fall in!" resounded on all sides, while drums of the several regiments were beating the long-roll. But a few moments sufficed for the Fifty-fourth to form, when Colonel Shaw marched it to the right and some little distance to the rear, where it halted, faced to the front, and stood in line of battle at right angles to the Seccssionville road. Rapid work was going on at the outposts. Before dawn the pickets of the Fifty-fourth had heard hoarse commands and the sound of marching men coming from the bank of darkness before them. Soon a line of men in open order came sweeping toward them from the gloom into the nearer and clearer light.

Soon the enemy gained the road at a point in rear of Russel's right. Some of the men there, hardly aware of their extremity, were still holding their positions against those of the enemy who appeared in the immediate front. It seemed to Sergt. Peter Vogelsang of Company H, who had his post at a palmetto-tree, that in a moment one hundred Rebels were swarming aboft>«him. He led his comrades to join men on his left, where they advanced, firing. With effect too, for they came to the body of a dead Rebel, from whom Vogelsang took a musket. Russel's right posts, thus cut off, were followed by a company of the Nineteenth Georgia, and after the desul tory fighting were driven, to escape capture, into the creek on the right of the line, where some were drowned. Those most courageous refused to fall back, and were killed or taken as . prisoners. Sergt. James D. Wilson of Company H was one of the former. He was an expert in the use of the musket, having been employed with the famous Ellsworth Zouaves of Chicago. Many times he had declared to his comrades that he would never retreat or surrender to the enemy. On that morning, when at tacked, he called to his men to stand fast. Assailed by five men, he is said to have disabled three of them. Some cavalrymen coming up, he charged them with a shout as they circled about him, keeping them all at bay for a time with the bayonet of his discharged musket, until the brave fellow sank in death with three mortal besides other wounds. Captain Russel, finding that the enemy had turned his flank before he could face back, had to retire with such men as were not cut off, at double-quick, finding the foe about the reserve house when he reached it. A mounted officer charged up to Russel, and cut twice at his head with his sword. Preston Williams of Company H caught the second sweep upon his bayonet and shot the Confed erate through the neck, thus saving his captain's life. From the reserve house Russel and his men retired, fight ing as they could. Captain Simpkins's right, as has been told, first bore the force of the attack. By strenuous efforts and great per sonal exposure that cool and gallant officer collected some men in line. With them he contested the way back step by step, halting now and then to face about and fire, thus gaining time, the loss of which thwarted the enemy's plan. Of his men, Corp. Henry A. Field of Company K especially distinguished himself. Captain Willard at the reserve house at once sent back word, by a mounted orderly, of the situation. To the support of his right he sent Lieutenant Appleton with some men, and to the left First Sergeant Simmons of Company B with a small force, and then looked for aid from our main body. He endeavored to form a line of skirmishers, when the men began coming back from the front, but with little success. The men could not be kept in view because of the underbrush nearly as high as a man. As the expected succor did not come, the officers and the remaining men made their way back to the division. It will be remembered that with the first musket-shots came the sound of field-guns from the Stono. The enemy's four Napoleons had galloped into battery within four hun dred yards of the gunboats, and fired some ten rounds be fore they were replied to ; their shots crashed through the " Pawnee " again and again, with some loss. It was impossible for the gunboats to turn in the narrow stream, and their guns did not bear properly. To drop down was dangerous, but it was done ; when out of close range, the " Marblehead, " " Pawnee, " and " Huron " soon drove their tormentors away from the river-bank. To capture the Tenth Connecticut, the enemy, after dealing with the Fifty-fourth, sent a portion of his force ; but the resistance made by Captain Simpkins had al lowed time for the Tenth Connecticut to abandon its dangerous position at the double-quick. None too soon, however, for five minutes' delay would have been fatal. A correspondent of "The Reflector," writing from Morris Island a few days later, said : —

"The boys of the Tenth Connecticut could not help loving the men who saved them from destruction. I have been deeply affected at hearing this feeling expressed by officers and men of the Connecticut regiment ; and probably a thousand homes from Windham to Fairfield have in letters been told the story how the dark-skinned heroes fought the good fight and covered with their own brave hearts the retreat of brothers, sons, and fathers of Connecticut."

The valuable time gained by the resistance of the Fifty- fourth pickets had also permitted the formation of Terry's division in line of battle. Hardly had the Fifty-fourth taken its position before men from the front came strag gling in, all bearing evidence of struggles with bush and brier, some of the wounded limping along unassisted, others helped by comrades. One poor fellow, with his right arm shattered, still carried his musket in his left hand. Captain Russel appeared in sight, assisting a sergeant, badly wounded. Bringing up the rear came Captains Willard and Simpkins, the latter with his trousers and rubber coat pierced with bullets. As the pickets and their officers reached the regiment, they took their places in line. A few minutes after these events, the enemy, having advanced to a position within about six hundred yards of the Federal line, opened fire with guns of the Marion Artillery, making good line shots, but fortunately too high. It was a supreme moment for the Fifty-fourth, then under fire as a regiment for the first time. The sight of wounded comrades had been a trial ; and the screaming shot and shell flying overhead, cutting the branches of trees to the right, had a deadly sound. But the dark line stood stanch, holding the front at the most vital point. Not a man was out of place, as the officers could see while they stood in rear of the lines, observing their men.

In reply to the enemy's guns the Connecticut battery fired percussion-shells, and for some time this artillery duel continued. To those who were anticipating an attack by infantry, and looking for the support of the gunboats, their silence was ominous. Every ear was strained to catch the welcome sound, and at last it came in great booms from Parrott guns. Very opportunely, too, on the night before, the armed transports " John Adams " and "Mayflower" had run up the creek on our right flank, and their guns were fired twelve or fifteen times with good effect before the enemy retired. The expected attack on Terry's line by infantry did not take place, for after about an hour the enemy retired in some confusion. Emilio 55-62
 
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On July 18, 1863 the 54th Mass led the assault on Battery Wagner, part of the fortifications protecting Charleston. Here is how the regiment's history describes the decision that the 54th would lead the attack:

Upon arriving at Morris Island, Colonel Shaw and Adjutant James walked toward the front to report to General Strong, whom they at last found, and who an nounced that Port Wagner was to be stormed that evening. Knowing Colonel Shaw's desire to place his men beside white troops, he said, " You may lead the column, if you say 'yes.' Your men, I know, are worn out, but do as you choose, " Shaw's face brightened, and before reply ing, he requested Adjutant James to return and have Lieutenant-Colonel Hallowell bring up the Fifty-fourth. Adjutant James, who relates this interview, then departed on his mission. Receiving this order, the regiment marched on to General Strong's headquarters, where a halt of five minutes was made about 6 o'clock p. m. Noticing the worn look of the men, who had passed two days without an issue of rations, and no food since morn ing, when the weary march began, the general expressed his sympathy and his great desire that they might have food and stimulant. It could not be, however, for it was necessary that the regiment should move on to the position assigned. Emilio p. 72
 
General Seymour explained his reasons for placing the 54th in the lead:

"It was believed that the Fifty-fourth was in every respect as efficient as any other body of men ; and as it was one of the strongest and best officered, there seemed to be no good reason why it should not be selected for the advance. This point was decided by General Strong and myself." Emilio p. 75
 
Emilio give a romantic description of the regiment in the moments before it began the assault:

About this time, Colonel Shaw walked back to Lieutenant- Colonel Hallowell, and said, " I shall go in advance with the National flag. You will keep the State flag with you ; it will give the men something to rally round. We shall take the fort or die there! Good-by!" Presently, General Strong, mounted upon a spirited gray horse, in full uniform, with a yellow handkerchief bound around his neck, rode in front of the Fifty-fourth, accom panied by two aids and two orderlies. He addressed the men J and his words, as given by an officer of the regi ment, were : " Boys, I am a Massachusetts man, and I know you will fight for the honor of the State. I am sorry you must go into the fight tired and hungry, but the men in the fort are tired too. There are but three hundred behind those walls, and they have been fighting all day. Don't fire a musket on the way up, but go in and bayonet them at their guns. " Calling out the color- bearer, he said, " If this man should fall, who will lift the flag and carry it on ? " Colonel Shaw, standing near, took a cigar from between his lips, and said quietly, "I will." The men loudly responded to Colonel Shaw's pledge, while General Strong rode away to give the signal for advancing. Emilio p. 77
 
Emilio says that there was no careful preparations for the assault:

The preparations usual in an assault were not made. There was no provision for cutting away obstructions, filling the ditch, or spiking the guns. No special instruc tions were given the stormers ; no line of skirmishers or covering party was thrown out; no engineers or guides accompanied the column; no artillery-men to serve cap tured guns ; no plan of the work was shown company offi cers. It was understood that the fort would be assaulted with the bayonet, and that the Fifty-fourth would be closely supported. p. 78
 
Emilio describes the advance of the 54th towards Wagner:

Colonel Shaw walked along the front to the centre, and giving the command, " Attention ! " the men sprang to their feet. Then came the admonition, "Move in quick time until within a hundred yards of the fort; then double quick, and charge! " A slight pause, followed by the sharp command, " Forward ! " and the Fifty-fourth advanced to the storming. There had been a partial resumption of the bombard ment during the formation, but now only an occasional shot was heard. The enemy in Wagner had seen the preparations, knew what was coming, and were awaiting the blow. With Colonel Shaw leading, sword in hand, the long advance over three quarters of a mile of sand had begun, with wings closed up and company officers admonishing their men to preserve the alignment. Guns from Sumter, Sullivan's Island, and James Island, began to play upon the regiment. It was about 7. 45 p. M. , with darkness coming on rapidly, when the Fifty-fourth moved. With barely room for the formation from the first, the narrowing way between the sand hillocks and the sea soon caused a strong pressure to the right, so that Captains Willard and Emilio on the right of the right companies of their wings were with some of their men forced to march in water up to their knees, at each incoming of the sea. Moving at quick time, and preserving its formation as well as the difficult ground and narrowing way permitted, the Fifty-fourth was approaching the defile made by the easterly sweep of the marsh. Darkness was rapidly comiug on, and each moment became deeper. Soon men on the flanks were compelled to fall behind, for want of room to continue in line. The centre only had a free path, and with eyes strained upon the colonel and the flag, they pressed on toward the work, now only two hundred yards away. p. 80
 
The Confederates suddenly unleashed a wall of fire:

At that moment Wagner became a mound of fire, from which poured a stream of shot and shell. Just a brief lull, and the deafening explosions of cannon were re newed, mingled with the crash and rattle of musketry. A sheet of flame, followed by a running fire, like electric sparks, swept along the parapet, as the Fifty-first North Carolina gave a direct, and the Charleston Battalion a left-oblique, fire on the Fifty-fourth. Their Thirty-first North Carolina had lost heart, and failed to take position in the southeast bastion, — fortunately, too, for had its musketry fire been added to that delivered, it is doubtful whether any Federal troops could have passed the defile. When this tempest of war came, before which men fell in numbers on every side, the only response the Fifty- fourth made to the deadly challenge was to change step to the double-quick, that it might the sooner close with the foe. There had been no stop, pause, or check at any period of the advance, nor was there now. As the swifter pace was taken, and officers sprang to the fore with waving swords barely seen in the darkness, the men closed the gaps, and with set jaws, panting breath, and bowed heads, charged on.

Wagner's wall, momentarily lit up by cannon-flashes, was still the goal toward which the survivors rushed in sadly diminished numbers. It was now dark, the gloom made more intense by the blinding explosions in the front. This terrible fire which the regiment had just faced, probably caused the greatest number of casualties sustained by the Fifty-fourth in the assault; for nearer the work the men were somewhat sheltered by the high parapet. Every flash showed the ground dotted with men of the regiment, killed or wounded. Great holes, made by the huge shells of the navy or the land batteries, were pitfalls into which the men stumbled or fell.

Colonel Shaw led the regiment to the left toward the curtain of the work, thus passing the southeast bastion, and leaving it to the right hand. From that salient no musketry fire came; and some Fifty-fourth men first entered it, not following the main body by reason of the darkness. As the survivors drew near the work, they encountered the flanking fire delivered from guns in the southwest salient, and the howitzers outside the fort, which swept the trench, where further severe losses were sus tained. Nothing but the ditch now separated the stormers and the foe. Down into this they went, through the two or three feet of water therein, and mounted the slope beyond in the teeth of the enemy, some of whom, stand ing on the crest, fired down on them with depressed pieces. Both flags were planted on the parapet, the national flag carried there and gallantly maintained by the brave Sergt. William H. Carney of Company C. Emilio p. 81
 
Emilio describes the famously tragic scene at the rampart:

In the pathway from the defile to the fort many brave men had fallen. Lieutenant-Colonel Hallowell was se verely wounded in the groin, Captain Willard in the leg, Adjutant James in the ankle and side, Lieutenant Romans in the shoulder. Lieutenants Smith and Pratt were also wounded. Colonel Shaw had led his regiment from first to last. Gaining the rampart, he stood there for a moment with uplifted sword, shouting, "Forward, Fifty- fourth ! " and then fell dead, shot through the heart, be sides other wounds. pp. 81-82
 
After the colonel had been killed, the struggle continued for a short while, but the Confederates were stronger than had been supposed:

Not a shot had been fired by the regiment up to this time. As the crest was gained, the crack of revolver- shots was heard, for the officers fired into the surging mass of upturned faces confronting them, lit up redly but a moment by the powder-flashes. Musket-butts and bayonets were freely used on the parapet, where the stormers were gallantly met. The garrison fought with muskets, handspikes, and gun-rammers, the officers strik- ing with their swords, so close were the combatants. Numbers, however, soon told against the Fifty-fourth, for it was tens against hundreds. Outlined against the sky, they were a fair mark for the foe. Men fell every mo ment during the brief struggle. Some of the wounded crawled down the slope to shelter; others fell headlong into the ditch below. It was seen from the volume of musketry fire, even before the walls were gained, that the garrison was stronger than had been supposed, and brave in defending the work. The first rush had failed, for those of the Fifty-fourth who reached the parapet were too few in num bers to overcome the garrison, and the supports were not at hand to take full advantage of their first fierce attack. Emilio p. 82
 
Most of the officers of the 54th were killed or wounded in the assault. This left the regiment under command of Emilio:

Captain Emilio, the junior of that rank, succeeded to the command of the Fifty-fourth on the field by casualties. After retiring from Wagner to a point where men were encountered singly or in small squads, he determined to rally as many as possible. With the assistance of Lieu tenants Grace and Dexter, a large portion of the Fifty- fourth survivors were collected and formed in line, together with a considerable number of white soldiers of various regiments. While thus engaged, the national flag of the Fifty-fourth was brought to Captain Emilio; but as it was useless as a rallying-point in the darkness, it was sent to the rear for safety. Sergeant Carney had bravely brought this flag from Wagner's parapet, at the cost of two grievous wounds. The State color was torn from the staff, the silk was found by the enemy in the moat, while the staff remained with us. (p. 84)
 
Here is the official report of the 54th filed by Ned Hallowell:

Headquarters Fifty-Fourth Mass. Vols., Morris Island, S. C, Nov. 7, 1863. Brio -Gen. T. Seymour, Commanding U. S. Forces, Morris Island, S. C. General, — In answer to your request that I furnish you with a report of the part taken by the Fifty-fourth Massachu setts Volunteers in the late assault upon Fort Wagner, I have to state : —

During the afternoon of the 18th of July last, the Fifty- fourth Massachusetts Volunteers, Col. R. G. Shaw commanding, landed upon Morris Island and reported at about six o'clock p. m. to Brig.-Gen. G. C. Strong. Colonel Shaw's command present consisted of a lieutenant-colonel of the field, a sur geon, adjutant, and quartermaster of the staff, eight captains and eleven subaltern officers of the line and six hundred en listed men. General Strong presented himself to the regi ment, and informed the men of the contemplated assault upon Fort Wagner, and asked if they would lead it. They answered in the affirmative. The regiment was then formed in column by wing, at a point upon the beach a short dis tance in the advance of the Beacon house. Col. R. G. Shaw commanded the right wing, and Lieut.-Col. £. N. Hallowell the left In this formation, as the dusk of evening came on, the regi ment advanced at quick time, leading the column. The enemy opened on us a brisk fire, our pace now gradually increasing till it became a run. Soon canister and musketry began to tell on us. With Colonel Shaw leading, the assault was commenced. Exposed to the direct fire of canister and musketry, and, as the ramparts were mounted, to a like fire on our flanks, the havoc made in our ranks was very great.

Upon leaving the ditch for the parapet, they obstinately con tested with' the bayonet our advance. Notwithstanding these difficulties, the men succeeded in driving the enemy from most of their guns, many following the enemy into the fort. It was here upon the crest of the parapet that Colonel Shaw fell ; here fell Captains Russel and Simpkins ; here were also most of the officers wounded. The colors of the regiment reached the crest, and were there fought for by the enemy ; the State flag there torn from its staff, but the staff remains with us. Hand gre nades were now added to the missiles directed against the men. The fight raged here for about an hour, when, compelled to abandon the fort, the men formed a line about seven hundred yards from the fort, under the command of Capt. Luis F. Emilio, — the ninth captain in the line ; the other captains were either killed or wounded. The regiment then held the front until relieved by the Tenth Connecticut at about two o'clock a. h. of the 19th. The assault was made upon the south face of the fort. So many of the officers behaved with marked coolness and bravery, I cannot mention any above the others.

It is due, however, to the following-named enlisted men that they be recorded above their fellows for especial merit : — Sergt. Robt. J. Simmons Co. B. 4i William H. Carney " C. Corp. Henry F. Peal " F. Pvt. Geo. Wilson "A.

The following is the list of casualties : —
The following is the list of casualties : — Officers. Col. R. G. Shaw killed Lieut.-Col. E. N. Hallowell .... wounded Adjt. G. W. James " Capt. S. Willard " " C. J. Russel missing, supposed to be killed •« W. H. Simpkins " " " " " " Geo. Pope wounded " E. L. Jones " " J. W. M. Appleton " " O. E. Smith " 1st Lieut R H. L. Jewett " " Wm. H. Homans .... " 2d Lieut. C. E. Tucker " " J. A. Pratt "

Enlisted Men. Killed 9. Wounded 147 Missing 100 Total 256

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, Your obedient servant, E. N. Hali.owell, Colonel Commanding Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Volunteers.
Emilio p. 91
 
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