No African-American Civil War regiment is more famous than the 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry. In its ranks were the sons of prominent abolitionist Frederick Douglass; its colonel, Robert Gould Shaw, was the son of a prominent abolitionist family. .
African-American soldiers felt they had to prove their worth as human beings, not just as fighting men, when they charged into battle. The men of the 54th also felt this pressure to perform, to be a credit to their race and their country. .
They had their opportunity at an Confederate earthwork called Fort Wagner. The fort was part of the defense of Charleston, South Carolina. Although the battle of Fort Wagner was minor compared to the Civil War's major battles, it educated a nation about the valor and bravery of its black soldiers. .
At twilight on July 18, 1863, Col. Shaw and the 54th led two Union brigades through the Carolina low country and across a sandy beach toward the fort. .
According to black historian George Williams' account of the battle, "All day they marched over the island under the exhausting heat of a July sun in Carolina.All night the march was continued through darkness and rain, amid thunder and lightning, over swollen streams, broken dikes, and feeble, shuddering, narrow causeways." .
As they approached, the Confederates let loose volley after volley of musket-fire into the soldiers. Although men fell left and right, the bulk of the 54th managed to charge onto the parapets of the fort, climbing down into it to fight hand to hand. The 54th was able to hold its ground for an hour before finally being pushed back. .
But even in the tumult, the 54th's gallantry showed. Sergeant William H. Carney, severely wounded, still managed to save the 54th's battle flag and kneel with it on the crest of the fort as the battle raged around him. When the attack ended, Carney carried the flag to safety, and eventually won a Congressional Medal of Honor for his efforts.
