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UNIT PROFILE – 54TH MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEER INFANTRY REGIMENT
The Emancipation Proclamation’s promulgation in 1863 opened the Union Army’s ranks to Black soldiers for the first time, allowing Black Americans to fight for the Union’s preservation and the end of slavery.
The Emancipation Proclamation’s promulgation in 1863 opened the Union Army’s ranks to Black soldiers for the first time, allowing Black Americans to fight for the Union’s preservation and the end of slavery.
The 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment was among the first all-Black units to be stood up. Led by COL Robert Gould Shaw (scion of a prominent abolitionist family) and promoted by prominent figures like Frederick Douglass, the 54th was flooded with recruits.
Despite Confederate promises to punish captured Black soldiers and their white officers with summary execution for promoting “servile insurrection,” the 54th marched to war in high spirits, leaving Boston on 28 MAY.
#CivilWar #CivilWarHistory #ArmyHeritage #MilitaryHistory
#CivilWar #CivilWarHistory #ArmyHeritage #MilitaryHistory
