One time in rush hour, my wife and I broke down on the Washington Bridge. Being a Perceptive Spouse, I sensed her stress at the honks and yells of helpful NYers as we shoved our car to the shoulder, so I said: “Honey, relax. The 54th Massachusetts hauled a TRAIN once.”
THREAD/
THREAD/
The 54th Mass (yes, of “Glory” fame, but you won’t see THIS scene in the movie cuz there was no Brave White Officer to center the narrative around) had a helluva week back in 1864. They made a bold stand at Olustee, Florida’s only major Civil War battle, covering the retreat …
But they didn’t just COVER it, they covered it IN STYLE. As their comrades broke and fled, the 54th Mass waded in shouting, “For Massachusetts and Seven Dollars a Month!" to protest being paid less than the white soldiers WHOSE ASSES THEY WERE SAVING.
#WakeMeWhenDenzelPlaysYOU
#WakeMeWhenDenzelPlaysYOU
What did Olustee have in common with Fort Wagner, the doomed battle at the end of Glory? They were both the “brainchild” of Gen. Truman Seymour--whose very name would be as cursed as King Joffrey or Jar-Jar if this country cared as much about real history as dumb fictional shit.
Consider this damning stat, from scholar William Nulty: “One analyst ranking assaults on fortified positions listed Olustee first among the bloodiest defeats for the Union and Battery Wagner second. What is appalling is that the same man, Gen. Seymour, commanded at both battles.”
Today, Seymour’s bungling at Olustee is rightly overshadowed by the horrid Rebel massacre of wounded black soldiers, witnessed and reported by a shocked Confederate officer. But the story of the 54th’s role, and the Herculean task they performed the next day, is less well-known.
How's this for exhausting? The day after an excruciating battle, the 54th Mass awoke at 4 a.m., stood around for 3 hours, marched 4 miles, halted, turned around, and marched back -- because a train loaded with wounded Union soldiers was broken down, and Rebels were closing in.
“It was a hard trial for the footsore and hungry men to retrace their steps; but the thought of the cars laden with wounded nerved them to the task,” wrote the 54th’s regimental historian. “So they faced about cheerfully.”
CHEERFULLY? Let's be honest: There was a grumble or two.
CHEERFULLY? Let's be honest: There was a grumble or two.
When they got back, a quartermaster scrounged up some bread for them to eat -- cuz “eat your hardtack” was the “eat your Wheaties” of the 1860s -- then the 54th started HAULING THE TRAIN for 3 miles.
The fact there aren’t a million folks songs about this is a FAILURE, America.
The fact there aren’t a million folks songs about this is a FAILURE, America.
A Sanitary Commission doctor described it: “Here the Immortal Fifty Fourth did what ought to insure it higher praise than to hold the field in the face of a victorious foe -- with ropes it seized the engine (now useless) and dragged it with its doomed freight for many miles …”
Alluding to the fate of the massacred black prisoners on the Olustee battlefield, the doctor wrote of the 54th Massachusetts: “They knew their fate if captured; their humanity triumphed.”
“Does history record a nobler deed?”
#DontBelieveTheHollywoodBS
#TheRealThingWasEvenBetter
“Does history record a nobler deed?”
#DontBelieveTheHollywoodBS
#TheRealThingWasEvenBetter
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