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 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
Deploying a force of 5,000 infantry in a frontal assault, the Union placed the 54th in the vanguard of the attack force, sending them charging across an open field towards Ft. Wagner under withering rifle and artillery fire rained on them by the 1,800 Confederate defenders.
COL Shaw led the 54th up the fortifications, rallying his men with a cry of “Forward Fifty-Fourth!” from atop the ramparts before being killed. Despite their commander’s death the 54th pushed on, engaging the rebels in bitter hand-to-hand fighting.
Despite 54th’s best efforts, the Union was unable to break through the fort’s defenses; the 54th paid an exorbitant price for its extraordinary valor, suffering a staggering 42% casualty rate (280 of the 600 of its men who fought in the Second Battle of Ft. Wagner).
The stories of the 54th’s heroism quickly spread across the Union, motivating Black Americans to enlist in the U.S. Army. Between 1863 and 1865 nearly 200,000 Black soldiers served the cause of liberty, contributing roughly 10% of the U.S. Army’s Civil War manpower.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
2 JULY 1863 – BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG – THE DEFENSE OF LITTLE ROUND TOP
At a critical juncture on the Battle of Gettysburg’s second day, the men of the 20th Maine Regiment saved the Union army during their desperate defense of Little Round Top.
#USArmy #TRADOC #Gettysburg
The 20th Maine was commanded by erstwhile college professor COL Joshua L. Chamberlain. After marching all day and night to reach Gettysburg, the regiment was ordered late in the afternoon of 2 JUL to occupy the space between two hills, Big and Little Round Top.
#20thMaine
Chamberlain was ordered to hold this position on the extreme left flank of the Union line at all costs; if outflanked by the Confederates, the entire Union position would be jeopardized. It was not long before the 15th and 47th Alabama Regiments attacked.
One of the most devastating defeats in U.S. Army history, the Battle of Kasserine Pass was the Army’s "baptism by fire" in WWII’s Mediterranean Theater and provided lessons which proved vital to future Army success.
#USArmy #TRADOC
After Operation TORCH in NOV 1942, Allied forces advanced east toward Tunisia while British forces drove west from Egypt and Libya to catch Axis forces between them. The enemy held the British advance in the east while a powerful force attacked west on 14 FEB 1943.
This concentrated thrust forced back the western Allied force, driving U.S. Army MG Lloyd R. Fredendall’s II Corps into a new defensive position at Kasserine Pass. Under the command of Field Marshall Erwin Rommel, the Axis force attacked on 19 FEB.
SOLDIER PROFILE – LIEUTENANT COLONEL CHARITY ADAMS
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
Charity Adams set the blueprint for Black women in the U.S. Army as the commander of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, becoming the highest-ranking Black female soldier in the Army during WWII.
@USArmy @TRADOC @TRADOCCSM @TradocDCG @TradocCG @FortGreggAdams Adams’ service with the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) began in 1942 when the Army commissioned her to serve as a staff training officer, station control officer, and company commander.
@USArmy @TRADOC @TRADOCCSM @TradocDCG @TradocCG @FortGreggAdams In 1943, she received a promotion to MAJ, making her the highest-ranking woman at the training center. By 1944, she was commanding the 6888th, the first unit of Black WACs to serve abroad. Their mission was to route soldiers’ mail, handling ~65,000 pieces of mail a day.
SOLDIER PROFILE – SERGEANT WILLIAM CARNEY, MEDAL OF HONOR RECIPIENT
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
One of 18 Black Civil War soldiers to earn the Medal of Honor, Sergeant William Carney fought for the cause of liberty as part of the famous 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Inf. Regt.
#USArmy
Carney earned his Medal of Honor at the tragic Second Battle of Fort Wagner, when the men of the 54th heroically assaulted Confederate fortifications against overwhelming odds.
One of the most dangerous battlefield roles during the Civil War was that of color bearer; soldiers carrying the regimental and national flags were easy targets for enemy fire, and the enemy often attempted to capture the colors to reduce unit morale.
#TRADOC @USArmy @TRADOC
The 1st Armored Division is the U.S. Army’s oldest tank formation, and throughout its history “Old Ironsides” (an homage to the USS Constitution) has meted out armored hammer-blows against America’s foes.
Founded in 1940, the 1st AD was the Army’s answer to the Nazi blitzkrieg juggernaut scything through Europe. After extensive training, the 1st AD saw its first action in North Africa, landing as part of the Operation TORCH invasion on 8 NOV 1942.
#Armyhistory #USArmy #TRADOC
After a hard-fought campaign against Rommel’s vaunted Afrika Korps, Old Ironsides was sent to Italy, landing at Naples on 28 OCT 1943 to reinforce the Allied push up the peninsula, where it fought the Germans until the final surrender of Axis forces in Italy on 2 MAY 1945.
On 25 AUG 2023, the U.S. Army’s Fort A.P. Hill will be renamed Fort Walker. The post will now honor Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, a Union Army physician and the only woman ever decorated with the Medal of Honor.
#Armyhistory #USArmy
Dr. Walker was a trailblazing figure in American history, becoming a doctor during a time when women were not widely accepted in the physician’s profession and serving her country as the Union Army’s only female surgeon during the Civil War.
#TRADOC #CivilWar #CivilWarHistory
When the Civil War began, Walker offered her services as a surgeon to the Union Army, although they initially rejected her because of her gender and offered her a place as a nurse.