Forming the 54th Massachusetts Infantry

“Field and line officers have been selected by Governor Andrew, of Massachusetts, with a sole view of combining the rare qualities of good military ability, experience and a warm sympathy with the cause they espouse.” 

~Cleveland Daily Leader (Cleveland, Ohio)~23 Jun 1863

Obstacles:

~ 1792 federal law prohibited African Americans from bearing arms in the United States military.

~Many did not believe that African Americans were "men."

~There was a belief that blacks would not fight.

~Most thought the military was a "white space" and the Civil War was a "white man's fight" to preserve the Union.  No one knew if white volunteer soldiers would fight alongside black soldiers.

~Many feared arming blacks because they felt blacks could not be trusted.

~African American soldiers were not seen as equal and were originally paid much less than white soldiers.

~Blacks in society had few rights; they had no power to address their grievances.

~Black soldiers faced the risk of being tortured and/or sold into slavery if captured by the Confederate army.

~Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy, promised to put to death any African American soldier captured during the War.

~All of this in addition to the risk of dying in battle!

~ 1 January 1863: The Emancipation Proclamation authorizes the formation of African American units. 

~ 26 January 1863: Secretary of War Edwin Stanton gives Massachusetts Governor Andrew authorization to call for volunteers.

~ Early 1863: Troops begin training at Camp Meigs, Readville, Massachusetts.

~ 28 May 1863: Under the command of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, son of an abolitionist, the Regiment marches through Boston on the way to their post at Beaufort, South Carolina.

Recruits came from

       Providence, Rhode Island; Philadelphia, Pennsyvlania; Elmira                     and New York City, New York; "and even as far away as Ohio,                       Michigan, the West Indies and  Canada." ~Whitehair, 25.