Archive for the ‘Civil War’ Category

Assault on Fort Wagner

The Fifty-fourth Massachusetts was organized in March, 1863 at Camp Meigs, Readville, Massachusetts by Robert Gould Shaw, twenty-six year old member of a prominent Boston abolitionist family. Shaw had earlier served in the Seventh New York National Guard and the Second Massachusetts Infantry, and was appointed colonel of the Fifty-fourth in February 1863 by Massachusetts governor John A. Andrew.

As one of the first black units organized in the northernstates, the Fifty-fourth was the object of great interest and curiosity, and its performance would be considered an important indication of the possibilities surrounding the use of blacks in combat. The regiment was composed primarily of free blacks from throughout the north, particularly Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. Amongst its recruits were Lewis N. Douglass and Charles Douglass, sons of the famous ex-slave and abolitionist, Frederick Douglass.

After a period of recruiting and training, the unit proceeded to the Department of the South, arriving at Hilton Head, South Carolina, on June 3, 1863. Soon after it saw its first action at James Island. The regiment earned its greatest fame on July 18, 1863, when it led the unsuccessful and controversial assault on the Confederate positions at Battery Wagner. In this desperate attack, the Fifty-fourth was placed in the vanguard and 281 men of the regiment became casualties (54 were killed or fatally wounded and another 48 were never accounted for). Shaw, the regiment’s young colonel, died on the crest of the enemy parapet, shouting, “Forward, Fifty-fourth!”

It was also on the parapet of the battery that Sgt. William H. Carney, Company C, risked his life in an action for which he received the Medal of Honor. His citation reads in part: “When the color sergeant was shot down, this soldier grasped the flag, led the way to the parapet, and planted the colors thereon. When the troops fell back he brought off the flag, under a fierce fire in which he was twice severely wounded.”

Robert Gould Shaw

That heroic charge, coupled with Shaw’s death, made the regiment a household name throughout the north, and helped spur black recruiting. For the remainder of 1863 the unit participated in siege operations around Charleston, before boarding transports for Florida early in February 1864. The regiment numbered 510 officers and men at the opening of the Florida Campaign, and its new commander was Edward N. Hallowell, a twenty-seven year old merchant from Medford, Massachusetts. Anxious to avenge the Battery Wagner repulse, the Fifty-fourth was the best black regiment available to General Seymour, the Union commander. However, only about 500 members of the regiment were present at Olustee, the others having been detailed for other duty.

Along with the 35th United States Colored Troops, the Fifty-fourth entered the fighting late in the day at Olustee, and helped save the Union army from complete disaster. The Fifty-fourth marched into battle yelling, “Three cheers for Massachusetts and seven dollars a month.” The latter referred to the difference in pay between white and colored Union infantry, long a sore point with colored troops. Congress had just passed a bill correcting this and giving colored troops equal pay. However, word of the bill would not reach these troops until after the battle of Olustee. The regiment lost eighty-six men in the battle, the lowest number of the three black regiments present.

The 54th, as well as the 35th United States Colored Troops, served as the rearguard for the Union Army and possibly prevented its destruction. After Olustee, the Fifty-fourth was not sent to participate in the bloody Virginia campaigns of 1864-1865. Instead it remained in the Department of the South, fighting in a number of actions, including the battles of of Honey Hill and Boykin’s Mill before Charleston and Savannah. It was mustered out in August, 1865.

More than a century after the war the Fifty-fourth remains the most famous black regiment of the war, due largely to the popularity of the movie “Glory”, which recounts the story of the regiment prior to and including the attack on Battery Wagner.

As shown in Glory (1989) Robert Gould Shaw portrayed by Mathew Broderick and the men of the 54 Massachussetts Infantry Regiment.

Popularity: 86% [?]

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate — we can not consecrate — we can not hallow — this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

‘The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what we did here.’

Popularity: 100% [?]

The American Civil War surely happened about 150 years ago, yet historians have tried to track back events of the war time and again. Testimonials from soldiers and war nurses have been passed on through generations, and all of them seem to show just one thing – This indeed was one of the toughest and blood-scarred battles to be fought on American Mainland. It is time for you to know some Civil War Facts and increase your knowledge on the subject.

Here are some important Civil War Facts for your knowledge

1. The war took place between the Confederate forces and the Union forces, and lasted for four years before the surrender of the Confederate forces.

2. The start of the war was signaled by the Confederates’ attack on Fort Sumter, a military installation of the Union forces. Fort Sumter was a military installation in South Carolina, which was headed by Jefferson Davis, this attack proved to start the hostilities between the two sides.

3. The Emancipation Proclamation by Abraham Lincoln in 1862 laid the fundamental for the battle to take a serious shape. In those days, the call by President Lincoln was treated as a war goal by the Confederates.

4. In the early days of the war, the Confederates made huge strides and captured a lot of areas. The Confederate forces were limited in the resources and material. Slowly but surely, the Union forces started repulsing the Confederates out of areas like Atlanta, and some states in the North.

5. The significant turning point of the war came in Gettysburg. It was here that the northward march of the Confederates was halted by the Union forces.

6. 1864 was the penultimate thaw in the resistance of the Confederate Forces. General Robert G. Lee led his troops admirably against the Union forces, but lack of sophisticated firepower saw their resistance crumble over a period of time.

7. Finally, in April 1865, Robert G Lee surrendered, which signaled the end of a 4-year long bitterly fought war.

8. Over 600,000 soldiers died from both the sides. About 3000-6000 Civil War nurses joined the healthcare duties to help soldiers wounded.

Startling as they may be, these Civil War Facts are good enough to tell you that the war, though fought in the olden ways, was no less fierce and intense than any other war in the history. The number of casualties and other related figures from the list of Civil War Facts could possibly just tell you one side of the story. And in most cases, this side of the story is good enough for you to start exploring some more facts.

Popularity: 68% [?]

The American Civil War, which was fought between the North and the South armies, over a span of 4 years, was considered to be one of the bloodiest battles in the history of the United States. A lot of lives were lost in this struggle, and many were paralyzed completely for their lives. People lost their near and dear ones, and importantly, all was done for a genuine objective.

The Objective of the Civil war

In those days, some states had held other states as their slaves, and were indulging in practices of bonded slavery. Small protests did not yield any results, and finally, under the leadership of Jefferson Davis, these states declared a war against the US government. In doing so, they declared secession against the US government, which at that time was supported by all the free and the border slave states.

Fort Sumter Attack

The war hostilities between the warring sides actually commenced with the Confederate States of America (The army of the slaved states) attack on Fort Sumter, a military installation of the US Government. Abraham Lincoln was the centerpiece of all these moves, as he went about garnering support from more slaved states.

As things panned out

The Fort Sumter Attack forced the government authorities to sit back and take stock of their plans. The Confederate Army was growing in powers and something had to be done to stop them. The government imposed a naval blockade on the south states, to which Lincoln responded by raising the “Emancipation Proclamation”. This was a war call directed towards abolishing slavery.

The South Army clearly was high in their spirit and determination. Robert Lee, the supreme commander of the forces, led the South to many victories, especially in the East. Finally, the support the US government had coupled with the men and material in their disposal overcame the resolve of Lee, and he surrendered to the North forces in April, 1865.

In terms of their deadly nature, the American Civil war is considered to be one of the deadliest and bloodiest to have been fought over American soil. About 620,000 soldiers laid down their lives, and more than twice the number of civilian deaths resulted from this war. Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, it is believed, as an after-effect to his support to the war in Ford Theater by John Wilkes Booth.

Finally, when the war dawned to a close, the system of slavery was completely abolished in the United States of America. And this really was the sole objective for which the armed forces were fighting!

Popularity: 66% [?]