The Fight for Freedom: The 54th and 55th Massachusetts Volunteers pt. 2

After diving into the pivotal role, the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment held at the Battle of Fort Wagner in Charleston during the American Civil War (1861–1865), it is important to remember that the 54th were not the only Black regiment to be formed after the Emancipation Proclamation. Due to the overflow of volunteers, the 55th Massachusetts Regiment was created as a companion regiment, including both freeborn and formerly enslaved enlistees from Massachusetts and the surrounding region that included Ohio, New York, and Pennsylvania.

Recruitment posters prominently displayed Black soldiers in uniform under the stars and stripes. Regiments such as the 54th and 55th Massachusetts took volunteers from all over, even outside of the state. P.S. Duval & Son (active 1800s), Come and Join Us Brothers, 1864–1865; chromolithograph on paper; David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.

After receiving news of the failed assault on Fort Wagner, the 55th was deployed to Charleston and successfully captured the fort after a 58-day long siege of trench warfare on September 7, 1863. After several months stationed between South Carolina and Florida, they joined General Sherman’s forces in one of the most notable Civil War engagements by a majority African American force, The Battle of Honey Hill.

Harper’s Weekly published a depiction of the men of the 55th as they marched into a newly liberated Charleston. Newly emancipated Black citizens came to hail them as they arrived. “Marching on!” – The Fifty-fifth Massachusetts Colored Regiment singing John Brown’s March in the streets of Charleston. United States, 1865. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/92515015/.

On November 30, 1864, outside of Grahamville, SC, Union forces led by Brigadier General John P. Hatch (1822–1901) engaged an entrenched Confederate position with seven artillery pieces set in an advantageous position. Directly led by Lieutenant Colonel Alfred Hartwell (1836–1912), the men of the 55th joined the fray alongside other Union forces including other regiments of free Black soldiers. Ultimately, the entrenched position would hold and as dusk approached, they were forced to retreat as Hatch realized he wouldn’t be able to break through the Confederate lines.¹ Union casualties numbered 89 killed, 629 wounded, and 28 missing compared to a mere eight killed and 39 wounded Confederate soldiers.

Despite their losses on the March to the Sea, the men of the 55th persevered and were present in the liberation of Charleston as Sherman’s forces made it to the coast. Lieutenant Charles Fox wrote, “the Black Citizens turned out en masse pouring in the streets to cheer. One soldier rode at the head of the column, carrying a large banner emblazoned with the word Liberty.”²

Although the 54th and 55th regiments were only a few of the many men of color who would fight for liberty in the Civil War, their prominence stands out as those who heard the call and took it.³