A Brave Black Regiment
History of the Fifty-Fourth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, 1863-1865
Description:... The Northern press publicized widely the story of the assault on Fort Wagner. "Through the cannon smoke of that black night, the manhood of the colored race shines before many eyes that would not see." The object of this praise was the 54th Massachusetts Infantry, the first--and most famous--black regiment enlisted in the North during the Civil War. Though credited to Massachusetts, its men were recruited from several northern states and even from the South. The regiment's white officers came from some of the foremost abolitionist families of Massachusetts. One of the officesr was Captain Luis Emilio, who did a superb job of rallying the regiment after the death of its colonel and the repulse from Wagner. Many years later, Captain Emilio wrote A Brave Black Regiment, a minor Civil War classic that deserves a wider readership that it has enjoyed.
Show description