13th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry | |
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Active | July 16, 1861, 1861–August 1, 1864 |
Country | United States of America |
Allegiance | Union |
Branch | Union Army |
Type | Infantry |
Part of | In 1863: 1st Brigade (Paul's), 2nd Division (Robinson's), I Corps, Army of the Potomac |
Engagements | Battle of Bolivar Heights Battle of Cedar Mountain Battle of Thoroughfare Gap Second Battle of Bull Run Battle of Chantilly Battle of South Mountain Battle of Antietam Battle of Fredericksburg Battle of Chancellorsville Battle of Gettysburg Second Battle of Rappahannock Station Battle of Morton's Ford Battle of the Wilderness Battle of Spotsylvania Court House Battle of North Anna Battle of Totopotomoy Creek Battle of Cold Harbor Siege of Petersburg |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Colonel Samuel H. Leonard |
Insignia | |
I Corps badge (2nd Division) |
Massachusetts U.S. Volunteer Infantry Regiments 1861-1865 | ||||
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The 13th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was formed on July 16, 1861, at Fort Independence in Boston, Massachusetts. Its original commander was Colonel Samuel H. Leonard.[1]
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Voices of the Civil War Episode 13: "54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment"
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3rd, 6th & 22nd U.S.C.T. Regiments, Philadelphia, July 4th, 2013
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54th Massachusetts
Transcription
Just one month after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, Massachusetts Governor, John A. Andrew, officially began recruitment for the 54th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry unit on February 9th, 1863. This was one of the first organized units compromised of African Americans, but a white officer, Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, led the unit. Frederick Douglass' two sons, Lewis and Charles were the first to enlist, along with William Carney, and James Henry Gooding. The 54th Regiment was poorly received amongst both the north and south. Many feared that after enlistment, black men would organize a rebellion throughout the north and south, inciting a race war. In a proclamation issued on December 23, 1862, the President of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis, fueled these fears by accusing President Lincoln of encouraging blacks to revolt, stating, "African slaves have not only been excited to insurrection by every license and encouragement but numbers of them have actually been armed for a servile war" (Proclamation by the Confederate President). In his proclamation Davis threatened the penalty of re-enslavement to black soldiers and death to white officers captured by the confederacy. With little support and few hopes the 54th Regiment began training at Camp Meigs in Readville, Massachusetts. The Regiment was promised to receive 13 dollars and a clothing allowance, equal to that of white soldiers, however this was not done. Under the Militia Act of July 1862 black soldiers could only serve as laborers or militiamen, entitled to a maximum of ten dollars and rations. Out of protest and principle the regiment refused pay for 18 months. In a letter from Corporal James Henry Gooding to President Abraham Lincoln, Gooding challenged this issue, writing, "Now the main question is. Are we Soldiers, or are we LABOURERS. We are fully armed, and equipped, have done all the various Duties, pertaining to a Soldiers life, have conducted ourselves, to the complete satisfaction of General Officers, who, were if any, prejudiced against us, but who now accord us all the encouragement, and honour due us: have shared the perils, and Labour, of Reducing the first stronghold, that flaunted a Traitor Flag: and more, Mr. President" (Newkirk 231). When the regiment reached capacity, in May 1863, the full regiment, of 1,100 black soldiers, was ordered to Hilton Head, South Carolina. Under Colonel James Montgomery, the Regiments first action was to loot and burn the nearly abandon town of Darien, Georgia. Both the regiment and Colonel Shaw reluctantly completed such a menial and shameful task. Colonel Shaw wrote to his wife, Annie, on June 9, 1863, "I told him, I did not want the responsibility of it, and he was only too happy to take it all on his shoulders; so the pretty little place was burnt to the ground...One of my companies assisted in it, because he ordered them out and I had to obey" (Duncan 342). Opponents of the regiment immediately criticized the raid on Darien and slandered the reputation of the 54th regiment. On July 8, 1863, the 54th regiment was called to James Island, South Carolina to aid in the assault and capture of Charleston. In their first battle, on July 16th, the Union army was wholly outnumbered and the 54th regiment lost 14 troops. Two days later on July 18th, during the famous battle of Fort Wagner the unit charged the confederate troops and engaged in hand-to-hand combat, suffering several hundred casualties. Among the casualties was First Sergeant Robert J. Simmons who died after being captured by confederate troops. Although this was a significant defeat for the unit, the 54th regiment was used as a model for other all-black units and significantly bolstered black recruitment within the Union. Their heroism also helped to diffuse the tension surrounding black enlistment that led to the New York Draft Riots in July 1863. The 54th Regiment would later participate in the Battle of Olustee, the Battle of Honey Hill, and the Battle of Boykin's Mill. In a letter from Lewis Douglass, who survived the Battle of Fort Wagner, to Helen Amelia Loguen, he writes, "This regiment has established its reputation as a fighting regiment not a man flinched, though it was a trying time. Men fell all around me...Remember if I die I die in a good cause. I wish we had a hundred thousand colored troops we would put an end to this war" (Haskins 91).
Organization and Assignments
The 13th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry was organized at Fort Independence in Boston, Massachusetts, on June 16, 1861. It left for Washington, D.C., on July 30. Attached to Stile's Brigade, Banks' Division, Army of the Potomac, to October, 1861. Abercrombie's Brigade, Banks' Division, to March, 1862. 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, Banks' 5th Army Corps and Dept. of the Shenandoah, to May, 1862. 3rd Brigade, 2nd Division, Dept. of the Rappahannock, to June, 1862. 3rd Brigade, 2nd Division, 3rd Army Corps, Army of Virginia, to September, 1862. 3rd Brigade, 2nd Division, 1st Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, to May, 1863. 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, 1st Army Corps, to March, 1864. 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, 5th Army Corps, to June, 1864. 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, 5th Army Corps, to July, 1864.
1861 to 1862
The regiment was assigned to patrol and outpost duty on the Upper Potomac until March, 1862. It first saw action at Beller's Mill, near Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, on September 2, 1861. Pritchard's Mills September 18 (2 Cos.). Bolivar Heights near Harper's Ferry, October 16. (Cos. "C," "D," "I" and "K" detached at Hancock, Md., January 5–30, 1862.) Occupation of Winchester, Virginia, March 12. Pursuit of Jackson up the Shenandoah Valley from March 24 to April 27. Guard duty on the Orange & Alexandria Railroad May 3 to 18. Battle of Cedar Mountain on August 9. Pope's Campaign in Northern Virginia August 16 to September 2. Battle of Thoroughfare Gap on August 28. 2nd Battle of Bull Run on August 30. Battle of Chantilly September 1. Served in the Maryland Campaign September to October. Battles of South Mountain September 14, and the Battle of Antietam September 16–17. At Sharpsburg until October 30. Movement to Warrenton, thence to Falmouth, Virginia, October 30 to November 19. Fought at the Battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia, from December 12 to 15.
1863
The regiment was part of the infamous "Mud March" January 20–24, 1863. At Falmouth and Belle Plain until April 27. Participated in the Chancellorsville Campaign April 27 to May 6. Operations at Pollock's Mill Creek April 29-May 2. Fitzhugh's Crossing April 29–30. Battle of Chancellorsville May 2–5. Gettysburg Campaign June 11-July 24. Battle of Gettysburg July 1–3. Picket duty along the Rapidan until October --. Bristoe Campaign October 9–22. Advance to line of the Rappahanock November 7–8. Mine Run Campaign November 26-December 2.
1864
Duty on the Orange & Alexandria Railroad until April, 1864. Demonstrations on the Rapidan February 6–7. Campaign from the Rapidan to the James May–June. Battle of the Wilderness May 5–7; Spottsylvania May 8–12; Spottsylvania Court House May 12–21. Assault on the Salient May 12. North Anna River May 23–26. Jericho Ford May 23. Line of the Pamunkey June 26–28. Totopotomoy May 28–31. Cold Harbor June 1–12. Bethesda Church June 1–3. White Oak Swamp June 13. Before Petersburg June 16–18. Siege of Petersburg June 16-July 14. Mustered out August 1, 1864.
Casualties
The regiment lost during service four officers and 117 enlisted men who were killed or mortally wounded as well as 40 enlisted men by disease. The total of those who died in service was 161.
See also
Notes
- ^ Bowen, 235.
References
- Dyer's Compendium of the War of Rebellion. Fredrick H. Dyer. 1908.
- "Thirteenth Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry". Massachusetts Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines in the Civil War. Massachusetts Adjutant General. 1937. Archived from the original on 2012-04-02. Retrieved September 23, 2011.
- Bowen, James L. (1889). Massachusetts in the War, 1861–1865. Clark W. Bryan & Co.
- Schouler, William (1868). A History of Massachusetts in the Civil War. E.P. Dutton & Co.