USA > Massachusetts > History of the Fifty-fourth regiment of Masachusetts volunteer infantry, 1863-1865 > Part 8
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Of those reported missing belonging to the Fifty-fourth, some sixty were captured, about twenty of whom were wounded. The remainder were killed. Their capture occasioned one of a number of new and important ques- tions raised for governmental consideration, which it was the fortune of the regiment to present and have decided for the benefit of all other colored soldiers. Before the actions of July 16 and 18, no considerable number of
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black soldiers had been captured. Under the acts of the Confederate Congress they were outlaws, to be delivered to the State authorities when captured, for trial: and the penalty of servile insurrection was death.
The fate of Captains Russel and Simpkins was also unknown. It was thought possible that they too were captured. Governor Andrew and the friends of the regi- ment therefore exerted themselves to have the Govern- ment throw out its protecting hand over its colored soldiers and their officers in the enemy's hands.
Two sections were at once added to General Orders No. 100 of the War Department, relating to such prisoners, a copy of which was transmitted to the Confederate com- missioner, Robert Ould. The first set forth that once a soldier no man was responsible individually for warlike acts; the second, that the law of nations recognized no distinctions of color, and that if the enemy enslaved or sold the captured soldier, as the United States could not enslave, death would be the penalty in retaliation. The President also met the case in point involving the Fifty- fourth prisoners, by issuing the following proclamation :
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, July 80, 1863.
It is the duty of every government to give protection to its citizens of whatever class, color, or condition, and especially to those who are duly organized as soldiers in the public ser- vice. The law of nations and the usages and customs of war. as carried on by civilized powers, permit no distinction as to color in the treatment of prisoners of war as public enemies. To sell or enslave any captured person on account of his color, and for no offence against the laws of war, is a relapse into barbarism and a crime against the civilization of the age. The Government of the United States will give the same protection
1
Died in Service.
LIEUT. FREDERICK H. WEBSTER. CAPT. CABOT J. RUSSEL.
CAPT. WILLIAM H. SIMPKINS. LIECT. EDWARD L. STEVENS.
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to all its soldiers ; and if the enemy shall sell or enslave any one because of his color, the offence shall be punished by re- taliation upon the enemy's prisoners in our hands.
It is therefore ordered that for every soldier of the United States killed in violation of the laws of war, a Rebel soldier shall be executed, and for every one enslaved by the enemy or sold into slavery, a Rebel soldier shall be placed at hard labor on the public works, and continue at such labor until the other shall be released and receive the treatment due a prisoner of war.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
By order of the Secretary of War,
E. D. TOWNSEND, Assistant Adjutant-General.
Such prompt and vigorous enunciations had a salutary effect; and the enemy did not proceed to extremities. But the Fifty-fourth men were demanded by Governor Bonham, of South Carolina, from the military authorities. A test case was made; and Sergt. Walter A. Jeffries of Company H, and Corp. Charles Hardy of Company B, were actually tried for their lives. They were successfully defended by the ablest efforts of one of the most brilliant of Southern advocates, the Union-loving and noble Nel- son Mitchell, of Charleston, who, with a courage rarely equalled, fearlessly assumed the self-imposed task. Thence- forth never noticed, this devoted man died a few months after in Charleston, neglected and in want, because of this and other loyal acts. For months no list could be obtained of the Fifty-fourth prisoners, the enemy abso- lutely refusing information. After long imprisonment in Charleston jail, they were taken to Florence stockade, and were finally released in the spring of 1865. The best attainable information shows that the survivors then num- bered some twenty-seven, some of whom rejoined the regi-
7
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ment, while others were discharged from parole camps or hospitals.
Colonel Shaw's fate was soon ascertained from those who saw him fall, and in a day or two it was learned from the enemy that his body had been found, identified, and, on July 19, buried with a number of his colored sol- diers. The most circumstantial account relating thereto is contained in a letter to the writer from Capt. H. W. Hendricks, a Confederate officer who was present at the time, dated from Charleston, S. C., June 29, 1882; and the following extracts are made therefrom: -
. . Colonel Shaw fell on the left of our flagstaff about ten yards towards the river, near the bombproof immediately on our works, with a number of his officers and men. He was instantly killed, and fell outside of our works. The morning following the battle his body was carried through our lines ; and I noticed that he was stripped of all his clothing save under-vest and drawers. This desecration of the dead we en- deavored to provide against ; but at that time - the incipieney of the Rebellion - our men were so frenzied that it was next to impossible to guard against it ; this desecration, however, was almost exclusively participated in by the more desperate and lower class of our troops. Colonel Shaw's body was brought in from the sally-port on the Confederate right, and conveyed across the parade-ground into the bombproof by four of our men of the burial party. Soon after, his body was carried out via the sally-port on the left river-front, and conveyed across the front of our works, and there buried. . . . His watch and chain were robbed from his body by a private in my company, by name Charles Blake. I think he had other personal prop- erty of Colonel Shaw. . . . Blake, with other members of my company, jumped our works at night after hostilities had ceased, and robbed the dead. . . . Colonel Shaw was the only officer buried with the colored troops. ."
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Such disposal of the remains of an officer of Colonel Shaw's rank, when his friends were almost within call, was so unusual and cruel that there seemed good ground for the belief that the disposition made was so specially directed, as a premeditated indignity for having dared to lead colored troops. When known throughout the North, it excited general indignation, and fostered bitterness. Though recognizing the fitness of his resting-place, where in death he was not separated from the men he was in life not ashamed to lead, the act was universally con- demned. It was even specifically stated in a letter which appeared in the "Army and Navy Journal," of New York City, written by Asst. - Surg. John T. Luck, U. S. N., who was captured while engaged in assisting our wounded during the morning of July 19, that Gen. Johnson Hagood, who had succeeded General Taliaferro in command of Battery Wagner that morning, was re- sponsible for the deed. The following is extracted from that letter : -
" . . . While being conducted into the fort, I saw Colonel Shaw of the Fifty-four Massachusetts (colored) Regiment lying dead upon the ground just outside the parapet. A stalwart negro man had fallen near him. The Rebels said the negro was a color sergeant. The colonel had been killed by a rifle-shot through the chest, though he had received other wounds. Brigadier-General Hagood, commanding the Rebel forces, said to me : ' I knew Colonel Shaw before the war, and then esteemed him. Hlad he been in command of white troops, I should have given him an honorable burial ; as it is, I shall bury him in the common trench with the negroes that fell with him.' The burial party were then at work ; and no doubt Colonel Shaw was buried just beyond the ditch of the fort in the trench where
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I saw our dead indiscriminately thrown. Two days afterwards a Rebel surgeon (Dr. Dawson, of Charleston, S. C., I think) told me that Hagood had carried out his threat."
Assistant-Surgeon Luck's statement is, however, con- tradicted by General Hagood; for having requested infor- mation upon the matter, the writer, in December, 1885, received from Gen. Samuel Jones, of Washington, a copy of a letter written by Gen. Johnson Hagood to Col. T. W. Higginson, of Cambridge, Mass., dated Sept. 21, 1881. General Hagood quotes from Colonel Higginson's letter of inquiry relative to Colonel Shaw's burial, the conversation which Assistant-Surgeon Luck alleges to have had with him at Battery Wagner about the disposi- tion of Colonel Shaw's body, as set forth in the extract given from Assistant-Surgeon Luek's letter, and then gives his (General Hagood's) account of the meeting with Assistant-Surgeon Luck as follows, the italies being those of the general : -
" On the day after the night assault and while the burial parties of both sides were at work on the field, a chain of senti- nels dividing them, a person was brought to me where I was engaged within the battery in repairing damages done to the work. The guard said he had been found wandering within our lines, engaged apparently in nothing except making obser- vations. The man claimed to be a naval surgeon belonging to gunboat ' Pawnee ;' and after asking him some questions about the damages sustained by that vessel a few days before in the Stono River from an encounter with a field battery on its banks. I informed him that he would be sent up to Charleston for such disposition as General Beanregard deemed proper. I do not recall the name of this person, and have not heard of him since, but he must be the Dr. Leech [Luck?] of whom you speak. I
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have no recollection of other conversation with him than that given above. He has, however, certainly reported me incorrectly in one particular. I never saw or heard of Colonel Shaw until his body was pointed out to me that morning, und his name and rank mentioned. . .. I simply give my recollection in reply to his statement. As he has confounded what he probably heard from others within the battery of their previous knowledge of Colonel Shaw, he may at the distance of time at which he spoke have had his recollection of his interview with me confounded in other respects.
" You further ask if a request from General Terry for Colonel Shaw's body was refused the day after the battle. I answer distinctly, No. At the written request of General Gillmore, I, as commander of the battery, met General Vogdes (not Terry), on a flag of truce on the 22d. Upon this flag an exchange of wounded prisoners was arranged, and Colonel Putnam's body was asked for and delivered. Colonel Shaw's body was not asked for then or at any other time to my knowledge. . . . No special order was ever issued by me, verbally or otherwise, in regard to the burial of Colonel Shaw or any other officer or man at Wagner. The only order was a verbal one to bury all the dead in trenches as speedily as possible, on account of the heat ; and as far as I knew then, or have reason to believe now, each officer was buried where he fell, with the men who surrounded him. It thus occurred that Colonel Shaw, com- manding negroes, was buried with negroes."
These extracts from the letters of Assistant-Surgeon Luck and General Hagood are submitted to the reader with the single suggestion that what is said about Colonel Shaw's body being brought into Fort Wagner, contained in Captain Hendricks's letter, should be borne in mind while reading the latter portion of the extracts from General Hagood's letter.
But how far General Hagood may be held responsible
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for the lack of generous and Christian offices to the re- mains of Colonel Shaw, his family and comrades, is another matter. And the writer submits that these faults of omission are grave; that the acknowledged bravery of Colonel Shaw in life, and his appearance even in death, when, as General Hagood acknowledges, "his body was pointed out to me that morning," should have secured him a fitting sepulture, or the tender of his body to his friends. This burial of Colonel Shaw, premeditated and exceptional, was without question intended as an igno- miny. It served to crown the sacrifices of that young life, so short and eventful, and to place his name high on the roll of martyrs and leaders of the Civil War.
Colonel Shaw's sword was found during the war in a house in Virginia, and restored to his family. His silk sash was purchased in Battery Wagner from a private soldier, by A. W. Muckenfuss, a Confederate officer, who, many years after, generously sent it North to Mr. S. D. Gilbert, of Boston, for restoration to the Shaw family. Only these two articles have been recovered, so far as known.
No effort was made to find Colonel Shaw's grave when our forces occupied the ground. This was in compliance with the request contained in the following letter : -
NEW YORK, Aug. 24, 1863.
BRIGADIER-GENERAL GILLMORE, Commanding Department of the South.
SIR, - I take the liberty to address you because I am in- formed that efforts are to be made to recover the body of my son, Colonel Shaw of the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Regiment, which was buried at Fort Wagner. My object in writing is to say that such efforts are not authorized by me or any of my family, and that they are not approved by us. We hold that a
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soldier's most appropriate burial-place is on the field where he has fallen. I shall therefore be much obliged, General, if in case the matter is brought to your cognizance, you will forbid the desecration of my son's grave, and prevent the disturbance of his remains or those buried with him. With most earnest wishes for your success, I am, sir, with respect and esteem,
Your obedient servant,
FRANCIS GEORGE SHAW.
Captains Russel and Simpkins were doubtless interred with other white soldiers, after their bodies had been robbed of all evidences of their rank during the hours of darkness.
After all firing had ceased, about midnight, Brig .- Gen. Thomas G. Stevenson, commanding the front lines, ordered two companies of the Ninety-seventh Pennsylvania, under Lieutenant-Colonel Duer, to advance from the abatis as skirmishers toward Wagner, followed by four companies of the Ninety-seventh, without arms, under Captain Price, to rescue the wounded. General Stevenson saw to this service personally, and gave special instructions to rescue as many as possible of the Fifty-fourth, saying, "You know how much harder they will fare at the hands of the enemy than white men." The rescuing party, with great gallantry and enterprise, pushed the search clear up to the slopes of Wagner, crawling along the ground, and listen- ing for the moans that indicated the subjects of their mission. When found, the wounded were quietly dragged to points where they could be taken back on stretchers in safety. This work was continued until daylight, and many men gathered in by the Ninety-seventh; among them was Lieutenant Smith of the Fifty-fourth. It was a noble work fearlessly donc.
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Throughout the assault and succeeding night, Quarter- master Ritchie was active and efficient in rendering help to the wounded of the regiment and endeavoring to ascer- tain the fate of Colonel Shaw and other officers. Surgeon Stone skilfully aided all requiring his services, sending the severely wounded men and officers from temporary hospitals to the steamer "Alice Price."
CHAPTER VI.
SIEGE OF WAGNER.
E ARLY on the morning of July 19, the men of the Fifty-fourth were aroused, and the regiment marched down the beach, making camp near the southern front of the island at a point where the higher hills give way to a low stretch of sand bordering the inlet. On this spot the regiment remained during its first term of service, at Morris Island.
That day was the saddest in the history of the Fifty- fourth, for the depleted ranks bore silent witness to the severe losses of the previous day. Men who had wandered to other points during the night continued to join their comrades until some four hundred men were present. A number were without arms, which had either been de- stroyed or damaged in their hands by shot and shell, or were thrown away in the effort to save life. The officers present for duty were Captain Emilio, commanding, Sur- geon Stone, Quartermaster Ritchie, and Lieutenants T. W. Appleton, Grace, Dexter, Jewett, Emerson, Reid, Tucker, Johnston, Howard, and Higginson.
Some fifty men, slightly wounded, were being treated in camp. The severely wounded, including seven officers, were taken on the 19th to hospitals at Beaufort, where every care was given them by the medical men, General Saxton, his officers, civilians, and the colored people.
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By order of General Terry, commanding Morris Island, the regiment on the 19th was attached to the Third Bri- gade with the Tenth Connecticut, Twenty-fourth Massachu- setts, Seventh New Hampshire, One Hundredth New York, and Ninety-seventh Pennsylvania, under General Stevenson. Upon the 20th the labors of the siege work began, for in the morning the first detail was furnished. Late in the afternoon the commanding officer received orders to take the Fifty-fourth to the front for grand-guard duty. He re- ported with all the men in camp - some three hundred - and was placed at the Beacon house, supporting the Third New Hampshire and Ninety-seventh Pennsylvania. There was no firing of consequence that night. In the morning the Fifty-fourth was moved forward into the trenches.
Capt. D. A. Partridge, left sick in Massachusetts, joined July 21, and, as senior officer, assumed command.
Preparations were made for a bombardment of Sumter as well as for the siege of Wagner. Work began on the artillery line of July 18, that night, for the first parallel, 1,350 yards from Wagner. When completed, it mounted eight siege and field guns, ten mortars, and three Requa rifle batteries. July 23, the second parallel was established some four hundred yards in front of the first. Vincent's Creek on its left was obstructed with floating booms. On its right was the " Surf Battery," armed with field-pieces. This parallel was made strong for defence for the purpose of constructing in its rear the " Left Batteries " against Sumter. It mounted twenty-one light pieces for defence and three thirty-pounder Parrotts and one Wiard rifle. The two parallels were connected by zigzag approaches to protect passing troops. In the construction of these works and the transportation of siege material, ordnance, and
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quartermaster's stores, the Fifty-fourth was engaged, in common with all the troops on the island, furnishing large details. So many men were called for that but a small camp guard could be maintained, and at times non-commis- sioned officers volunteered to stand on post.
Col. M. S. Littlefield, Fourth South Carolina Colored, on July 24, was temporarily assigned to command the Fifty- fourth. The colonel's own regiment numbered but a few score of men, and this appointment seemed as if given to secure him command commensurate with the rank he held. It gave rise to much criticism in Massachusetts as well as in the regiment, for it was made contrary to custom and without the knowledge of Governor Andrew. Though silently dissatisfied, the officers rendered him cheerful service.
Anticipating a bombardment of Sumter, the enemy were busy strengthening the gorge or south wall with both cot- ton-bales and sand-bags. A partial disarmament of the fort was being effected. Wagner was kept in repair by constant labor at night. To strengthen their circle of batteries the enemy were busy upon new works on James Island. About 10 A. M., on the 24th, the Confederate steamer " Alice" ran down and was met by the " Cos- mopolitan," when thirty-eight Confederates were given up, and we received one hundred and five wounded, in- eluding three officers. There was complaint by our men that the Confederates had neglected their wounds, of the unskilful surgical treatment received, and that unneces- sary amputations were suffered. From Col. Edward C. Anderson it was ascertained that the Fifty-fourth's pris- oners would not be given up, and Colonel Shaw's death was confirmed.
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Battery Simkins on James Island opened against our trenches for the first time on the 25th. For the first time also sharpshooters of the enemy fired on our working par- ties with long-range rifles. Orders came on the 26th that, owing to the few officers and lack of arms, the Fifty-fourth should only furnish fatigue details.
Quartermaster Ritchie, who was sent to Hilton Head, re- turned on the 29th with the officers, men, and camp equi- page from St. Helena, and tents were put up the succeeding day. Some six hundred men were then present with the colors, including the sick. The number of sick in camp was very large, owing to the severe work and terrible heat. About nineteen hundred were reported on August 1 in the whole command. The sight of so many pale, en- feebled men about the hospitals and company streets was dispiriting. As an offset, some of those who had recovered from wounds returned, and Brig .- Gen. Edward A. Wild's brigade of the First North Carolina and Fifty-fifth Massa- chusetts, both colored, arrived and camped on Folly Island.
Mr. De Mortie, the regimental sutler, about this time brought a supply of goods. After August 2 the details were somewhat smaller, as the colored brigade on Folly Island began to send over working parties. But calls were filled from the regiment daily for work about the landing and the front. Two men from each company reported as sharpshooters in conjunction with those from other regiments.
The famous battery known as the " Swamp Angel " was begun August 4, and built under direction of Col. E. W. Serrell, First New York Engineers, and was situated in the marsh between Morris and James islands. It was constructed upon a foundation of timber, with sand-bags
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filled upon Morris Island and taken out in boats. A two- hundred-pounder Parrott gun was lightered out to the work at night with great difficulty. Its fire reached Charleston, a distance of 8,800 yards. This gun burst after the first few discharges. Later, two mortars were mounted in the work in place of the gun. Capt. Lewis S. Payne, One Hundredth New York, the most daring scout of our forces, at night, August 3, while at Payne's dock, was captured with a few men.
August 5 the men were informed that the Government was ready to pay them $10 per month, less $3 deducted for clothing. The offer was refused, although many had suf- fering families. About this time a number of men were detached, or detailed, as clerks, butchers, and as hands on the steamers "Escort " and " Planter." Work was begun on the third parallel within four hundred yards of Wagner on the night of the 9th. When completed, it was one hundred yards in length, as the island narrowed. Water was struck at a slight depth. The weather was excessively hot, and flies and sand-fleas tormenting. Only sea-bathing and cooler nights made living endurable. The Fifty-fourth was excused from turning out at reveille in consequence of excessive work, for we were daily fur- nishing parties reporting to Lieut. P. S. Michie, United States Engineers, at the Left Batteries, and to Colonel Serrell at the "Lookout."
Fancied security of the Fifty-fourth camp so far from the front was rudely dispelled at dark on August 13 by a shell from James Island bursting near Surgeon Stone's tent. These unpleasant visits were not frequent, seemingly being efforts of the enemy to try the extreme range of their guns. Reinforcements, consisting of Gen. George H. Gor-
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don's division from the Eleventh Corps, arrived on the 13th and landed on the 15th upon Folly Island. No rain fell from July 18 until August 13, which was favorable for the siege work, as the sand handled was dry and light. This dryness, however, rendered it easily displaced by the wind, requiring constant labor in re-covering magazines, bombproofs, and the slopes. The air too was full of the gritty particles, blinding the men and covering everything il camp. .
By this date twelve batteries were nearly ready for action, mounting in all twenty-eight heavy rifles, from thirty to three hundred pounders, besides twelve ten-inch mortars. Those for breaching Sumter were at an average distance of 3,900 yards. Detachments from the First United States Artillery, Third Rhode Island Artillery, One Hundredth New York, Seventh Connecticut, Eleventh Maine, and the ficet, served the guns. These works had been completed under fire from Sumter, Gregg, Wagner, and the James Island batteries, as well as the missiles of sharpshooters. Most of the work had been done at night. Day and night heavy guard details lay in the trenches to repel attack. The labor of transporting the heavy guns to the front was very great, as the sinking of the sling-carts deep into the sand made progress slow. Tons of powder, shot, and shell had been brought up, and stored in the service-magazines. It was hoped by General Gillmore that the demolition of Sumter would necessitate the abandonment of Morris Island, for that accomplished, the enemy could be prevented from further relief of the Morris Island garrison. Sumter was then commanded by Col. Alfred Rhett, First South Carolina Artillery ; and the garrison was of his regiment. In all this work preparatory to breaching Sumter the Fifty-
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