Description
In January 1863 the Union War Department authorized the creation of “a special corps” composed of “persons of African descent”—the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, commanded by Col. Robert Gould Shaw. Hundreds of free blacks enlisted. When the 54th Massachusetts spearheaded the suicidal charge against Fort Wagner on July 18, 1863, the regiment used to be showered with acclaim, but that defining event used to be not its only illustrious moment. After the devastating repulse at Fort Wagner left the entire unit’s ranking officers dead or wounded, Captain Luis F. Emilio (1844–1918) emerged as the 54th’s acting commander. A Brave Black Regiment offers an unparalleled, moving, inside view of all of the history of the 54th Massachusetts, from recruitment through disbandment. With a new introduction, rare, prior to now unpublished photos of Emilio and members of the 54th, the whole regimental roster, and his lengthy appendix concerning Confederate remedy of black prisoners-of-war, this Da Capo Press/Persues Books Group edition is certain to stay definitive for a very long time to come back.