Letters from the Soldiers and Officers of the 54th Massachusetts

February 22, 1863

 

Emilio [BBR] quotes from a speech of Frederick Douglass which was published in Douglass’s monthly The North Star:

… We can get at the throat of treason and slavery through the State of Massachusetts. She was first in the War of Independence ; first to break the chains of her slaves ; first to make the black man equal before the law ; first to admit colored children to her common schools. She was first to answer with her blood the alarm-cry of the nation when its capital was menaced by thehe Rebels. You know her patriotic Governor, and you know Charles Sumner. I need add no more. Massachusetts now welcomes you as her soldiers. . . .

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February 21, 1863

 

A letter from Shaw to his friend Charles Fessenden Morse:

Boston [BCF]

February 21,1863

My dear Charley,

Your letter with enclosures reached me yesterday. I am much obliged to you for attending to those matters. Do I owe you anything? Please let me know as soon as possible. I think Johnson’s bill was a little more than I supposed. Perhaps you know by this time, that my engagement is out. I had a nice time for four days in New York as Miss H. was staying at my sister’s. Harry Russell looks more cheerful & happy than I ever saw him—and Miss Forbes likewise. They are about as devoted a couple as I ever saw. The darky concern is getting along very well. We are going into camp at Readeville. Sent 25 men out this morning & hope soon to have things entrain. The State House people give us every assistance in their power. The Somerset Club crowd are down on us, but nevertheless I had an invitation to go there whenever I wished. I hear there was a little row about it at first.

Please ask Coughlin, when he goes to Washington to get a package from Adams for me, and send it to 44 Beacon St., Boston. It is something which I should be very sorry to lose.

Henry Higginson has been here for a week. Give my love to Greely & if you see B. Adams tell him that I received his letter and that it gave me a great deal of pleasure. I suppose Brown & Fox are back by this time. Give my love to Tom Robeson & Grafton. Charley Horton & I dine with Bangs today en famille.

Good-bye my dear Charley. I hope you will enjoy your Provost Martial duties.

Affectionately Yours,

Robert G. Shaw

NYTimes archive links:
[1863-02-21]THE NEGRO TROOPS.

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February 20, 1863

 

Two letters from Shaw, to his mother and to a cousin:

Boston [BCF]
Feby 20 1863

Dear Mother,

You have probably been looking for a letter from me for some days, but I have had so much to do that I couldn’t write. My interviews with the Govr have been very satisfactory — and we are getting along better than I expected we should. Cousin John helps us along a great deal with his advice — he has thought of several men for officers who I think will be the best we shall get. After discussing their characters, he will say “now, does any one know whether he’s enough nigger to him?” or “are his heels long eno’ for this work?”‘ He is very funny.

Evening. Your letter enclosing Mrs. Schuyler’s & Mr. Ward’s notes came this afternoon. Please thank them both when you see them. There was a meeting of the committee for the Col’d regt today and money was appropriated to aid enlistments in various places. We have got the camp going and shall send some men out tomorrow. At the meeting Richard Hallowell said it would please the coloured population to have some influential darkey on the committee‚—and Cousin John told him he would like to take in a nigger and turn him (H.) out, which naturally caused some merriment. I didn’t see the Governor’s mouth twitch, and I like him more every day. He is not only a liberal minded philanthropist, but a man of real practical good-sense, I think — and as kind-hearted as he can be. Some of the influential coloured men I have met please me very much. They are really so gentlemanlike & dignified. Please tell Father that I have been requested by the committee to ask him to find some responsible & respectable coloured men, who can help enlistments in New York & Brooklyn. As soon as he will notify me of his having met some such person or persons I will send him some tickets for their transportation to Massachusetts. They should be ascertained to be physically sound before being sent — and there should be no noise made about it, as N.Y authorities might object to our taking them from there. No recruiting office should be opened.

I shall write to you as often as ever dearest Mother, as I don’t intend to abandon you entirely for Annie, as you seem to think. Just now while I am so much engaged, my letters may be a little less frequent.

Ever your loving son,
Robert G. Shaw

Said nothing to C.S. The passage of the conscription act makes the raising of coloured troops less important, I think. I have received many notes of congratulation both on my engagement & my having taken the Regt. I have just been reading all the letters rec’d by Jim Savage’s family concerning him, and my head is full of those Cedar Mt. & Rappahannock days. Sad ones they were.

I spent last evening with Aunt Susan and family. It was very sad; they talked of Theodore a great deal, and seemed to find great comfort in it. They all bear the loss like true Christians; and when I think what a terrible blow it is to them, I cannot admire them sufficiently. The girls seemed lovely in their gentleness, and sweet way of speaking of Theodore. Uncle John is cheerful too; probably from feeling how much Aunt Susan has need of all the consolation he can give her. It is an immense comfort to them to talk of and remember Theodore’s beautiful and pure character. I shall go there again soon. They thought I had done a great thing in taking the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts. About this, I have had only good words from friends and foes of the project. As you say, the result is sure to be good when a man takes a firm stand for what he thinks is the right. Annie Agassiz, the Professor, and all the family, as well as many others, made the most complimentary remarks. I have spoken so much of this, not from egotism, but because the kindness of every one I have met, has made a great impression upon me. Tell Father, Homans has a
Second Lieutenancy in my regiment.

Your loving son

Boston [BCF]
February 20,1863

Dear Mimi,

You will be astonished to hear, I suppose, (unless some one has mentioned it already) that I am engaged to Miss Annie Haggerty. Perhaps you remember that two years ago I told you she would be my “young woman” some time. Harry and I keep along pretty well together, don’t we? And we are both so unfortunate, as to have the prospect of being dragged off again to the tented field, when we want most horribly to stay at home. We are at home now together, he as Lieut. Col. of the 2d Mass. Cavalry, and I as a Nigger Col., for Gov. Andrew has given me the command of his black regiment. The conscription bill has passed so I advise Theodore not to come home, lest he be drafted. Tell him I will give him a position as chaplain if he would like to go into a good nigger concern.

I hope, dear Mimi, you and he and the baby are well, and are having a pleasant time. It seems as if we were to have continual war in this country. I pray God it may not be so, for there has been enough blood shed to atone for a great many sins.

Since I have been at home the misery and unhappiness caused by this war have struck me more forcibly than ever — for in active service one gets accustomed to think very lightly of such things. Last evening I went to see the Parkmans, and the way in which they bear Theodore’s loss is beautiful. You know how devoted they all were to him, and what a terrible blow his death must have been‚ — îand there are thousands of such cases on both sides.

Give my love to Theodore. I hope we shall see you safe at home before long‚ — before Harry and I go off again. All are well here.

Always your affectionate Cousin,
Robert G. Shaw

NYTimes archive links:
[1863-02-20] LOCAL INTELLIGENCE.; The National Freedman’s Relief Association. Addresses by Rev. Dr. Tyng, Mr. Newman, and Rev. Henry Ward Beecher.

[1863-02-20] THE EXPENSES OF THE BLACKS

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February 19, 1863

 

An entry from Emilio [BBR] describing the early recruiting efforts:

Much the larger number of recruits were obtained through the organization and by the means which will now be described. About February 15, Governor Andrew appointed a committee to superintend the raising of recruits for the colored regiment, consisting of George L. Stearns, Amos A. Lawrence, John M. Forbes, William I. Bowditch, Le Baron Russell, and Richard P. Hallowell, of Boston; Mayor Howland and James B. Congdon, of New Bedford; Willard P. Phillips, of Salem; and Francis G. Shaw, of New York. Subsequently the membership was increased to one hundred, and it became known as the “Black Committee.” It was mainly instrumental in procuring the men of the Fifty-fourth and Fifty-fifth Massachusetts Infantry, the Fifth Massachusetts Cavalry, besides 3,967 other colored men credited to the State. All the gentlemen named were persons of prominence. Most of them had been for years in the van of those advanced thinkers and workers who had striven to help and free the slave wherever found. The first work of this committee was to collect money; and in a very short time five thousand dollars was received, Gerrit Smith, of New York, sending his check for five hundred dollars. Altogether nearly one hundred thousand dollars was collected, which passed through the hands of Richard P. Hallowell, the treasurer, who was a brother of the Hallowells commissioned in the Fifty-fourth. A call for recruits was published in a hundred journals from east to west. Friends whose views were known were communicated with, and their aid solicited; but the response was not for a time encouraging

With the need came the man. Excepting Governor Andrew, the highest praise for recruiting the Fifty-fourth belongs to George L. Stearns, who had been closely identified with the struggle in Kansas and John Brown’s projects. He was appointed agent for the committee, and about February 23 went west on his mission. Mr. Stearns stopped at Rochester, N. Y., to ask the aid of Fred Douglass, receiving hearty co-operation, and enrolling a son of Douglass as his first recruit. His headquarters were made at Buffalo, and a line of recruiting posts from Boston to St. Louis established.

Soon such success was met with in the work that after filling the Fifty-fourth the number of recruits was sufficient to warrant forming a sister regiment.

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February 18, 1863

 

Letters from Shaw to his father and to his fiance:

Boston [BCF]
Feb. 18,1863

Dear Father,

Will you please inquire of Judge Emerson where his son Charles is to be found, and whether he would take a First Lieutenancy in the coloured regiment. I liked what I saw of him at college very much, and am very anxious to get hold of him. I am occupied all the time. Things look very encouraging.
Love to Mother.

Affectionately, your son,
Robert G. Shaw

February 18,1863 [BCF]

My Dear Annie,

Yours of Monday I received this morning. . ..

Last night I was at Milton Hill.Miss Sedgwick (Aunt Kitty) came over. She talked about you, and told me how much she loved your mother, and you and Clem. I thought him a very charming person. Cousin Sarah was very kind and sympathizing; she wants to see you very much, and you will have to come here some time. I have not seen Aunt Cora, as she was ill when I went there.

Do write to me often, Annie dear, for I need a word occasionally from those whom I love, to keep up my courage. Whatever you write about, your letters always make me feel well; and I have enough discouraging work before me to make me feel gloomy.

Always, with great love,
Yours,
Rob

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February 17, 1863

 

Picture of William H. Carney

Notably, on this day William H. Carney joined the regiment.  He would become the first African-American to receive the country’s Medal of Honor, in recognition of his valor during the assault on Fort Wagner.

Emilio observed that there were strong disincentives directed against both the soldiers and officers of the regiment [BBR,6-7]:

At the time a strong prejudice existed against arming the blacks and those who dared to command them. The sentiment of the country and of the army was opposed to the measure. It was asserted that they would not fight, that their employment would prolong the war, and that white troops would refuse to serve with them. Besides the moral courage required to accept commissions in the Fifty-fourth at the time it was organizing, physical courage was also necessary, for the Confederate Congress, on May 1, 1863, passed an act, a portion of which read as follows: —

” SECTION IV. That every white person being a commissioned officer, or acting as such, who, during the present war, shall command negroes or mulattoes in arms against the Confederate States, or who shall arm, train, organize, or prepare negroes or mulattoes for military service against the Confederate States, or who shall voluntarily aid negroes or mulattoes in any military enterprise, attack, or conflict in such service, shall be deemed as inciting servile insurrection, and shall, if captured, be put to death or be otherwise punished at the discretion of the Court.”

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February 16, 1863

 

Two letters from Shaw, to his fiance Annie and to his Father; description of initial recruiting from Emilio [BBR 9,10]; one of the recruiting ads.

Boston [BCF]

Feb. 16,1863, Monday

Dearest Annie,

I arrived here yesterday morning, after a very uncomfortable night in the sleeping-car. I have been at work all day, looking over papers with Hallowell, and talking with Governor Andrew. We have decided to go into camp at Readville, and not at Worcester. It is near enough to Boston to make the transportation of supplies an easy matter, and we see no reason to apprehend any trouble from the white soldiers stationed there. Now that it is decided that coloured troops shall be raised, people seem to look upon it as a matter of course, and I have seen no one who has not expressed the kindest wishes for the success of the project. Governor Andrew’s ideas please me extremely, for he takes the most common-sense view of the thing. He seems inclined to have me do just what I please.

With much affection, your

Rob

Boston [BCF]
Feb. 16,1863

Dear Father,

I arrived here yesterday morning. Things arc going along very well, and I think there is no doubt of our ultimate success. I took a long drive with the Governor, and liked him very much. His views about the regiment are just what I should wish. We have decided to go into camp at Readville; as we think it best to plunge in without regard to outsiders. We shall have to do it some time, and it is best to begin immediately; I do not apprehend any trouble out there. We have a great deal of work before us, but every one seems anxious to give us a helping hand, and applications for commissions come in, in shoals. The more money we can get, the better; the transportation of men from other States will cost a great deal.
I will write to Mother soon.

In haste,
Your affectionate Son

Emilio [BBR 9,10]:

In five days [after the Boston Journal ad] twenty-five men were secured; and Lieutenant Appleton’s work was vigorously prosecuted, with measurable success. It was not always an agreeable task, for the rougher element was troublesome and insulting. About fifty or sixty men were recruited at this office, which was closed about the last of March. Lieutenant Appleton then reported to the camp established and took command of Company A, made up of his recruits and others afterward obtained.

Early in February quite a number of colored men were recruited in Philadelphia, by Lieut. E. N. Hallowell, James M. Walton, who was subsequently commissioned in the Fifty-fourth, and Robert R. Corson, the Massachusetts State Agent. Recruiting there was attended with much annoyance. The gathering-place had to be kept secret, and the men sent to Massachusetts in small parties to avoid molestation or excitement. Mr. Corson was obliged to purchase railroad tickets himself, and get the recruits one at a time on the cars or under cover of darkness. The men sent and brought from Philadelphia went to form the major part of Company B.

New Bedford was also chosen as a fertile field. James W. Grace, a young business man of that place, was selected as recruiting officer, and commissioned February 10. He opened headquarters on Williams Street, near the post-office, and put out the United States flag across the street.Colored ministers of the city were informed of his plans; and Lieutenant Grace visited their churches to interest the people in his work. He arranged for William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips, Frederick Douglass, and other noted men to address meetings. Cornelius Rowland, C. B. H. Fessenden, and James B. Congdon materially assisted and were good friends of the movement. While recruiting, Lieutenant Grace was often insulted by such remarks as, “There goes the captain of the Negro Company! He thinks the negroes will fight! They will turn and run at the first sight of the enemy! ” His little son was scoffed at in school because his father was raising a negro company to fight the white men.
…
At camp the New Bedford men, — some seventy-five in number,—with others from that place and elsewhere, became Company C, the representative Massachusetts company.
…
Watson W. Bridgee …[his] headquarters were at Springfield, and he worked in Western Massachusettts and Connecticut. When ordered to camp, about April 1, he had recruited some seventy men.

NYTimes archive links:


[1863-01-25] DELAWARE.; Gov. Cannon on the Slavery Question.


[1863-01-25]


[1863-02-16] Great Emancipation Demonstration at Exeter Hall.


[1863-02-16] Use of Negroes as Soldiers.


[1863-02-16] FROM FORTRESS MONROE.; The Contrabands at Craney Island–Their Labors, Their Hopes and Prospects–Deaths, &c.

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February 15, 1863

 

Emilio wrote [BBR,6]:

Captain Shaw arrived in Boston on February 15, and at once assumed the duties of his position. Captain Hallowell was already there, daily engaged in the executive business of the new organization; and about the middle of February, his brother, Edward N. Hallowell, who had served as a lieutenant in the Twentieth Massachusetts Infantry, also reported for duty, and was made major of the Fifty-fourth before its departure for the field.

Line-officers were commissioned from persons nominated by commanders of regiments in the field, by tried friends of the movement, the field officers, and those Governor Andrew personally desired to appoint. This freedom of selection, — unhampered by claims arising from recruits furnished or preferences of the enlisted men, so powerful in officering white regiments, — secured for this organization a corps of officers who brought exceptional character, experience, and ardor to their allotted work. Of the twenty-nine who took the field, fourteen were veteran soldiers from three-years regiments, nine from nine-months regiments, and one from the militia; six had previously been commissioned. They included representatives of well-known families; several were Harvard men; and some, descendants of officers of the Revolution and the War of 1812. Their average age was about twenty-three years.

NYTimes archive links:


[1863-02-15] Breaking Down of Slavery.


[1863-02-15] AFFAIRS IN THE SOUTHWEST.; IMPORTANT ORDER. NEGRO LABOR IN THE ARMY

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February 9-14, 1863

 

James Henry Gooding enrolled in the regiment on 14 February in New Bedford. His war correspondence to the New Bedford Mercury begins on March 3, 1863. A total of 24 men enrolled in the regiment from the 9th to the 14th.
NYTimes archive links:


[1863-02-09] Border State Loyalty.


[1863-02-10] THE WAR IN FLORIDA.; Negro Troops Against the Rebels.


[1863-02-10] THE BLACKS IN BATTLE.


[1863-02-10] Our Work at Charleston.


[1863-02-11] FROM KEY WEST.; Removal of a Naval Depot A Negro Jubilee


[1863-02-14] Negro Freedom and Vagrancy.

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February 8, 1863

 

Two letters from Shaw, to his fiance Annie and to his Father.  By now he has decided to accept Governor Andrew’s offer of command of the regiment.

Stafford C.H.,Va. [BCF]
Feb. 8,1863

Dear Annie,

You know by this time, perhaps, that I have changed my mind about the black regiment. After Father left, I began to think I had made a mistake in refusing Governor Andrew’s offer. Mother has telegraphed to me that you would not disapprove of it, and that makes me feel much more easy about having taken it. Going for another three years is not nearly so bad a thing for a colonel as a captain; as the former can much more easily get a furlough. Then, after I have undertaken this work, I shall feel that what I have to do is to prove that a negro can be made a good soldier, and, that being established, it will not be a point of honour with me to see the war through, unless I really occupied a position of importance in the army. Hundreds of men might leave the army, you know, without injuring the service in the slightest degree.

Last night I received your letter of last Sunday, February i st. You must be at Susie’s house now,—at least I judge so from Mother’s telegram. As I may not receive my order to leave here for some days, do promise to stay there until I get to New York. You do not know how I shall feel if I find you are gone. It is needless for me to overwhelm you with a quantity of arguments in favour of the negro troops; because you arc with Mother, the warmest advocate the cause can have. I am inclined to think that the undertaking will not meet with so much opposition as was at first supposed. All sensible men in the army, of all parties, after a little thought, say that it is the best thing that can be done; and surely those at home, who are not brave or patriotic enough to enlist, should not ridicule, or throw obstacles in the way of men who are going to fight for them. There is a great prejudice against it; but now that it has become a government matter, that will probably wear away. At any rate, I shan’t be frightened out of it by its unpopularity; and I hope you won’t care if it is made fun of.

Dear Annie, the first thing I thought of, in connection with it, was how you would feel, and I trust, now I have taken hold of it, I shall find you agree with me and all of our family, in thinking I was right. You know how many eminent men consider a negro army of the greatest importance to our country at this time. If it turns out to be so, how fully repaid the pioneers in the movement will be, for what they may have to go through! And at any rate I feel convinced I shall never regret having taken this step, as far as I myself am concerned; for while I was undecided I felt ashamed of myself, as if I were cowardly.

Good bye, dear Annie. I hope that when I arrive at Sue’s door you will not be very far off.

With a great deal of love, (more every day) your
Rob

Stafford Court-House, Va. [BCF]

Feb. 8,1863

Dear Father,

Yours from Willard’s, enclosing Mother’s and Effie’s, was received to-day.Please tell Nellie I received hers of 17th January last night. I telegraphed you yesterday that I couldn’t get away from here without an order or furlough. It will have to come from Hooker or the War Department, and the Governor will have to get it for me. He knows what is needful, though, for he procured the necessary papers when Harry and I went home. If I have to wait some time, don’t let Annie go away until I get to New York, will you?

Tell Mother I have not wavered at all, since my final decision. I feel that if we can get the men, all will go right.

With love to all,

Your affectionate son,

Robert G. Shaw

NYTimes archive links:

[1863-02-08] RUNNING THE BLOCKADE.

[1863-02-08] Slavery in Missouri.


[1863-02-08] NEWS FROM WASHINGTON.; Debate on the Missouri Emancipation Scheme in the Senate

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