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Famous African American Soldiers

54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment Colored Troops

54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment

"The Fifty-fourth did well and nobly. . . . They moved up as gallantly as any troops could, and with their enthusiasm they deserved a better fate." --Edward L. Pierce, correspondent for the New York Tribune, to Governor John A. Andrew, July 22, 1863 In the Emancipation Proclamation, issued on January 1, 1863, President Lincoln announced that black men would be accepted into the U.S. Army and Navy. Of the estimated 2 million people who fought on the Union side, some 180,000 black soldiers and sailors fought for the Union and for freedom during the Civil War.

The 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment was one of the most celebrated regiments of black soldiers that fought in the Civil War. Known simply as "the 54th," this regiment became famous after the heroic, but ill-fated, assault on Fort Wagner, South Carolina. Leading the direct assault under heavy fire, the 54th suffered enormous casualties before being forced to withdraw. The courage and sacrifice of the 54th helped to dispel doubt within the Union Army about the fighting ability of black soldiers and earned this regiment undying battlefield glory. The 1989 film Glory tells the story of the 54th.

The memorial is located on the Boston Common. Col. Robert Gould Shaw, son of a white abolitionist, led the 54th and died during the assault on Fort Wagner. He was buried unceremoniously by Confederate troops in a common grave with the men he commanded.

Records of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment are among the military records held by the National Archives.


Cathay Williams, Female Buffalo Soldier

HISTORICAL VIEW: A STORY OF CATHAY WILLIAMS:

Cathay Williams was born in 1842 outside Independence, Missouri. Born into slavery she served as a house girl for a wealthy farmer. Things changed however when the Civil War started. Union soldiers would later take the plantation on which Cathay served. Several female servants, including Cathay, were taken to Little Rock, Arkansas to cook for the troops. Cathay dutifully served in this capacity, traveled with the army all around the South participating in all aspect of military life to the extent that a woman could.

She was eventually sent to Washington to serve as cook and laundress for a general and his staff. While with this general she was on the front lines with the troops as they raided the Shenandoah Valley and finally on to St. Louis for an extended stay. During this time, congress passed an act authorizing the establishment of the first all Black units of the military (two Calvary and two Infantry), later to become known as "Buffalo Soldiers" . In order to provide a living for herself and not be dependent on others, two very important principals to Cathay, she decided it was time to join the army. In November of 1866 she enlisted in the 38th US Infantry as William Cathay". Since there were little or no medical exams required, Cathay was able to successfully (at least initially), pull off this disguise. It is said that two others knew of her true identity, a cousin and a friend, but both loyally kept her secret. During Cathay's tour of duty, she performed assignments required of her fellow troops, such as learning to use a musket and guard duty. These skills were essential as her unit was soon deployed to Fort Curnmings in 1867. The 38 was sent to protect immigrants traveling one of the most dangerous routes to California at the time, Cooke's Canyon. However, while at Fort Cummings, there was a mutiny among the troops.

Several where brought up on charges or jailed. Cathay is not known to be among them. It did however take its toll on her spirit to serve and she decided it was time to get out. She did so by reporting she was ill prompting an exam by the post surgeon. It was then her secret was discovered. Cathay Williams was honorably discharged on October 14, 1868 having made her place in history as the first female Buffalo Soldier to serve. (Excerpts taken from the West Texan Historian Society as presented by C. Savage, 4/11/97)


Colonel Charles Young

Colonel Charles Young is remembered and honored as a man of unique courage and inspiration. This was especially true for those of "goodwill", who knew him, and for those who followed him into battle. He stands honored both as an African American and in the history of African Americans in the U.S. military. Young was born March 12, 1864 to ex-slaves in the little hamlet of MaysLick, Kentucky. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1889. This gave him the honor of being the third African American to do so, in spite of the hatred, bigotry and discrimination he encountered as an undergraduate. His first assignment after graduation was with the Buffalo Soldiers in the 10th Cavalry in Nebraska, and then in the 9th and 10th Cavalries in Utah. With the outbreak of the Spanish American War, he was reassigned as Second Lieutenant to training duty at Camp Algers, Virginia.

Young was then awarded a commission as a Major in the Ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Later, during the Spanish American War, he was in command of a squadron of the 10th Cavalry Buffalo Soldiers in Cuba. After the war with Spain, Young was reassigned to Fort Duchesne in Utah where he successfully arbitrated a dispute between Native Americans and sheep herders. He also met one of the many soldiers who would eventually benefit from his encouragement, Sergeant Major Benjamin O. Davis. Later, Davis would became General Benjamin O. Davis, the first African American to reach the rank of General in the U.S. army. Charles Young distinguished himself throughout his military career with the Buffalo Soldiers of the 9th and 10th Cavalries, and the 25th Infantry. He also served as Professor of Military Science at Wilberforce University, Ohio.

With the creation of the army's Military Information Division (MID), came his assignment as one of the army's first military attachs, in Port Au Prince, Haiti. His job was to observe the training and exercises of foreign armies and make reports on their relative strengths and weaknesses. United States intelligence was desperate for new maps and information about groups struggling for political power in Haiti. Young risked his life to fulfill his assignments, only to have his maps and reports stolen and sold to the Haitian government.

In 1903 Captain Young was in command of the 10th Cavalry, who were segregated at the Presidio of San Francisco. He was assigned "Acting Superintendent" of Sequoia National Parks in California for the summer. The management of the park was the responsibility of the army, which had very little Congressional funding. This problem and the fact that no "Acting Superintendent" of Sequoia National Parks ever stayed at this assignment for more than two consecutive summers resulted in the construction of less than five miles of roads within the park. The lack of a wagon road severely limited the number for people who visited the Giant Forest of Redwoods, which are the largest trees in the world.

On a day in June, 1918 retired Lt. Colonel Charles Young, made his way on horseback, 500 miles from Wilberforce, Ohio to this nation's capital, to show he was as always, fit for duty. There, he petitioned the Secretary of War (now called Secretary of Defense) for immediate reinstatement and command of a combat unit in Europe. The ride from Ohio to Washington D.C. brought bittersweet results. Young was reinstated and promoted to full Colonel, but he was assigned to duty at Camp Grant, Illinois. By the time his reinstatement and promotion were in effect the war was near its end. Too weak to command in France they said, but not too weak to traverse and suffer the swamps of West Africa, Colonel Charles Young, was once again, assigned to Liberia as Military Attach. He died at that post on January 8, 1922, while on a research expedition in Lagos, Nigeria.

Colonel Charles Young's funeral service was one of the few ever held at the Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery. He is buried in Section 3 of the cemetery. Today, Colonel Charles Young's home is scheduled to become the future site of the National Museum of African American Military History. Its unique history relives the days when it was a way station for the Underground Railroad .