This document, pulled from the National Archives, lists 116 men reported missing after the 54th Massachusetts’ assault on Fort Wagner in South Carolina in July 1863 during the American Civil War (272 of the 600 men who charged the fort were killed). The regiment and its leader, Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, are best known for their participation in this particular battle which has been immortalized in artwork, poetry, and film. Shaw himself was among the many valiant men who were killed during the fight. William Harvey Carney, a soldier in the 54th, received the Medal of Honor for his actions during the assault, making him one of the first African Americans to receive this distinction and the last to receive the Medal for service in the Civil War....

Fighting for the Union – Massachusetts’ 54 Regiment The 54th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry was among the first officially recognized African American units fighting on the side of the Union in the American Civil War. The unit’s soldiers, recruited by abolitionists and under the command of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, saw combat multiple times throughout the war; the outfit is best known for its participation in an attack on Fort Wagner in South Carolina in which Colonel Shaw and dozens of his men were killed. The 54th Regiment’s existence has been credited with energizing African Americans to enlist in the Union Army and helping to tip the scales against the Confederacy. The unit is perhaps the Civil War’s most well known regiment and has been immortalized not only by historians but also by Hollywood in the 1989 film Glory.  Sources Duren, C.M....