Table Of Content

V M/b> £/U B^b - UMASS/AMHERST BlEObbDlbEbfifilS EUTS 60fcl£CTfOM The Black Regiments Camp Meigs of Camp Meigs Readville, Hyde Park Sergeant-Major Lewis Douglass 54th Massachusetts Infantry , States Rights and Human Rights As the Civil War progressed, the death struggle between a North fightingtopreservethenationalUnionandaSouthfightingtoprotect itsstatesrightswasslowlyaugmentedbyissuesofhumanrightsand the abolition ofslavery. By announcing thata highly controversial EmancipationProclamationwasplannedtotakeeffectonJanuary 1 1863, PresidentLincolnraised thewartoahighermoral tone, while at the same time forestalling possible European intervention on the Confederacy's behalf. Having finally reaffirmed an African-American's human right to freedom,Lincolnnextendorsedhisrighttofightinthearmiesofthe United States. UNITED *TAT£». The Black Regiments ofMassachusetts Early in the war, the Commonwealth's GovernorJohn Andrew had lobbied the War Department in vain to authorize Massachusetts' sponsorshipofseveral blackregiments. Givenemancipation, anda shrinking pool of white volunteers, the Union War Department finally empowered Andrew to raise a single regiment of black infantry in early January 1863. Designated the 54th Infantry (Col- ored), Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, the unit was entrusted to a youngabolitionistarmycaptain,RobertGouldShaw,andorderedto assemble at the Camp Meigs training rendezvous in the Readville section ofDedham, Massachusetts. Andrew Shaw ! ! MVM The versus the USCT While the federal army had enrolled several black combat units by MVM mid-1862*, Readville's 54th Infantry was the first black regiment recruited in the North. The pressures to succeed were substantial. Unlike most other states, the Commonwealth retained the state's Massachusetts Volunteer Militia (MVM) designation for theblacktroopscreditedtoitspersonnelquota. Othernorthernstates usually consigned their white-officered black units into the United StatesColoredTroops(USCT). By fieldingandacknowledging the MVM Readville-trained54thand55th Infantry(Colored)andthe5th MVM Cavalry(Colored),theCommonwealthmadebothapolitical, andamoral, stand. GovernorAndrew had strongly argued staffing his regiments with black officers, but with no effect. WOW IN CAMP AT READVILLE ULS& TOLDNTCIRS.oompo**)ofMaof AFRICAN DESCENT OoL ROIUBRT O. IBAW. ^ r BOfalUorcfi NHen.RTallyYfeflpaJtheHagnffrccflom! SIOO! *TTMKXMBATIOHOrTBKTEH*rUTtCK. Pay, $13 a Month Good Food & Clothing! State Aid to Families! IIHXJFITJTXTNC3- OPTIOE. COR CAMBRBIDGOES8 NTOROTHNR.USSELL STS. »i"i""eJn-t*«J".»W—.—mM!.•*rAwuPu^P,Ln.Mx,it:Jtccrnltiag Officer. Recruiting Due to Massachusetts' relatively small black population, it proved necessary to supplement the local volunteer freemen from Boston, NewBedfordandGloucesterbyrecruitingforthe54thinNewYork, Philadelphia, Baltimore and elsewhere throughout the Union and Canada. Many prominent African-Americans rallied to the 54th's recruitment effort, including two sons of the black abolitionist Frederick Douglass. Primarily filled by freedmen from a broad spectrumofoccupationsandtrades,theresponsetomanthe54thwas so successful that it raised enough men to organize a second black infantry regiment, the 55th Infantry MVM. * Theearliestblackfederalcombatunits includedthe 1st KansasColored, 1st South Carolina Volunteers and lst-3rd Louisiana Native Guards-all of whom wereconverted to USCT. Camp Meigs at Readville The recruits arrived by train at Readvilleand were assigned totheir respective companies. Quartered in wooden barracks and issued blue federal uniforms, the men were drilled in the "School of the Soldier." Thistrainingin marchingand musketryon thedrill fields of Camp Meigs helped prepare and temper the troops for the skirmishes and battles tocome. By late May 1863, the 54th was considered ready forthe front. On May28,theregimentmarchedamidmuchfanfarethroughthestreets ofBoston prior to embarking by steamerforthe Carolinas. Pvt. Abraham Brown Company E MVM 54th Infantry 54th Infantry at the Front Landing in theCarolinas, the 54th was firstemployed, much to the men's disgust, on minor raiding forays into South Carolina and Georgia. Finally, the54th was transferred to the coastal siege lines southofCharleston. There,ontheeveningofJuly 18, 1863,the54th performed with glory. Spearheading the federal assault on the Confederate's Fort Wagner, the regiment proved itself in the long charge up thebeachandin the vicious hand-to-hand fightingon the fort'sramparts. The men fought, and many died, with valor. Ofthe 600 men ofthe 54th whocharged the fort, the regiment'scasualties totaled 272 killed, wounded and captured. Shaw and his dead comrades were buried in the fort's ditch. Although the regimental state colors were lost in the battle, the National Colors and the regiment's pride were retained in an honorable retreat. . bloodied by July's unsuccessful surprise attack, federal troops re- ;umed trenchingtheirsiegeworksslowly towardsFortWagnerina aborious operation to which the 54th strongly contributed. On September6, 1863,thenightpriortoanothergrandassault,Wagner's Confederate garrison quietly abandoned the fort. On the next norning withoutfiring ashot, the 54th Mass occupied the grounds hatthey had socostly contested. Vincents Creek l^M^M^f^^ff^f^^ '"''^i&ifaw.,,»ifi*u*^«^^ ****"" When added to the earlier successes accomplished by federalized )lacktroopsduringattacksalongtheMississippiatPortHudsonand vlillikensBend, the54thMassachusetts'gallantJuly assaultatFort Wagner conclusively justified the Union's then socially radical employment of black combat troops, marking a major milestone owards racial equality. During the remainder of the war, the 54th rendered exemplary lervicealongthesouthernseaboard. Theregimentsavedthedayin February 1864duringthebattleofOlustee,Floridaandnextreturned o the Charleston siege that April. Shifted to Hilton Head in November, theregimenttookpartin the Battle ofHoney Hill along vith its sister regiment, the 55th Massachusetts. Finally entering CharlestoninFebruary 1865,the54thendeditsservicebycampaign- ng in and occupying parts ofSouth Carolina until late August MVM 55th (Colored) Infantry, Aftercompleting its trainingatCamp Meigs in July 1863, the 55th Infantrywasalsoassignedtothesouthernseaboard. Initiallybilleted totheCharlestontheater,the55thwasthentransferredtothefortsof northern Florida, returning to Charleston in April 1864. The regiment was next sent to Hilton Head, performing creditably at the Battle of Honey Hill in November. A briefsojourn in Georgia in early 1865 was followed by more service in the Carolinas and included being among the first federal troops to enter Charleston following the Confederate forces' retreat from the city. The unit stayedin theCarolinas through August 1865. MVM 5th (Colored) Cavalry, Theblack5thCavalrywasorganizedatCampMeigsfromlate 1863 throughearly 1864andembarkedforWashingtoninMay 1864. First posted toCity Point, Virginiatheunitserved in thePetersburg area until subsequently assigned to guard Confederate prisoners at the federal hospital andprison compound atPointLookout, Maryland. Remounted as cavalry in early 1865 by Colonel Charles Francis Adams (future founding chairman of the Metropolitan Park Commission), the regiment was among the first federal troops to occupytheConfederatecapitalatRichmondinApril 1865. The5th wastransferredtoTexasinJune1865,remainingthereonoccupation ^JL^ duty until November. i Discharged Although all three black regiments were mustered out of federal serviceintheirrespectivetheatersofoperations,theunitsreturnedto Gallops Island in Boston Harbor for discharge from state service. Boththe54thand55thdisbandedinceremoniesonBostonCommon, re-entering as civilians a society made better for theirservice. THE CIVIL WAR AT READVILLE CampBrigham 1861 Camp Massasoit 1861 CAMP MEIGS 1862-1865 Readville General Hospital 1864-1865 During the Civil War, Readville supported three Massachusetts trainingcampsandalargeU.S. ArmyGeneralHospital. Bestknown asCAMP MEIGS, nearly 30,000men in 55 military units prepared here for battle, including three of the Union's earliest black regiments. InJuly1861 twotemporaryregimentalencampments,CampsBrigham and Massasoit, raised their tents on Dedham's Sprague Plain to preparerecruitsforcivil war. Previouslyanaboriginal campground andlocalmilitiadrillfield,theReadvillesitewasperfectformilitary training: its flat river terrace suited infantry, cavalry or artillery maneuvers; its location astride two railroad lines insured transport; anditsproximity toSpraguePondandtheNeponsetRiverprovided waterfordrinkingandbathing. By September 1862, theCommon- wealtherectedapermanentcantonmentrepletewithbarracks,kitch- ens,officersquarters,paradegrounds,stables,storehouses,laundry, chapel, and hospitals. Named for federal Quartermaster General Montgomery Meigs, Camp Meigs proved the largest and longest livedofMassachusetts'39camps.* BisectedbySpragueStreet, the camp finally encompassed 139 acres, stretching west from the Neponset to the New York & New England Railroad tracks, and south from Milton Street (now Neponset Valley Parkway) to the Norfolk County FairGround (now Stop & Shop). In 1864 the military converted the easterly section ofCamp Meigs intoaGeneralHospital. Thewesterlysectorremainedinusetotrain troops for active service and for mustering out those men whose enlistmentshadexpired. By 1866militaryoperationshadceasedand the site was subsequently developed forresidences and lightindus- try. The current playground, situated on part ofthe camp's former paradeground, wasdedicatedasaparkby thetownofHydeParkin 1903. The Metropolitan District Commission assumed responsibility for theplaygroundin 1958, installingamonumentcommemoratingthe black regiments in 1990. TheMDC presently ownsat least 8 properties related to thesecamps. MDC Commonwealth of Massachusetts Metropolitan District Commission William F. Weld, Governor A. Paul Cellucci, Lt. Governor EOEA Trudy Coxe, Secretary, MDC David B. Balfour, Jr., Commissioner, Associated with the Civil War Camps at Readville, both the Camp Meigs Playground and the Fowl Meadow Reservation exemplify the Metropolitan Park System's multifold mission topreserve natural, recreational and historical resources. For more information about Camp Meigs please call the Blue Hills Reservation at (617)698-1802.