Editing 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment (section)

==Organization and early service==
[[File:JohnAAndrew byJWBlack.jpg|thumb|right|Massachusetts Gov. [[John A. Andrew]] ordered the formation of the 54th Massachusetts after receiving authorization from Secretary of War [[Edwin Stanton|Stanton]]]]
General recruitment of African Americans for service in the Union Army was authorized by the Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Lincoln on January 1, 1863. [[United States Secretary of War|Secretary of War]] [[Edwin M. Stanton]] accordingly instructed the [[Governor of Massachusetts]], [[John A. Andrew]], to begin raising regiments including "persons of African descent" on January 26, 1863.{{sfnp|Emilio|1891|p=2}} Andrew selected [[Robert Gould Shaw]] to be the regiment's colonel and [[Norwood Penrose Hallowell|Norwood Penrose "Pen" Hallowell]] to be its lieutenant colonel.{{sfnp|Emilio|1891|pp=1–5}} Like many officers of regiments of African-American troops, both Robert Gould Shaw and Hallowell, captains at the time, were promoted several grades.{{sfnp|Emilio|1891|pp=1–5}} The rest of the officers were evaluated by Shaw and Hallowell:  these officers included Luis Emilio,{{sfnp|Cox| 1991| p=90}} and Garth Wilkinson "[[Gordon, Florida|Wilkie]]" James, brother of [[Henry James]] and [[William James]]. Many of these officers were of [[Abolitionism in the United States|abolitionist]] families, and Governor Andrew himself chose several. Lt. Col. Norwood Hallowell was joined by his younger brother [[Edward Needles Hallowell]], who commanded the 54th as a full colonel for the rest of the war after Shaw's death. Twenty-four of the 29 officers were veterans, but only six had been previously commissioned.{{sfnp|Emilio|1891| p=6}}

The soldiers were recruited by black abolitionists like [[Frederick Douglass]] and [[Martin Delany|Major Martin Robison Delany, M.D.]], and white abolitionists, including Shaw's parents. Lieutenant J. Appleton,{{sfnp|Burchard|1965|pp=77–78}} the first white man commissioned in the regiment, posted a notice in the ''Boston Journal''.{{sfnp|Massachusetts Historical Society, ''To Colored Men. 54th Regiment!'' (16 February 1863)}} [[Wendell Phillips]] and [[Edward L. Pierce]] spoke at a [[African Meeting House|Joy Street Church]] recruiting rally, encouraging free blacks to enlist.{{sfnp|Berenson|2014|p=202}} About 100 people were actively involved in recruitment, including those from Joy Street Church and a group of individuals appointed by Governor Andrew to enlist black men for the 54th.{{sfnp|Emilio|1891| p=11}} Among those appointed was [[George E. Stephens]], African-American military correspondent to the ''Weekly Anglo-African'' who recruited over 200 men in Philadelphia and would go on to serve as a First Sergeant in the 54th.{{sfnp|Shepard|2017|pp=37–39}}

The 54th trained at [[Camp Meigs]] in [[Readville, Massachusetts|Readville]] near [[Boston]]. While there, they received considerable moral support from abolitionists in Massachusetts, including [[Ralph Waldo Emerson]].{{sfnp|Emilio|1891|pp=15–16}} Material support included warm clothing items, battle flags, and $500 contributed for the equipping and training of a regimental band. As it became evident that many more recruits were coming forward than were needed, the medical exam for the 54th was described as "rigid and thorough" by the Massachusetts Surgeon-General. This resulted in what he described as "a more robust, strong and healthy set of men were never mustered into the service of the United States."{{sfnp|Emilio|1891|pp=19–20}} Despite this, as was common in the Civil War, a few men died of disease before the 54th departed from Camp Meigs.{{sfnp|Emilio|1891|pp=339–388}}

By most accounts, the 54th left Boston with very high morale.{{sfnp|Schouler|1868|pp=409–410}} This was despite the fact that [[Jefferson Davis]]'s proclamation of December 23, 1862, effectively put both African-American enlisted men and white officers under a death sentence if captured on the grounds that they were inciting servile insurrection.{{sfnp|Davis|1862|p=1}}

After muster into federal service on May 13, 1863,{{sfnp|NPS 54th  Massachusetts}} the 54th left Boston with fanfare on May 28, and arrived to more celebrations in [[Beaufort, South Carolina]]. They were greeted by local blacks and by Northern abolitionists, some of whom had deployed from Boston a year earlier as missionaries to the [[Port Royal Experiment]].{{sfnp|Rose|1964|pp=248–249}} In Beaufort, they joined with the [[2nd Regiment South Carolina Volunteer Infantry (African Descent)|2nd South Carolina Volunteers]], a unit of South Carolina freedmen led by [[James Montgomery (colonel)|James Montgomery]].{{sfnp|Rose|1964|pp=249–250}} After the 2nd Volunteers' successful [[Raid at Combahee Ferry]], Montgomery led both units in a raid on the town of [[Darien, Georgia|Darien]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]].{{sfnp|Rose|1964|pp=251–252}} The population had fled, and Montgomery ordered the soldiers to loot and burn the empty town.{{sfnp|Rose|1964| p=252}} Shaw objected to this activity and complained over Montgomery's head that burning and looting were not suitable activities for his model regiment.{{sfnp|Rose|1964|pp=252–253}}