The Old Flag Never Touched The Ground - Campfires of the Afro American

[bigtree]

The 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment was recruited in the spring of 1863 by Governor John Andrew, who had secured the reluctant permission of the War Department to create a regiment of African-American soldiers. Like all Massachusetts Civil War soldiers, the 54th's men were enlisted in the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia. These Guardsmen would serve as a test case for many skeptical whites who believed that blacks could not be good soldiers. The battle that proved they could was fought on Morris Island, at the mouth of Charleston Harbor. Following three days of skirmishes and forced marches with little rest, and 24 hours with no food, the regimental commander, Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, requested the perilous honor of leading the attack of Fort Wagner, a sand and palmetto log bastion. As night fell, 600 men of the 54th advanced with bayonets fixed. Despite withering cannon and rifle fire, the men sustained their charge until they reached the top of the rampart. There, Colonel Shaw was mortally wounded. There, also, Sergeant William Carney, who had earlier taken up the National Colors when the color sergeant had been shot, planted the flag and fought off numerous attempts by the Confederates to capture it. Without support, and faced with superior numbers and firepower, the 54th was forced to pull back. Despite two severe wounds, Sergeant Carney carried the colors to the rear. When praised for his bravery, he modestly replied, "I only did my duty; the old flag never touched the ground." Carney was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions, the first African-American to receive the award. The 54th Massachusetts suffered 270 casualties in the failed assault, but the greater message was not lost: some 180,000 African-American soldiers followed in the footsteps of these gallant Guardsmen, and proved that African-American soldiers could, indeed, fight heroically if given the opportunity. (http://www.ngb.army.mil/gallery/heritage/the_old_flag.asp)

I have an old book called the Campfires of the Afro American. I scanned a few pages, most importantly the pages with the poem, The Old Flag Never Touched the Ground, which recounted Sergeant Carney's deeds.

Also included on the pages scanned is a poem under the heading, Preface, A Colored Veteran's Reverie.

Again the fires of soldier-life are kindled to my view,
And I recall the bloody strife that made our nation new,
When 'Camp Fires' of the Colored man, a book with title rare,
I read with pride, with pleasure scan, to learn our helpful share . . .

. . . and, so it goes.

I hope folks will take some time this Memorial weekend and read the poems, remembering the bravery and honor of the soldiers who served in our nation's past, and the soldiers who are serving and sacrificing today.

Here it is. I hope you enjoy these poems from this fascinating book as much as I do.

Campfires of the Afro American

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. Thank you for this resource

I remember reading Lincoln stories where the 16th President praised the bravery of the black troops, including one where a black sergeant was asked if he would take the flag. His answer was, "I will defend this flag, never letting it touch the ground, or report to God the reason why." He died defending the flag.

[bigtree]

2. family soldiers

slideshow: http://www.returningsoldiers.us/soldieranimi.htm

Diary of voyage from New Guinea to Manila
http://www.returningsoldiers.us/diarypg.htm

The Negro in World War II - (book scans)
http://www.returningsoldiers.us/bksrpg.htm

Memorabilia
http://www.returningsoldiers.us/mem.htm

[steely]

3. Thanks for this bigtree.

It was an interesting read on the 54th. There were a lot a stories like this, and as unique as they all were, too often we tend to take them for granted. What brought it home for me was when I discovered by accident that I had a relative in the CW, and then later found he was a color sergeant. Apparently there were huge odds against them finishing their careers. It's something to imagine the guts it took to carry a flag (with all of your gear) up and down hills and valleys into battle - out in front of your fellow soldiers. Now I find it easier to identify with all of the soldiers stories - each with his/her own drive and pride. My GG G-pop died at Gettysburg - I wish I knew where he was buried - I'd go visit him.

[bigtree]

4. my dad said his unit in WWII was usually assigned mop-up duty

the way he described it was that the other units would do most of the fighting and his bunch would arrive on the scene afterwards and 'clean up' the casualties, materials, and such. He was in New Guinea. He came back, discharged, and reenlisted in the Army Reserves retiring as a Lt. Colonel.

He also spoke of coming back home on the train and having to switch trains in segregated towns.

[steely]

6. I can imagine the pride you have in your Dad.

Train switching - that's effed-up. Regulated segregation in the military, hard to believe that went on - there and anywhere else. The mission sounds oddly frustrating. Don't let me mislead you on the question of my race, but the empathy is there.

My pop quit HS and joined - guess he was lucky, he was shipped to China during the WWII European conflict, then drafted (didn't know he wasn't 'done') into the Korean conflict and sent to Europe. He was a corporal.

[bigtree]

7. facinating footnotes to history

thanks for sharing steely :hi:

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[babylonsister]

13. I trust and hope you are not disparaging the OP's memories.

If you are, keep it to yourself. :eyes:

[BlooInBloo]

23. I trust (but not hope) that you had ZERO comprehension of the irony...

... and commiseration that was being expressed.

Wah.

[bigtree]

24. Dad was blunt like that

good to have understanding

:hi:

[BlooInBloo]

25. Even tho DUers never like it, I think a dose of reality can be a good...

... thing...

:wave:

And cheers to your dad!
(though I only say that *explicitly* for the sake of the halfwits who at times seem to run the place.)

[bigtree]

27. heh

cheers to us all

[BrotherBuzz]

9. 93rd Division?

[bigtree]

10. I hope I got this right from his records

628th Ordinance Co. Ammunition from '42-'46

can't remember the Division

[bigtree]

22. That Division sounds like a foward one, cutting roads and such

engineers and the like.

Here's Dad's with a brief description:

623RD ORDNANCE AMMUNITION COMPANY
IN AUSTRALIA DURING WW2



The 623rd Ordnance Ammunition Company arrived at the Kangaroo Ordnance Depot just north of Townsville in about September/October 1943. They replaced the 577th Ordnance Ammunition Company who left on 5 October 1943.


DARRA ORDNANCE AMMUNITION DEPOT
BASE SECTION THREE
BRISBANE, QLD
DURING WW2

The Darra Ordnance Ammunition was manned by Negro (African-American) units of the US Army.

The Negro soldiers and civilians working at the Ordnance Depot renovated defective or damaged ammunition and destroyed unserviceable items. On one record day they processed 1,500 tons. The average throughput was 600 tons per day.

There was always maintenance required on the vast network of roads around the depot. Bush fires were always a real threat to the Ordnance Depot, which was surrounded by a 21 miles long fire break. The Depot was "protected" by an ordinary barbed wire property fence. Civilian guards on horses would regularly ride around the perimeter fence to provide some level of security.

http://home.st.net.au/~dunn/usarmy/623oac.htm

[BrotherBuzz]

28. 93rd was an infantry division and was largely relegated to scut work...

I mentioned the 93rd Division for two reasons: It was the first black Infantry division reactivated after Pearl Harbor and it was the first black unit deployed to the Pacific (albeit only advaced units of the 24th Infantry Regiment,).

2 April 1942  The 24th Infantry Regiment, which had become part of the 93rd Infantry Division, left Fort Benning for San Francisco, where the unit trained briefly before embarking for the Pacific theater. After arriving in-theater on 4 May, the unit was assigned to garrison duty for a logistical base at Efate in the New Hebrides. The Army moved the 24th to Guadalcanal after the fighting ended, where once again unit members were relegated to a support role. Only the 3rd Battalion received credit for participating in the northern Solomons campaign, because it was located far enough forward to come under Japanese bombardment.

By 1944  the proportion of black soldiers in the U.S. Army reached a high point of 8.74 percent. Despite some changes in the Army’s racial policy, the continuation of segregated units exacted a high price in terms of African-American morale and efficiency. Tough, tough job serving your country while being judged by a different standard and expected to fail. They were up for the job and they performed! Hats off to them!

28 March 1944  The 25th Combat Team, which was part of the 93rd Division, also fought against the Japanese on Bougainville. The team was composed of the 25th Infantry Regiment; the 593rd and 596th Field Artillery Battalions; Company A, 318th Combat Engineers Battalion; Company A and one platoon of Company D, 318th Medical Battalion; and detachments from the 93rd Signal Company, the 793rd Ordnance Company, and the 93rd Military Police Platoon. The 93rd Division’s first four men were killed on 4 April 1944 as they returned from a supply mission. Enemy forces also ambushed the untried soldiers of the unit’s Company K in an early engagement, killing 1 officer and 9 enlisted men. Another 20 enlisted men were wounded, primarily by friendly fire, as the remainder of the company withdrew in disarray. Unfortunately, although Company K and the rest of the 25th helped to defeat the Japanese as the campaign progressed, an unfounded rumor spread that the 93rd Division had broken under fire. Despite the fact that white troops experienced the same problems, the false report endured. Even efforts by General Douglas MacArthur to squelch this misinformation were unsuccessful.

The 93rd had an interesting history that has largely be ignored:

Black soldiers from the US Army fought under French command during WWI

The all-black 93rd division, a rag-tag outfit that was initially issued Civil War uniforms, were assigned to French command by General John Pershing during WWI. The French desperately needed fresh troops and Pershing was able to satisfy France's needs by getting rid of his own problem - black soldiers. The 93d Division turned in their American equipment and were issued French rifles, bayonets, helmets, packs, and other equipment of the French soldier. They were then organized, trained, and commanded as a French unit, the first unit in US history to serve under foreign command.

The 93nd division fought as part of the French army, where, ironically, it found acceptance, respect, and glory, eventually winning the Croix de Guerre, only to return to America and find Jim Crow laws alive and well.



The WWII era unit patch of the 93rd Division was a blue Casque Adrien helmet (French Army helmet) because four Regiments of the 93rd served with the French in WW I.

[bigtree]

29. thanks for fleshing that out

those soldiers' service and sacrifices are in my thoughts today as well

:hi:

[bigtree]

5. April 2, 1864

THE CHRISTIAN RECORDER
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

For the Christian Recorder.

MR. EDITOR: - Sir: - It is with pleasure that I now seat myself to inform you concerning our last battle: thus we were in Co. B, on the 20th of Feb. Mr. Editor, I am not sitting down to inform about this battle without knowing something about it.

The battle took place in a grove called Olustee, with the different regiments as follows: First was the 8th U.S.; they were cut up badly, and they were the first colored regiment in the battle. The next were the 54th Mass., which I belong to; the next were the 1st N.C. In they went and fired a few rounds, but they soon danced out, things were too warm for them. The firing was very warm, and it continued for about three hours and a half. The 54th was the last off the field. When the 1st N.C. found out it was so warm they soon left, and then there was none left to cover the retreat. But captain J. Walton, of the 54th, of our company, with shouts and cheers, cried, "Give it to them my brave boys! Give it to them!" As I turned around, I observed Col. E.N. Holowell standing with a smile upon his countenance, as though the boys were playing a small game of ball. There was none left but the above named, and Lieut. Col. Hooper, and also Col. Montgomery; those were the only field officers that were left with us. If we had been like those regiments that were ahead, I think not only in my own mind, but in the minds of the field officers, such as Col. Hooper and Col. Montgomery, that we would have suffered much loss, is plain to be seen, for the enemy had taken some three of four of their pieces.

When we got there we rushed in double-quick, with a command from the General, "Right into line." We commenced with a severe firing, and the enemy soon gave way for some two hundred yards. Our forces were light, and we were compelled to fall back with much dissatisfaction. Now it seems strange to me that we do not receive the same pay and rations as the white soldiers. Do we not fill the same ranks? Do we not cover the same space of ground? Do we not take up the same length of ground in the grave-yard that others do? The ball does not miss the black man and strike the white, nor the white and strike the black. But, sir, at that time there is no distinction made, they strike one as much as another. The black men have to go through the same hurling of musketry, and the same belching of cannonading as white soldiers do.

It has been nearly a year since we have received any pay; but the white soldiers get their pay every two months; ($13.00 per month,) but when it comes to the poor negro he gets none. The 54th left Boston on the 28th of May, 1863. In time of enlisting members for the regiment, they were promised the same pay, and the same rations as other soldiers. Since that time the government must have charged them more for clothing than any other regiment; for those who died in a month or two after their enlistment, it was actually said that they were in debt to the government. Those who bled and died on James' Island and Wagner, are the same. Why is it not so with other soldiers? Because our faces are black. We are put beneath the very lowest rioters of New York. We have never brought any disgrace by cowardice, on the State we left.

E.D.W.
Co. B, 54th Mass., Vol.
Jacksonville, Fla., March 13th, 1864.

[bigtree]

11. 'Regulars' from Campfires

[theHandpuppet]

12. This is a favorite site

http://www.blackcamisards.com/

Lots of great links to the hisotry of the USCT.

[bigtree]

14. what a great site

you're right

thanks Handpuppet :hi:

[theHandpuppet]

18. You're welcome

If you enjoyed that link, you may find these an interesting read as well.

http://www.lwfaam.net/cw/
http://www.coax.net/people/lwf/usct.htm
http://www.nps.gov/rich/default.htm
http://home.usmo.com/~momollus/USCT.HTM
http://www.rootsweb.com/~ncusct/usct.htm
http://www.awod.com/cwchas/1sc.html
http://www.siteone.com/tourist/blakeley/index.html
http://www.tnstate.edu/library/digital/BlacKs.htm


The history of the USCT is a favorite subject of mine. It is a history long buried and rarely taught; if it wasn't for the film "Glory" I'd say most folks wouldn't even know there WAS a USCT. Appx 200,000 black Americans distiguished themselves in the USCT, with many of those regiments formed in southern states. Yet we never hear of their regimental battle flags being part of of "Southern Heritage"; in fact, nearly all of their flags were destroyed (burned, as I recall) as was noted by this researcher:

http://history-sites.com/mb/cw/cwflags/index.cgi?noframes;read=3311
(excerpt)
Contact the Charleston Museum on Meeting Street, if they do not have anything, they should be able to direct you in the right direction. ( 843-722-2996)

You are correct on the US flag at the Relic Room, its a fragment of the 2nd US S.C. Regiment (African Descent)
John Bigham of the Relic Room does not have information on the flag of the 21st USCT.

The 21st USCT was made up of the 3rd & 4th (US) South Carolina Regiments (African Descent). The 3rd & 4th never did fully organize so they most likely did not receive a stand of flags until the 21st was organized.

I heard from West Point and the flag is not there nor is it on the list of the 54 USCT flags destroyed in 1920, so it may still be out there in California some place...."

Here's one list of these nearly-forgotten Southern veterans and patriots of the USCT, (listing southern states and border (neutral) states only for this discussion) :

Alabama 4,969
Arkansas 5,526
Florida 1,044
Georgia 3,486
Kentucky 23,703
Louisiana 24,502
Maryland 8,718
Mississippi 17,869
North Carolina 5,035
South Carolina 5,462
Tennessee 20,133
Texas 47
Virginia 5,723

So here's a Memorial Day Salute to the brave men of the United States Colored Troops and also to the nearly 300,000 brave sons of the South who fought as Southern Unionists!

[bigtree]

20. beautiful

:patriot:

[Hekate]

15. Thanks to all of you for this Memorial Day posting...

...with gratitude for your service and those who went before...

Hekate

[NorthernSpy]

16. good Memorial Day topic, Bigtree

Remember, Memorial Day began as a day honoring the Union dead -- though the scope has since broadened to include those who died in later wars.

[bigtree]

17. great point NorthernSpy

thanks for the reminder! :hi:

[goclark]

19. Outstanding post! nt

[Berserker]

21. Thank You bigtree

great post. The bravery of these men should never be forgotten.

[bigtree]

26. The President of the United States

in the name of The Congress
takes pleasure in presenting the
Medal of Honor
to

CARNEY, WILLIAM H.

Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company C, 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry. Place and date: At Fort Wagner, S.C., 18 July 1863. Entered service at: New Bedford, Mass. Birth: Norfolk, Va. Date of issue: 23 May 1900.

Citation:

When the color sergeant was shot down, this soldier grasped the flag, led the way to the parapet, and planted the colors thereon. When the troops fell back he brought off the flag, under a fierce fire in which he was twice severely wounded.