The Massachusetts 54th Colored Infantry

Morgan Freeman, star of Glory, the film which told the story of the Massachusetts 54th Regiment, is the narrator for this sweeping overview of the Civil War's first black fighting regiment. But viewers who think they're going to be seeing a documentary about fighting in the Civil War will be somewhat disappointed with this film. The 54th's efforts in the Civil War are almost added as an afterthought, comprising about the last third of the program. The Massachusetts 54th Colored Infantry, originally seen on The American Experience, is more the story of the struggle behind creating the 54th. Although abolitionist sentiments were high in Boston when war broke out, black men were not allowed to fight in what was, ironically, a battle for their own freedom. Through the written and verbal arguments of Frederick Douglass and M.R. Delaney, coupled with Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation on New Year's Day 1863, black men were eventually given the right to fight with a few differences from their white compatriots. First, no black man could be an officer, and second-as the 54th discovered shortly after arriving in South Carolina on June 3, 1863-their pay was not commensurate with that of white soldiers. In protest, the 54th refused to draw their pay until granted equal wages (a protest which lasted some 18 months). The unsuccessful attack on Fort Wagner is chronicled, as well as a brief summary of the 54th's fighting down in Florida. Drawing on interviews from surviving grandsons and granddaughters, The Massachusetts 54th Colored Infantry is a good examination of the chain of events leading up to the formation of the first black fighting regiment. Recommended. (See THE JOHNSTOWN FLOOD for availability.)