The Fort Hood Sentinel (Temple, Tex.), Vol. 53, No. 25, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 24, 1994 Page: 4 of 42
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A4 FORT HOOD SENTINEL
Troops of the 54th Mass. fight hand-to-hand
with defenders of Fort Wagner S.C. on the
on the night of July 18 1863. Although the
attack failed the black soldiers proved equal
to the test of combat paving the way for the
By Darrell Cochran
1st Cav Div Public Affairs
From the beginning of the Civil War aboli-
tionists in the North had urged President
Abraham Lincoln to outlaw slavery and to
authorize the organization of regiments of
black soldiers. Black men were already serving
the Army in a variety of roles.
Men of African descent had also contributed
in America’s previous wars and there seemed
to be no good reason for keeping them out of
this one-particularly when it was their free-
dom at stake.
But Lincoln had promised not to interfere
with slavery. Even after Confederate batteries
fired on Fort Sumter at Charleston S.C.
Lincoln publicly vowed to wage war only to
save the Union.
He held to that line for almost two years.
But the abolition movement grew stronger
and immediately following the Union victory
at Antietam Md. in September 1862 Lincoln
issued the Emancipation Proclamation.
Armed with the Emancipation Proclamation
Gov. John Andrew of Massachusetts was al-
lowed to raise units including “persons of
African descent” and the 54th Massachusetts
Volunteer Infantry—the Nation’s first regiment
of black soldiers—was formed. Robert Gould
Shaw the son of wealthy Boston abolitionists
was chosen as commander.
Opponents of the black regiment idea tried
to intimidate recruits but recruiting efforts
spread to New York Pennsylvania the Mid-
west and Canada as well as throughout Mas-
sachusetts. By late March 1863 900 men were
in training at Readville Mass. By May so
many men had applied that Andrew formed a
second black regiment the 55th Mass.
O May 18 1863 Shaw received orders to
report to Gen. David Hunter at Hilton Head
S.C. and ten days later he led the 54th Mass.
on a triumphal march through the streets of
Boston to embark for Hilton Head.
At James Island S.C. on July 16 the 54th
Mass. and 10th Connecticut formed the left of
the Union line with the lOth’s left flank on
the Stono River and its back to a swamp. If
Confederate forces got between them they
would cut off and surround the 10th Conn.
They tried. But the 54th Mass. worked to
allow the 10th Conn. to get out of the trap
without a single casualty.
The 54th Mass. was later placed perma-
nently with six white regiments in Brig. Gen.
George C. Strong’s brigade. The action on
James Island was part of a grand strategy to
capture Charleston.
Having driven back the Confederates Brig.
Gen. Truman Seymour now planned to take
Fort Wagner on Morris Island across the
harbor from Fort Sumter.
One assault had already failed but Seymour
set a second attack for the night of July 18
1863. Fort Wagner one of the strongest earth-
en forts built was protected by a moat gar-
risoned by 1000 men and mounted a dozen
cannon.
PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICER: !*. Cot
COMMAND INFORMATION OFFII
I EDITORIAL OFFICE: Headquarter U1 Corps anAFort Howl Port Hood SeathieJ Fort
Hood Texas 76544
telephone (817) 287-2436 Autovon
737-0107.wssssSMm
COMMANDING GENERAL Lt. Gen. Paul &
2nd Armd Div (287.7004):
13th PAD Spc. Rebecca
MANAGING EDITOR: Anita Horky 3V
MILITARY EDITOR: Staff Sgt. Don Moore
NiWDt«MWc.W Koehler
CONTRIBUTING PAOsi 1st Cav Div(287«6f$2£ Mask* %t. DaroRCo^rsn £pe.s iy
Robyn M. Gregory Spc. Usa Prentice 4th PAT: Staff Sgt. Eric Farrfl Iw Bttttetfts
■./
Blacks fight in Civil War
it
Library of Congress
enlistment of some 180000 black men into
the Union Army and forever ending the poli-
cy that only white men could serve in the
U.S. Army.
When the 54th was within 200 yards of the
fort the Confederates opened fire. Men
dropped at every step but nobody hesitated or
turned back. Shaw splashed across the moat
and scrambled up the sandy slope of the wall.
“Forward 54th!” he called as he reached the
top. Then he fell over into the fort dead. Until
Shaw was killed none of his soldiers had fired
a shot but now they attacked with a frenzy.
The color bearer fell dead and a jubilant
Confederate reached for the flag but Pvt.
William Carney snatched it away and scram-
bled for the top ignoring wounds in his chest
and legs. He planted the flag atop the wall and
fought off all attempts to capture it.
The battle was savage and brief. Capt. Luis
Emilio one of the few surviving officers took
command at last and ordered a retreat. Carney
took the flag and slid down the slope limping
to a trench 75 yards from the moat. Along the
way he was hit again.
In less than an hour it was all over. Out of
the 600 men who began the attack the 54th
Mass. lost 34 men killed 146 wounded and 93
captured. The rest of Strong’s brigade suffered
similar losses Union casualties totaled 1515.
The Confederates had lost 181 men.
The next day when Confederate burial par-
ties came out to collect the dead they buried
the white soldiers and officers in separate
graves. But they dug a common trench for
Shaw and his 31 enlisted men.
The Confederate commander refused the
common custom of returning Shaw’s body for
burial by his family saying only that he had
been “buried ... with the Negroes who fell with
him.”
Pvt. Carney received the Medal of Honor-
the first black soldier to receive the nation’s
highest decoration. Sixteen other black sol-
diers would eventually be awarded the Medal
of Honor during the Civil War.
More black regiments were organized both
by the states and for the Regular Army in
time more than 180000 men of African de-
scent would serve in blue.
The connection between the 54th Mass. and
the other black men who eventually served
wasn’t lost on the New York Times: “If this
Massachusetts Fifty-Fourth had faltered ... two
hundred thousand colored troops for whom it
was pioneer would never have been put into
the field ... But it did not falter. It made Fort
Wagner such a name to the colored race as
Bunker Hill has been for ninety years to white
Yankees.”
It would be almost 90 years before President
Harry Truman’s Executive Order ended official
segregation in U.S. Army units.
Sec1
the black soldiers who followed from
the Buffalo Soldiers of the 9th and 10th Cav-
alry Regiments the 24th and 25th Infantry
Regiments and the “Harlem Hellfighters” of
World War I to the 761st Tank Battalion gill
marched along the trail pioneered by the 54th
Mass.
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Almost everyone has some
interest in archeology.
In the movies Indiana Jones
has captured the popular imag-
ination as a gun-toting whip-
wielding adventurer who seeks
such great treasures as the lost
ark.
Fort Hood has had a full-
time archeologist since 1977.
This archeologist doesn’t
have a whip hanging on his
office wall and the few soldiers
on Fort Hood who meet him
are usually only seeking a dig-
ging permit.
Although not his sole task
it’s the staff archeologist’s
business to advise units where
they should not dig tank ditch-
es and fighting positions.
The staff archeologist also
manages the entire archeology
program at Fort Hood.
Surveying Fort Hood
The first fifteen years of the
Fort Hood archeological pro-
gram were spent finding about
2200 archeological sites.
Teams of trained field arche-
ologists walked 30 meters
apart looking at the ground
and taking notes.
The teams of about six peo-
ple surveyed one-kilometer
grid squares of about 250 acres
in a day.
It took along time to survey
a significant portion of our
339-mile installation.
These teams didn’t survey
the cantonment areas where
the land surface had been
paved over or modified for
buildings or golf courses. It
was assumed that any archeol-
ogy there had already been de-
stroyed.
They also left most of the
impact area unsurveyed. How-
ever most of the rest of the
training areas were carefully
combed.
This first phase of the cul-
tural resource management
program left us with lots of
spots on the map where we
were legally obligated to pro-
tect the deposits.
In short we could not permit
digging in a site which might
be eligible for the National
Register of Historic Places.
Fort Hood Sentinel is an authorized publication for the U.S. Army.
Contents of tiie Fort Hood Sentinel are not necessarily official views of of endorsed by the
U.S. Government Department of Defense Department of the Army or 111 Corps and Fort
Hood ft is published every Thursday by the Pubic Affairs Office II! Corps Fort Hood.
In the “Dental care impor-
tant for children” story on
page B1 in the Feb. 17 Fort
Hood Sentinel some infor-
mation about services avail-
able to family members in-
eligible for the Delta Dental
Plan was incorrect.
FORT HOOD
national origin age marital status
handicap political afffliation or any other nonmerit factor of the purchaser user or
If a violation or rejection of this opportunity policy by an advertiser is confirmed the
ir a ate
All of those sites had to be
presumed eligible until proven
otherwise.
For the past four years the
process of testing those sites
for eligibility has been under-
way.
Finding historic clues
Archeologists have been dig-
ging a few holes in each site to
find out if the stuff buried
there is able to tell us some-
thing we don’t already know
about the history of Central
Texas. In the process we have
learned some things we didn’t
know.
One of the most important is
that there was a period of very
hot dry climate here about
5000 years ago that lasted for
a thousand years or more.
During that period of semi-
desert conditions several feet
of top soil blew away from
some surfaces.
When it did rain it appears
to have been in sudden storms
which cut deep gullies into the
soil.
The Native Americans who
lived in the area had to modify
their lifestyles but continued to
come to the limestone bluffs
and hillsides in the area to
collect stone to make blades
projectile points and other
tools.
The flint and chert from the
Fort Hood area is still highly
prized by modern flint knap-
pers for making reproductions
of ancient stone tools.
One of the points found on
Fort Hood is a very tiny Fol-
som point made perhaps 12000
years ago.
It had been sharpened and
resharpened so many times it
was only about an inch long.
It was discarded by its
maker who made it when he
or she got to this area and
could get some good stone to
make more tools.
These folks are the fellows
who hunted big wooly el-
ephants with those stone
spears.
Science would like to know a
lot more about these people
but that period of desert forma-
tion destroyed most of the sites
Correction
Family members who are
ineligible and are 11 years
and under may seek dental
screenings and information
about treatment at Billy
Johnson Dental Clinic.
For a list of Delta Dental
Plan participating doctors
PHANTOM LIFE
So -Tim IS THE.
THRESMOU?
OF GOOD
TRAINING.
February 24 1994
they once occupied.
That is why each of our sites
must be carefully investigated
by trained professional arche-
ologists to see what is still
there.
Protecting digs legally
What most folks want to
know about the sites on the
Fort is why they can’t dig in
one that they find while out in
the field on maneuvers.
The short answer to that is a
legal one.
In 1974 Congress passed the
Archeological Resource Protec-
tion Act (ARPA). This law
makes it a federal felony to dig
up and remove any archeologi-
cal artifact from a site on fed-
eral land.
That’s right.
If the Federal Marshals who
roam around Fort Hood catch
you in a hole with a little
arrow-head in your pocket you
can be fined or jailed for it.
That is what the digging-
permit process is all about.
If you received a permit to
dig that hole and were doing so
for military reasons it is the
archeologists who are at fault
for not finding the site that
you discovered with your shov-
el.
If you don’t have the digging
permit whoever ordered the
hole to be dug at that location
is on the hook for a federal
felony.
Digging with a permit
The digging permit process
is outlined in Fort Hood Regu-
lation 420-2.
The required form FH Form
420X-10 can be obtained from
the Fort Hood staff archeolo-
gist Dr. Jack Jackson who
works in the DEH Environ-
mental Management Division
in building 4468 at the corner
of 72nd Street and Warehouse
Avenue.
Jackson will be happy to
talk to anyone about the arche-
ology of Fort Hood and make
the process of obtaining a dig-
ging permit as painless as pos-
sible.
see any of Fort Hood’s dental
clinics.
For more information
about the dental screenings
or treatment availability
call Billy Johnson Dental
Clinic at 287-3007/2104.
by Frank Maybom Enterprises Inc. a private faro In no way connected with the Department
of the Army under exclusive written contract with lit Corps and Fort Hood. The civilian
printer is responsible for commercial advertising.
The appearance of advertising in this publication including inserts or supplements does
not constitute endorsement by the Department of the Army or Frank Mayboni Enterprises
Inc. of the products or services advertised.
*4
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Horky, Anita. The Fort Hood Sentinel (Temple, Tex.), Vol. 53, No. 25, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 24, 1994, newspaper, February 24, 1994; Temple, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth310028/m1/4/?q=Lamar+University: accessed June 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Casey Memorial Library.