This memorial event celebrates the installation of a Headstone for Corporal John Wesley Harper. Harper was one of the first Blacks to join the Union Army after being allowed to serve.
Harper was the bugler for the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment, and saw action in various battles, being wounded in an early battle.
He had been buried in an unmarked grave for decades. His family recognized this and asked the U.S. Army to provide him the proper recognition. The Army provided the headstone where he was buried.
Formed on March 13, 1863 the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment was a unit of the United States Colored Troops (USCT), and the first military unit consisting of Black soldiers to be raised in the North .
Prior to 1863, no concerted effort was made to recruit Black troops as Union soldiers.
After a Union victory at the Battle of Antietam in September 1862, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation granting all enslaved people in Confederate territory their freedom.
The proclamation went into effect on January 1, 1863, opening the door for African American service in the Union Army.
At a time when state governors were responsible for the raising of regiments for federal service, Massachusetts was the first to respond with the formation of the Fifty-Fourth Regiment.
The men of 54th Massachusetts served courageously and honorably, distinguishing themselves as courageous Soldiers. Their gallant, yet failed, assault on Fort Wagner is notable.
The 54th and 180,000 Black men, African American Soldiers joining the United States forces contributed to Union victory in the Civil War.
Around ten percent of all Union Soldiers were USCTs and over 36,000 of them died during the war.
See < https://www.thenmusa.org/articles/the-54th-massachusetts-infantry-regiment/ >.
Harper was the bugler for the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment, and saw action in various battles, being wounded in an early battle.
He had been buried in an unmarked grave for decades. His family recognized this and asked the U.S. Army to provide him the proper recognition. The Army provided the headstone where he was buried.
Formed on March 13, 1863 the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment was a unit of the United States Colored Troops (USCT), and the first military unit consisting of Black soldiers to be raised in the North .
Prior to 1863, no concerted effort was made to recruit Black troops as Union soldiers.
After a Union victory at the Battle of Antietam in September 1862, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation granting all enslaved people in Confederate territory their freedom.
The proclamation went into effect on January 1, 1863, opening the door for African American service in the Union Army.
At a time when state governors were responsible for the raising of regiments for federal service, Massachusetts was the first to respond with the formation of the Fifty-Fourth Regiment.
The men of 54th Massachusetts served courageously and honorably, distinguishing themselves as courageous Soldiers. Their gallant, yet failed, assault on Fort Wagner is notable.
The 54th and 180,000 Black men, African American Soldiers joining the United States forces contributed to Union victory in the Civil War.
Around ten percent of all Union Soldiers were USCTs and over 36,000 of them died during the war.
See < https://www.thenmusa.org/articles/the-54th-massachusetts-infantry-regiment/ >.
© Dell Eriksson Photography, LLC
