54th Massachusetts Regiment
The 54th Regiment from Boston, Mass. was the first all black regiment to serve in America. Led by the affluently raised Colonel Robert Shaw, the 54th was formed after the Emancipation Proclamation, in 1863. The regiment saw battle during a series of skirmishes with confederate troops before being widely wiped out during a head on assault on Fort Wagner in 1863. During this assault, Shaw himself was killed along with over 50 other members of the regiment. This set the standard for maltreatment of black units in the war, largely used for head-on dirty work. The assault on Fort Wagner did, however, influence even more blacks to enlist in the Union army, inspired by their peers in the 54th. The exploits of the 54th regiment were also detailed in the 1989 film, Glory.