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August 1862

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Achievement · science
Susie King Taylor Serves as First Black Army Nurse

Susie King Taylor, formerly enslaved and self-taught to read, attached herself to the 1st South Carolina Volunteers (later 33rd USCT) at age 14. She served as nurse, laundress, and teacher for four years — the first Black woman to nurse U.S. troops openly. She later published her memoir Reminiscences of My Life in Camp (1902).

Events

  1. August 1862
    Susie King Taylor Serves as First Black Army Nurse

    Susie King Taylor, formerly enslaved and self-taught to read, attached herself to the 1st South Carolina Volunteers (later 33rd USCT) at age 14. She served as nurse, laundress, and teacher for four years — the first Black woman to nurse U.S. troops openly. She later published her memoir Reminiscences of My Life in Camp (1902).

  2. August 1862
    First South Carolina Volunteers: First Black Union Regiment

    The War Department authorized the First South Carolina Volunteers, composed of formerly enslaved men, in August 1862 — the first Black regiment officially mustered into Union service. Led by Colonel Thomas Wentworth Higginson, the regiment conducted raids along the South Carolina and Georgia coasts. Their discipline and courage were documented by Higginson and helped persuade Lincoln to authorize broader Black enlistment.