1863

The 54th Massachusetts Infantry, a Black regiment under Col. Robert Gould Shaw, led the Union assault on Fort Wagner, SC. Shaw and nearly 300 men were killed or wounded. Sgt. William Carney carried the regimental colors to the parapet despite multiple wounds — the first action later recognized with the Medal of Honor for a Black soldier, awarded 1900.

Bishop Daniel Alexander Payne of the AME Church purchased Wilberforce University in Ohio in 1863 from the Methodist Episcopal Church, making it the first American university owned and operated by Black Americans. Payne served as its president, the first Black college president in U.S. history, and built a model of Black higher education under Black control.

The Bureau of Colored Troops was established May 22, 1863, standardizing recruitment of Black soldiers. By war's end, 179,000 Black men had served in 175 USCT regiments, comprising nearly 10 percent of Union forces. USCT units fought in over 400 engagements. Black soldiers faced unequal pay (resolved 1864), no officer commissions, and execution rather than prisoner-of-war status if captured.

Tubman served as a Union Army spy and scout in South Carolina. On June 2, 1863, she guided Colonel James Montgomery and 150 Black Union soldiers on the Combahee River Raid, liberating more than 700 enslaved people — the first military operation in U.S. history planned and led by a woman.

The 54th Massachusetts Infantry, one of the first Black regiments recruited in the North, led the assault on Fort Wagner, South Carolina. Colonel Robert Gould Shaw and nearly half the regiment's men were killed or wounded. Sergeant William Carney, though severely wounded, carried the regimental flag and never let it touch the ground — later receiving the Medal of Honor. The battle's valor silenced much Northern skepticism about Black soldiers.

Sgt. William Carney of the 54th Massachusetts seized the falling regimental flag and carried it to Fort Wagner's parapet despite being shot in the head, chest, and both legs. Returning, he said 'Boys, I did but my duty.' His valor at Fort Wagner became the first Black Medal of Honor action, though the medal was not awarded until 1900.

Dr. Alexander T. Augusta was commissioned as a surgeon with the rank of Major in the U.S. Army, making him the highest-ranking Black officer in the Union Army. Born in Norfolk, Virginia, he had trained in Toronto after being denied entry to U.S. medical schools. He later became the first Black faculty member at an American medical college.

Harriet Tubman became the first woman in American history to lead an armed military raid when she guided Colonel James Montgomery and 150 Black Union soldiers up South Carolina's Combahee River, liberating more than 700 enslaved people in a single night. Her intelligence work as a Union spy and scout throughout the war made her one of the most effective operatives in the conflict.

The 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, one of the first official Black regiments in the Union Army, led a courageous assault on Fort Wagner, South Carolina. Though the assault failed and Colonel Robert Gould Shaw was killed, the regiment's bravery demolished arguments that Black men would not fight, galvanizing recruitment of Black soldiers across the Union.

Sergeant William Harvey Carney of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry carried the U.S. flag through the assault on Fort Wagner on July 18, 1863, even after being shot multiple times, refusing to let it touch the ground. He was awarded the Medal of Honor, becoming one of the first Black Americans to receive the nation's highest military decoration.