Talk:54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment/Archives/2016/January

The 1st SC Volunteers was NOT the first "official" black Union army regiment
It is incorrect to say that the 1st SC Volunteers, mustered in on January 31, 1863, was the first black regiment in the Union army. Similar assertions have been made elsewhere that the 54th Massachusetts, mustered in on May 13, 1863, was the first "official" or "formal" black regiment in the Union army, to the exclusion of the South Carolina unit (as well as other black units). None of these assertions have defined what is meant by "official" or "formal." To the extent a military unit was mustered in the Union army, it was just as "official" or "formal" as any other regiment. Thus, the 1st Regiment Kansas Volunteer Infantry (Colored) -- a Northern regiment in every sense of the word, mustered in federal service on January 13, 1863 -- preceded by some weeks the 1st South Carolina, and by four months the 54th Massachusetts. Moreover, the 1st Kansas was actually fighting in the field by early fall 1862, before the 1st SC or 54th MA. However, because of political controversy surrounding the use of federal black units in the North, it wasn't mustered in the Union army until early January 1863. Dyer's authoritative Compendium of the War of the Rebellion documents all the foregoing, and is reproduced in the federal Civil War Soldiers and Sailors database. For the government's entry regarding the 1st Kansas (later re-designated the 79th U.S. Colored Troops), see: http://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-battle-units-detail.htm?battleUnitCode=UUS0079RI02C Therefore, I am amending the sentences of the article asserting that the 1st SC was the first black regiment. Don Columbia (talk) 20:24, 13 January 2016 (UTC)

The 54th MA was NOT the "first formal African American military unit"
This supposed "fact" was featured by Wikipedia on July 18 in numerous years. It is untrue, as explained in my preceding Talk comment. By any measure -- including "formal" and "official" -- the 1st Regiment Kansas Volunteer Infantry (Colored) well preceded the 54th Massachusetts. Don Columbia (talk) 21:06, 13 January 2016 (UTC)