150years ago, July 18, the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, one of the first official African American units for the US armed forces commissioned after the Emancipation Proclamation spearheaded to assault on Ft. Wagner, in the Charleston, S.C. Harbor. 272 of the 600 men were killed,mounded or captured. The heroism of the 54th regiment has made famous by the Academy Award winning movie Glory.
Image of sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens' The Robert Gould Shaw and Massachusetts 54th Regiment Memorial, Boston, Massachusetts.