Tetanus Took Him

Union Brigadier General George Crockett Strong died from complication of a wounding on July 30^th 1863.

George Crockett Strong was born October 16^th 1832 in Stockbridge, Windsor, Vermont the son of David Ellsworth and Harriet (Fay) Strong. He was raised by an uncle in Easthampton, Massachusetts. He attended the Williston Seminary in Easthampton, Massachusetts, and Union College in Schenectady, New York, before settling in and graduating from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1857.  He was ranked 5^th out of a class of 38.  He served in several military arsenals, becoming the assistant superintendent of the Watervliet Arsenal in Watervliet, Albany, New York.

At the beginning of the Civil War, Strong was serving as an ordnance officer on the staff of Union General Irvin McDowell with the rank of First Lieutenant, and was with him at the First Battle of Bull Run.  He commanded an expedition against Biloxi, Mississippi in April 1862, and received a commission to Brigadier General in November 1862.  While leading and assault on Fort Wagner at Morris Island, South Carolina on July 18^th 1863 he was wounded in the thigh.  While on his way to New York City to recuperate, Strong developed tetanus because of the wound and died June 30^th 1863.  He is buried in the Green Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.

The First Second Lieutenant

Union Lieutenant Stephen Atkins Swails the first African American to be promoted to an officer was wounded for the second time April 11^th 1865.

Stephen Atkins Swails was born February 23^rd 1832.  He married and was working in Cooperstown, New York as a waiter prior to the war.  When Frederick Douglass called for recruits for the 54^th Massachusetts Swails enlisted in Elmira, New York as a private.  He became a member of Company “F” and was soon appointed First Sergeant.  Following the assault on Fort Wagner in which the 54^th lost a lot of men, Swails was appointed Sergeant Major on November 12^th 1863.

The 54^th was posted in Florida in early 1864 under Union General Truman Seymour.  Swails was wounded the first time at the Battle of Olustee on February 20^th 1864.  When promotions came out on March 26^th 1864, Swails was promoted to Second Lieutenant.  The promotion made him the first African American to receive a commission in the Union Army.  While the 54^th was on reconnaissance near Camden, South Carolina on April 11^th 1865 Swails was wounded a second time.  They were near a railroad junction when a locomotive was steamed up.  A detachment led by Swails captured the train.  He entered the cab and waved his hat in triumph which drew the attention of a Union sharpshooter who mistook Swails for the engineer, and shot him.  Swails was promoted to First Lieutenant April 28^th 1865.  He was mustered out of service with the rest of the 54^th August 20^th 1865 in Boston, Massachusetts.

After the war Swails became a lawyer and worked for the Freedman’s Bureau.  He settled in South Carolina where he was the mayor of Kingstree, South Carolina from 1868 to 1879.  After Reconstruction and an assassination attempt Swails resigned from office.  He went to work in Washington, DC at the United State Treasury and the United Post Office.  He died May 17^th 1900 and is buried the Friendly Society Cemetery in Charleston, South Carolina.

A Letter Writer

A Corporal in the 54th Massachusetts Infantry, James Henry Gooding died July 19th 1864 in Andersonville.


James Henry Gooding was born 1837 in Troy, New York. He moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts where he signed onto a Pacific whaling voyage for four years as a cook. Returning from that voyage in 1860 Gooding signed onto the Montevideo for a one year merchant voyage in the Atlantic.

The 54th Massachusetts Infantry opened a recruiting office in New Bedford in February 1863. Gooding enlisted and became a member of Company C. Shortly after enlisting Gooding began writing letters on a bi-weekly bases for the New Bedford Mercury. He received a promotion in December 1863 to corporal. Gooding was with the 54th Massachusetts during the fight for Fort Wagner on July 18th 1863. He was wounded and captured during the Battle of Oustlee in Florida on February 20th 1864. Gooding died July 19th 1864 in the Confederate prison camp at Andersonville, Georgia.

Another web site related to the subject and worth a look is Letter from Corporal James Henry Gooding

A Distraction

A part of the Operation Against the Defenses of Charleston, the Battle of Grimball’s Landing was fought July 16th 1863 in James Island, South Carolina.


In order to keep Confederate reinforcements from renewing the attack on Fort Wagner, Union Brigadier General Quincy Adams Gillmore made two maneuvers. He sent a force up the Stono River to move on the railroad bridge of the Charleston and Savannah Railroad, and another landing on James Island. The James Island force was a division under the command of Brigadier General Alfred Howe Terry. After landing on July 8th 1863, Terry made a few demonstration against the Confederates, but did not attack. The Confederates commanded by Brigadier General Johnson Hagood, attacked Terry’s men July 16th 1863 at Grimball’s Landing. Do to the swampy ground, and lack of good scouting the Confederate attack soon fell apart. Union troops pulled off the Island the next day.

Buried Him In A Common Trench

Union Colonel Robert Gould Shaw was killed in the assault on the battery of Fort Wagner on July 18th 1863.



Robert Gould Shaw was born October 10th 1837 in Boston Massachusetts the son of Francis George and Sarah Blake [Sturgis] Shaw. They were a prominent abolitionist family. Shaw’s family lived in a big estate in West Roxbury, and in his early teens he studied and traveled in Europe. He attended Harvard University from 1856 to 1859, but dropped out before graduating.


When the southern states began to secede, Shaw like many young men joined the military, first with the thirty day unit of the 7th New York Infantry and then with the 2nd Massachusetts. While he was serving in 1862 his father asked him to take command of an all black Regiment, the 54th Massachusetts. After careful thought Shaw accepted, although he didn’t think it was likely that a free black unit would succeed. He became impressed with the men of the 54th and when found that black soldiers would receive less pay then white soldiers he inspired boycott until the pay was equalized. Shaw married Annie Kneeland Haggerty May 2nd 1863 just before the unit left Boston.


The 54th Massachusetts was sent to Charleston South Carolina. On July 18th 1863 the 54th along with two brigades of white troops assaulted the Confederate battery of Fort Wagner. Shaw led his men into battle, he mounted the parapet to urge his men forward and was shot through the heart dying instantly. The Confederates intending to insult Shaw had him buried in mass grave with his black soldiers. The Confederate commanding officer; General Johnson Hagood said, had Shaw “been in command of white troops, I should have given him an honorable burial; as it is, I shall bury him in the common trench with the negroes that fell with him." Shaw’s family however claimed they were proud to know their son was buried with his troops.

They Surprised Many

The 54th Massachusetts Infantry, one of the first African American regiments left Boston on May 28th 1863 to fight for the Union.

Robert Gould Shaw; who organized the troop, was from a prominent Boston abolitionist family. He was appointed to be the Colonel of the 54th by Massachusetts Governor John A Andrew in February 1863. The 54th was formed a month latter in Readville, Massachusetts at Camp Meigs. After training, the 54th was sent to Hilton Head, South Carolinia, where on July 18th they were ordered to lead the attack on Fort Wagner. The troops of this unit showed that they were a strong fighting force against the Confederates, surprising those who felt Black troops were a bad idea.

The sons of Frederick Douglass, Lewis N and Charles Douglass were amoung the 54th’s recruits. Also the first African American to ever receive the Medal Honor, William Carney was part of this unit.