Civil War Gallery Talk- 150 Years Ago: The Assault on Fort Wagner

At dusk on July 18, 1863, the 54th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, the first all-black regiment raised in the North on the same basis as white troops, led an attack on Fort Wagner near Charleston, S.C. The regiment’s commander, Col. Robert Gould Shaw, was killed, and the unit saw as many as 50 percent of its soldiers killed or injured. Join NMHM’s exhibits manager and historian Steven Hill for a look at this historic battle, and visit an exhibit related to NMHM’s collections of artifacts and specimens related to Civil War medicine, including a skull from a soldier of the 54th Massachusetts. For more information, call 301-319-3303 or visit http://www.medicalmuseum.mil.