IL HR0878

President Abraham Lincoln called for raising a Black regiment following the Emancipation Proclamation in January 1863, which Massachusetts Governor John Andrew answered by forming the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment.

The 54th Massachusetts inspired the enlistment of more than 180,000 Black soldiers, which President Lincoln recognized as essential to Union victory and the destruction of slavery.

Twelve soldiers from Galesburg enlisted with Company H of the 54th Massachusetts on April 26, 1863, including Sergeant Joseph Barquet, who later chaired the Convention of 1866 on civil rights and advocated for school desegregation.

Private Henry Kirk and Private John Dickinson were wounded and captured at the Second Battle of Fort Wager in South Carolina in 1863, and held captive in Salisbury, North Carolina until a prisoner exchange on March 4, 1865 involving 8,684 Union soldiers.

Only one of the twelve Galesburg soldiers, Private Preston Williams, died during service, due to an accident in Jacksonville, Florida, while the rest were discharged at the expiration of their terms.