1st South Carolina Volunteer Infantry Regiment (Colored)

The 1st South Carolina Volunteer Infantry Regiment (Colored) was a Union Army regiment during the American Civil War, formed by General Rufus Saxton. It was composed of escaped slaves from South Carolina and Florida. The 1st SC Volunteer Infantry black regiment was formed in 1862 and became the 33rd United States Colored Troops Regiment in February of 1864.^[3][4][5] It has the distinction of being the first black regiment to fight in the Civil War at the Skirmish at Spaulding's on the Sapelo River GA. It was one of the first black regiments in the Union Army.^[a]

1st Regiment South Carolina Volunteer Infantry (Colored)
“We, their officers, did not go there to teach lessons, but to receive them. There were more than a hundred men in the ranks who had voluntarily met more dangers in their escape from slavery than any of my young captains had incurred in all their lives.” — Col. Thomas Wentworth Higginson^[1]
Active	May 1862 to February 9, 1866^[2]
Country	United States
Allegiance	United States of America Union
Branch	Infantry
Equipment	Rifled muskets
Commanders
Notable commanders	Col. Thomas Wentworth Higginson

History

 

Port Royal Island - 1. Camp Saxton (Smith's plantation)

Most of the slaves in the South Carolina Sea Islands became free after the Battle of Port Royal on November 7, 1861 when many of the white residents and plantation owners fled the area after the arrival of the Union Navy and Army.^[6] The 1st South Carolina Volunteer Infantry (Colored) Regiment was organized on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina in May of 1862 under the Department of the South by General David Hunter. Most of the men in the unit were former Gullah slaves from the South Carolina Sea Islands who spoke Gullah, a Sea Island Creole.^[7] The unit was disbanded in August of 1822 under orders from President Abraham Lincoln because Hunter was not authorized by the U.S. War Department to recruit contraband (free Blacks) into the army, and the recruits were involuntarily forced into the regiment "in a manner reminiscent of their days as slaves".^[8][9][10] Although Hunter disbanded the regiment under orders from the U.S. War Department, Hunter kept 100 soldiers sending the rest home. The company of 100 Gullah soldiers were placed on guard duty at St. Simon's Island. This company of 100 Black soldiers in the 1st South Carolina remained,^[11] and the regiment was later reorganized at the Smith plantation near Beaufort under General Rufus Saxton on August 22, 1862 when U.S. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton authorized Saxton to "arm, equip, and receive into the service of the United States such volunteers of African descent as you may deem expedient, not exceeding 5,000".^[12][13][14] In October of 1862 Company A of the First South Carolina Volunteer Infantry Regiment was organized with other companies organized soon after, and by January 31, 1863 the 1st South Carolina was mustered into military service.^[15][16]

"Attempts to recruit troops from Hilton Head's African-American population were difficult at first due to the memory of the failed 'Hunter Experiment.' These obstacles were overcome and the first company was formed under the command of Captain C.T. Trowbridge", and on November 10, 1862 Colonel Thomas Wentworth Higginson assumed command. As early as November 3, 1862, sixty-two members from Company A of the regiment under the command of Lt. Colonel Oliver T. Beard conducted raids on saltworks in northeast Florida. During their military operations in Florida, the 1st South Carolina liberated enslaved people and recruited them into the Union Army.^[17] The 1st South Carolina Volunteer Infantry regiment did an expedition up the St. Mary's River along the Georgia-Florida state line which lasted from January 23 to February 1, 1863. The regiment captured and occupied Jacksonville, Florida on March 10, 1863 and did other skirmishes along the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.^[18][19] They were particularly effective at conducting raids along the coast of Florida and Georgia, due to the men’s familiarity with the terrain.^[20] On July 9-11, 1863 the 1st South Carolina completed an expedition along the Edisto River where they helped to liberate enslaved people in the area fleeing to Union boats.^[21] Gullah soldiers of the 1st South Carolina were trained at Camp Saxton, named after General Rufus Saxton, located in present day Port Royal, South Carolina and occupied the camp from November 1862 to January 1863.^[22][23]

 

"Emancipation Day in South Carolina" - Soldiers Prince Rivers and Corporal Robert Sutton of the 1st South Carolina (Colored) are presented with the Stars and Stripes at the former John Joyner Smith plantation renamed Camp Saxton

The regiment was a step in the evolution of Union thinking towards the escaped slaves who crossed their lines. Initially they were returned to their owners. Next they were considered contraband and employed as laborers. Finally the legal fiction that they were property was abandoned and they were allowed to enlist in the Army, although in segregated units commanded by white officers. As a holdover from the "contraband" days, black privates were paid $10 per month, the rate for laborers, rather than the $13 paid to white privates. The men served as the precedent for the over 170,000 "colored" troops who followed them into the Union Army. Harriet Tubman served with these men as a cook, nurse, spy, and scout. Susie King Taylor was born enslaved near Savanna, Georgia and escaped from slavery in the summer of 1862 during the Civil War and fled to St. Simon's Island, Georgia and encountered Company A of the 1st South Carolina Infantry. Taylor followed the 1st South Carolina back to Camp Saxton in Port Royal in October of 1862.^[24] She served as a laundress and nurse for the men and married Edward King who was a sergeant in the 1st South Carolina. During Taylor's time with the regiment she taught men in Company E how to read and write. Susie K. Taylor learned how to read and write when she was enslaved in Georgia in a secret school operated by two free Black women.^[25] Taylor remained with the regiment from August 1862 until they mustered out of service on February 9, 1866 at Fort Wagner located on Morris Island, South Carolina.^[26][27]

Black military service during the Civil war may have been the catalyst to grant citizenship to African Americans and women under the 14th amendment, as both groups served in the war as soldiers or nurses. Frederick Douglass who was a 19th century civil rights activists believed Black Americans deserved citizenship because of their military service in the Union Army. He said: "Once let the black man get upon his person the brass letter, U.S., let him get an eagle on his button, and a musket on his shoulder and bullets in his pocket, there is no power on earth that can deny that he has earned the right to citizenship".^[28]

The National Park Service has a list of soldiers that served in the 1st South Carolina Volunteer Infantry (Colored) Regiment.^[29]

Officers

The regiment’s first commander was Col. Thomas Wentworth Higginson, a minister, author and abolitionist. He wrote of his men, “We, their officers, did not go there to teach lessons, but to receive them. There were more than a hundred men in the ranks who had voluntarily met more dangers in their escape from slavery than any of my young captains had incurred in all their lives.”

During the war Higginson documented the Gullah dialect spoken by some of the men and made a record of the spirituals that they sang. Higginson later wrote a book about his experiences titled Army Life in a Black Regiment.^[1] In 1867, Higginson published the first collection of African American spirituals in the Atlantic Monthly.^[30] During the Civil war, Higginson, northern teachers, and Union soldiers in the South Carolina sea islands heard Gullah spirituals for the first time and Higginson brought Gullah spirituals to national attention in his publication. Higginson explained the lyrics were religious and about triumph.^[31]

Major Seth Rogers was regimental surgeon and wrote extensive wartime letters. His nephew, Captain James Seth Rogers, previously of the 51st Massachusetts, was captain of Company B.^[32]

Notable people

 

Prince Rivers

Some of the soldiers who served in the 1st SC volunteers became historical figures in the Black community. Prince Rivers was born enslaved in a coastal town in Beaufort, South Carolina and escaped from slavery when the Sea Islands of South Carolina was occupied by the Union Navy and Army. With his freedom he joined the 1st South Carolina Volunteers Colored Infantry and became the sergeant and held the position of provost of the guard. Rivers was also present at the Emancipation Day celebration at Camp Saxton and received the colors of the First South Carolina Volunteers.^[33] After the war, Rivers served as a delegate to the 1868 South Carolina Constitutional Convention, represented Edgefield County in the state House of Representatives, and served as a representative in the House of Aiken County in 1874.^[34]

Another notable historic person who served with the 1st South Carolina Infantry was Corporal Robert Sutton. Robert Sutton was born enslaved on the Alberti Plantation along Florida’s northeastern boundary near Georgia. During his years enslaved, he sailed up and down the Saint Mary’s River transporting lumber and his enslavers. Sutton escaped from slavery on a canoe he built sailing upriver until he reached Camp Saxton and enlisted into the 1st South Carolina Volunteer black regiment. On January 1, 1863 there was an Emancipation Day celebration at Camp Saxton and Corporal Sutton was presented the flag.^[35]

Redesignation

The regiment was re-designated the 33rd United States Colored Infantry Regiment on February 8, 1864.

See also

• 1st Kansas Colored Infantry Regiment
• 1st Louisiana Native Guard (United States)
• Liberty Billings, second in command of the regiment
• List of Union South Carolina Civil War Units

•  American Civil War portal

Note

1. The 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, whose exploits are memorialized in the film Glory, was formed afterwards and drew from free Northern blacks.

References

1. "Army Life in a Black Regiment, By Thomas Wentworth Higginson". www.gutenberg.org.
2. "Guide to the 1st South Carolina / 33 Rd U.S. Colored Troops Records". Online Archive of California. Department of Special Collections Davidson Library University of California, Santa Barbara. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
3. Hatcher, Richard. "First South Carolina Regiment". South Carolina Encyclopedia. University of South Carolina, Institute for Southern Studies. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
4. Bradley, Anders (9 September 2018). "The First South Carolina Volunteer Infantry Regiment (1862-1866)". www.blackpast.org. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
5. Smith, Stephen. "Contrabands". South Carolina Encyclopedia. University of South Carolina, Institute for Southern Studies. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
6. Condon, Rich (3 November 2021). ""The Year of Jubilee Has Come" - The First South Carolina Infantry at Camp Saxton". www.battlefields.org. American Battlefield Trust. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
7. "Camp Saxton Site" (PDF). National Register of Historic Places. United States Department of Interior, The National Park Service. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
8. "Guide to the 1st South Carolina / 33 Rd U.S. Colored Troops Records". Online Archive of California. Department of Special Collections Davidson Library University of California, Santa Barbara. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
9. Roth, Ron. "The Civil War in the South Carolina Lowcountry". Army University Press. United States Government. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
10. McRae, Bennie J.; Miller, Curtis M.; Trowbridge-Miller, Cheryl (2006). Nineteenth Century Freedom Fighters: The 1st South Carolina Volunteers. Arcadia Publishing. p. ix. ISBN 9780738524962.
11. "History of the 33rd United States Colored Troops (USCT)". www.lowcountryafricana.com. Magnolia Plantation Foundation of Charleston. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
12. "Camp Saxton Site, Beaufort County (United States Naval Hospital Beaufort, Port Royal)". National Register Properties in South Carolina. South Carolina Department of Archives and History. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
13. "Citizenship Through Service". Beaufortcountysc.gov. Beaufort County government. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
14. Low Country Gullah Culture Special Resource Study and Final Environmental Impact Statement. The National Park Service. 2005. p. 44.
15. Hatcher, Richard. "First South Carolina Regiment". South Carolina Encyclopedia. University of South Carolina, Institute for Southern Studies. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
16. "1st Regiment, South Carolina Infantry (Colored)". The Civil War / Battle Unites Details. The National Park Service. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
17. Winsboro, Irvin D. S. (Summer 2007). "Give Them Their Due: A Reassessment of African Americans and Union Military Service in Florida during the Civil War". The Journal of African American History. 92 (3): 330. doi:10.1086/JAAHv92n3p327. JSTOR 20064203. S2CID 141122588. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
18. "Guide to the 1st South Carolina / 33 Rd U.S. Colored Troops Records". Online Archive of California. Department of Special Collections Davidson Library University of California, Santa Barbara. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
19. Nazarian, Sara. "Civil War: Thirty-third United States Colored Infantry (USCI)/ First South Carolina Infantry (Colored)". Veterans Legacy Program. University of Central Florida. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
20. "The Color of Bravery". American Battlefield Trust. July 29, 2013.
21. "History of the 33rd United States Colored Troops (USCT)". www.lowcountryafricana.com. Magnolia Plantation Foundation of Charleston. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
22. "A Teacher's Guide to African American Historic Places in South Carolina" (PDF). www.scdah.sc.gov. South Carolina African American Heritage Foundation. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
23. "Camp Saxton". The National Park Service. Reconstruction Era National Historical Park. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
24. Condon, Rich (3 November 2021). ""The Year of Jubilee Has Come" - The First South Carolina Infantry at Camp Saxton". www.battlefields.org. American Battlefield Trust. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
25. "Susie King Taylor An African American Nurse and Teacher in the Civil War". The Library of Congress / African American Collection. The Library of Congress. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
26. Taylor, Susie King (1902). . Boston. Archived from the original on 2015-09-06. Retrieved 2012-10-10.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
27. "Susie King Taylor". The National Park Service. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
28. "Black Soldiers in the U.S. Military During the Civil War". www.archives.gov. The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
29. "Search For Soldiers". The National Park Service. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
30. "Thomas Wentworth Higginson". University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
31. Tibbetts, John H. "Spirituals" (PDF). creativefolk.com. Beaufort Country Black Chamber of Commerce. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
32. "War-Time Letters From Seth Rogers, M.D. Surgeon of the First South Carolina Afterwards the Thirty-third U.S.C.T. 1862-1863". Retrieved 2016-05-03.
33. "Sergeant Prince Rivers receives the colors of the First South Carolina Volunteers, Port Royal, South Carolina, January 1, 1863". Dickinson College. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
34. Poole, Scott. "Rivers, Prince". South Carolina Encyclopedia. University of South Carolina, Institute for Southern Studies. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
35. "Robert Sutton - 1st South Carolina Volunteers". The National Park Service. Reconstruction Era National Historical Park. Retrieved 30 March 2024.

Other sources

• Stephen V. Ash, Firebrand of Liberty: The Story of Two Black Regiments That Changed the Course of the Civil War (W. W. Norton & Company 2008).
• Higginson, Thomas Wentworth, Army Life in a Black Regiment, 1869.