During the second attack on Fort Wagner, South Carolina, as the assualt faltered under heavy Confederate fire, Sergeant William Carney of Company B, 54th Massachusetts took charge of the national flag after its color bearer was hit.  Carney, although wounded three times himself, planted the flag on the enemy parapet, and, when the attack finally failed, delivered the flag safely to the Union lines, famously telling his comrades, "Boys, the old flag never touched the ground."  Carney received his medal at a ceremony on May 23, 1900. (By John Osborne)

The 54th Massachusetts, recruited and trained in Boston and made up largely of free blacks from across the country, led the second assault on Fort Wagner.  The brave attempt was thrown back after several hours heavy fighting during which much of the regiment became casualties, including their white colonel, Robert Gould Shaw, killed at the head of his men.  Their efforts, however, were strongly publicized in the North and aided significantly to the growing awareness that African-American soldiers could play a vital role in combat.  (By John Osborne)