Isaac Sawyer of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry

Oct 11

2 min read

For two years after the start of the American Civil War in April 1861, both the Union and Confederate governments refused to enlist African American soldiers. However, when Robert Smalls, a Black harbor pilot, bravely navigated the steamship *Planter* through the Confederate blockade at Charleston Harbor, the Union reconsidered its position. On January 26, 1863, the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, the first Black regiment, was officially formed.

Among the volunteers was 19-year-old Isaac Sawyer, a Vermont stablehand who enlisted as a private on April 3, 1863. For Sawyer and his fellow soldiers, this was more than just a war—it was a fight for the freedom of enslaved African Americans.

Fort Sumter was critical to capturing Charleston, and the batteries on Morris Island were essential to taking Fort Sumter. One of these, Battery Wagner, stood in the way of the Union army's progress. On July 18, 1863, at sunrise, the 54th Massachusetts led a massive assault of 6,000 troops in an attempt to seize the earthen battery.

Later that afternoon, the Union forces advanced, believing that Battery Wagner had been compromised by heavy fire. However, they were shocked to find it still heavily defended, with its guns fully operational. As the Union infantry advanced on a narrow beach, some soldiers waded knee-deep in the ocean surf. The regiment’s leader, Col. Robert Gould Shaw, the only White officer in the unit, was killed instantly. Isaac Sawyer survived the attack but was captured and imprisoned at the Old District Jail on Magazine Street.

While the Union lost the battle, the 54th’s courage inspired thousands of African Americans to join the U.S. military.

After the war, Sawyer returned to Charleston, where he lived for the remainder of his life. He married a local woman, fathered 10 children, and worked as a barber with shops near the Market and on King Street. His first known residence was at 53 Calhoun Street, but records show his family moved several times.

The post-Reconstruction era brought many hardships for the Sawyers as Jim Crow laws were enforced. Isaac Sawyer Jr., his 11-year-old son, died from a seizure, and the family lost both their home and a daughter in the devastating 1886 Charleston earthquake. Sawyer himself faced declining health. Exactly 30 years and one day after the 54th Massachusetts’ charge on Battery Wagner, Isaac Sawyer died at age 49. He was buried at Monrovia Union Cemetery, east of I-26 in Charleston Neck, where a headstone was finally placed in his honor on Veterans Day in 2005.

"Students from the Military Magnet Academy dedicate headstone for Pvt. Isaac Sawyer at the Monrovia Cemetery, Charleston SC, Veterans Day 2005."

To discover more untold stories of Charleston’s history, visit Fort Sumter, one of the city’s most popular and historic parks.