Events mark 150th anniversary of black infantry attack - Live5News.com | Charleston, SC | News, Weather, Sports

By BRUCE SMITH

Associated Press

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) - Six days of events next week will recall a fight that helped put to rest the Civil War myth that black soldiers could not fight.

Next Thursday is the 150th anniversary of the ill-fated 1863 attack by the black 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry on Confederate Battery Wagner on Charleston Harbor, an attack chronicled in the movie "Glory."

Anniversary events begin Tuesday and run through next weekend and include encampments, a symposium and the dedication of a monument on Charleston's Battery.

The highlight will be Thursday when re-enactors lay a wreath on Morris Island in Charleston Harbor. The 54th was formed in Boston and of the 600 black troops who charged the battery, 218 were killed, wounded or captured.

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