Last updated: July 12, 2022
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Answering the Call: Burrill Smith and the 54th Massachusetts
When President Abraham Lincoln called for the raising of African American regiments during the Civil War, Black men from around the country traveled to Boston to enlist with the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment. This story map highlights the experiences of Burrill Smith Jr., one of the men who joined this historic regiment and continued to serve his community throughout his life. To explore additional stories, visit A Brave Black Regiment: The 54th Massachusetts.
Born in Boston in 1846, Burrill Smith Jr. grew up in an abolitionist household. Continuing the activism of his parents, Smith became one of the first recruits in the historic 54th Massachusetts Regiment, one of the first African American regiments to fight for the United States during the American Civil War. Wounded at the Battle of Fort Wagner, Smith served until the end of the conflict. Following the Civil War, Smith joined the Robert A Bell Post, a G.A.R veterans' group and eventually served as its leader. He also remained politically active and established a reputation as a strong advocate for veterans of the 54th.
Explore the story map below to learn about Burrill Smith Jr.'s service during the Civil War and his contributions to his community after the war. Click "Get Started" to enter the map. To read more about each point, click "More" or scroll to view the map, historical images, and accompanying text. To navigate between the points, please use the "Next Stop" button at the bottom of the slides or the arrows on either side of the main image. To view a larger version of the main image depicted below the map, click on the image.
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Burrill Smith Sr. boarded freedom seekers as recorded by the Boston Vigilance Committee Treasurer's records. (Credit: Dr. Irving H. Bartlett Collection, 1830-1880)
1846: 168 Cambridge Street, Boston, Massachusetts
Born in 1846, Burrill Smith Jr. grew up on the north slope of Beacon Hill, in Boston’s free African American community. Little is known of his childhood but his father, Burrill Smith Sr., did open their home at 168 Cambridge Street to freedom seekers. According to the Account Book of Francis Jackson, Treasurer the Vigilance Committee of Boston, the committee reimbursed Smith $1.72 in March 1860 for boarding Jenny Buchannan and $6.00 in July 1860 for boarding Joseph Davis and Henry Dorsey.[1] In addition to operating an Underground Railroad safehouse, Burrill Smith Sr. also hosted one of the most famous Underground Railroad conductors, Harriet Tubman. In a letter to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, abolitionist Frank Sanborn wrote,
You ought to see Harriet Tubman, the woman who brought away 50 slaves in 8 journeys made to Maryland; but perhaps you have seen her. She is the heroine of the day. She came here Friday night and is at 168 Cambridge Street.[2]
Camp Meigs served as the training site for the 54th Regiment. (Credit: Library of Congress)
February - May 1863: Camp Meigs, Boston, Massachusetts
In February 1863, 17-year-old Burrill Smith enlisted in Company A of the newly formed Massachusetts 54th Regiment.[3] One of the first African American Regiments in the American Civil War, Smith and the 54th trained at Camp Meigs in Readville (now Hyde Park) Massachusetts. Smith reflected on his time at Camp Meigs in an 1897 interview for the Boston Daily Advertiser.
We were mustered in 1100 strong and marched away to Readville for drill. There I first saw Col. Shaw. In fact, I became his orderly and remained in that position while we were in Readville.[4]
After two months of training, on May 28 the 54th Massachusetts left Boston for South Carolina.
The Massachusetts 54th Regiment heroically led the assault on Fort Wagner. Unsuccessful, they suffered significant losses. (Credit: Library of Congress)
July 18, 1863: Fort Wagner, Charleston, South Carolina
After leaving Boston, Smith and the 54th Massachusetts arrived in Hilton Head, South Carolina on June 3, 1863.[5] Over the next month the regiment remained in camp, largely confined to "loading and discharging vessels."[6] However, after Robert Gould Shaw, the commander of the 54th, expressed a desire to join the campaign to take Charleston, the regiment joined a larger Union force on James Island, SC to participate in the upcoming assault on Fort Wagner. At dusk on July 18, 1863, the 54th Massachusetts led the Union attack at Fort Wagner. Though the regiment breached the walls of the fort, Confederate counterattacks forced the 54th to retreat. The regiment suffered heavy casualties. Describing the assault in an interview three decades after the battle, Burrill Smith stated:
As we came up the island to charge on the battery, just before we reached the ditch, it looked as though there wasn’t a soul in the battery, but all of a sudden, a cloud of men rose and fired hand grenades into us, and men began to fall on every side. It was a beastly night…I was wounded in the left knee and sank down upon the sand. Dead bodies tumbled and rolled from the parapet and fell on all sides of me. The assault lasted only about half an hour [7]
In the aftermath of the Battle of Fort Wagner, Smith resolved to make it back to Union lines. As he stated,
I heard the order given from the fort to skirmish the bank. Then I knew that I should be discovered and taken prisoner, so I dragged myself along as well as I was able while shot and shell…exploded all around me…I was taken up by one of the 7th Connecticut boys who did great service in taking the wounded and dead off the field at Fort Wagner.[8]
Burrill Smith Jr.'s pension record indicates his injury and recovery in 1863, as well as his eventual mustering out in 1865. (Credit: National Archives)
July - December, 1863: Beaufort, South Carolina
Once back in Union lines, doctors moved Smith to a better equipped hospital at Beaufort, South Carolina, to recover from his wound. Describing the scene at the hospital Smith said,
I shall never forget the sight there. Blood was everywhere, legs and arms just sawed off were in full view, and in my exhausted state you can imagine the harrowing sight it must have been to me.[9]
According to his pension records Smith remained at the hospital until December 31, 1863. Following his discharge, he rejoined the regiment and served until being mustered out in June of 1865.[10] Due to the bullet wound in his left knee, Smith received a pension for the rest of his life.[11]
Smith and his family lived in the Smith family home at 168 Cambridge Street in Beacon Hill. (Credit: Boston Public Library)
1868: 168 Cambridge Street, Boston, Massachusetts
Following the Civil War, Smith moved back to Boston. According to the 1868 city directory, he lived in his family home at 168 Cambridge Street and may have been employed at the Post Office.[12] He married a woman named Alice and had two children, Frederick Douglass Smith, and Harriet Smith.[13]
The former Abiel Smith School housed the quarters of the Robert A. Bell Post, G.A.R. (Credit: Daily Boston Globe)
1877: 46 Joy Street, Boston, Massachusetts
Like many Civil War veterans, Burrill Smith became an active member in the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R). Smith joined the Robert A Bell Post, 134 which is considered the first all-Black G.A.R. post in the country.[14] The post helped organize meetings, anniversaries, and celebrations for veterans of the 54th Massachusetts, 55th Massachusetts, and 5th Massachusetts Cavalry. They also hosted gatherings known as "campfires." Describing one of these events, historian Barbara Gannon wrote,
Rarely held around campfires or even outdoors, [the events] involved storytelling, songs, speeches- both serious and humorous- and other reminiscences of the joys and anguish of military life.[15]
Burrill Smith attended one of these "campfires" on April 1, 1889 at the Robert A. Bell Post headquarters on Smith Court. As The Boston Globe reported,
Robert A. Bell Post. 134. G.A.R. held a social campfire in their hall on Joy Street, corner of Smith Court last evening…Addresses on the good order were made, amid the smoke of the clay pipes-the reminder of old times- by Commander Smith.[16]
In 1895, the members of the Robert A. Bell Post elected Burrill Smith as their commander.[17]
Smith gave a political speech at the Twelfth Baptist Church in Beacon Hill. (Credit: Anthony Burns, A History by Charles Emery Stevens, 1856)
1888: Twelfth Baptist Church, 45 Phillips Street, Boston, Massachusetts
In addition to his work with the Robert A. Bell Post, Smith actively engaged in politics. During the election of 1872, Smith attended a convention of "Colored Citizens of Massachusetts" and added his name to a series of resolutions that called for the election of Ulysses S. Grant.[18] Although a Republican, Smith did not shy away from criticizing the party. In a meeting at Twelfth Baptist Church in 1888, Smith addressed a "packed house" of African American voters. According to a correspondent from the Boston Herald,
He [Smith] praised and then criticized the Republican party. Although it had been derelict and unfaithful to the black man who had stood by it; it was the party that gave the colored race whatever of political liberty it had. This was a meeting, said Mr. Burrill, in which colored Democrats as well as Republicans were invited and expected to take part. Colored Democrats were honest men and were entitled to respect. He did not believe, as some colored Republicans had preposterously charged, that they were traitors or enemies to the race.[19]
Veterans of the 54th and 55th Massachusetts Regiments attended the festivities of the Memorial's dedication. (Credit: Massachusetts Historical Society)
May 31, 1897: Robert Gould Shaw Massachusetts 54th Regiment Memorial, Boston, Massachusetts
On Memorial Day 1897, Augustus Saint-Gaudens finally unveiled the Robert Gould Shaw Massachusetts 54th Memorial on Boston Common. Burrill Smith joined with fellow remaining veterans of the 54th Massachusetts to attend the unveiling. Leading up to the ceremony Smith told a reporter,
Memorial Day…will be the happiest day of my life. I have prayed the good lord to spare my life until that time and I think he is going to do it.[20]
Smith matched his anticipation for the unveiling with a desire to see as many veterans in attendance as possible. He also used the interview as a call to action to furnish transportation for veterans unable to walk:
I don’t like to complain, but I should think some means might be provided for…those who cannot walk. I have written repeatedly to the committee in charge about the matter but have received no answer. Perhaps if you speak of it in the paper…public opinion may influence the committee to act.[21]
Lot in Mt. Hope Cemetery where Burrill Smith Jr. of the Massachusetts 54th Regiment is likely buried. (Credit: NPS Photo/Gould)
16-Mar-00: Mt. Hope Cemetery, Boston, Massachusetts
On Friday, March 16, 1900, Burrill Smith passed away at the age of 64. His funeral, held at St. Paul's Baptist Church on Tremont Street, included delegations from the Robert A. Bell Post 134, G.A.R, Ladies' Relief Corps 67, Robert G. Shaw Veteran Association, and the Ladies' Auxiliary.[22]
Smith served admirably in the 54th and became a strong advocate for veterans through his work with the Robert A. Bell post. As a correspondent for the Boston Daily Advertiser wrote in Smith's obituary,
When the call came for troops for the 54th Mass. Colored regt, Smith was among the first to apply for enlistment. He was chosen by Col. R.G. Shaw as his orderly. He was a past commander of R.A. Bell Post, 134 G.A.R.[23]
Footnotes
[1] Account Book of Francis Jackson, Treasurer The Vigilance Committee of Boston, Dr. Irving H. Bartlett collection, 1830-1880, W. B. Nickerson Cape Cod History Archives, 66-68, Archive.org.
[2] Kathryn Grover and Janine V. Da Silva, "Historic Resource Study: Boston African American National Historic Site," Boston African American National Historic Site, (2002), 168.
[3] “Enlistment Roll of Company A, 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, 1863,” donated by John W. M. Appleton, Massachusetts Historical Society.
[4] “Burrill Smith’s Story,” Boston Daily Advertiser, May 24, 1897.
[5] Russell Duncan, Where Death and Glory Meet (Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 1999) 89.
[6] Duncan, Where Death and Glory Meet, 103
[7] “The Brave Colonel Shaw,” The Sunday Herald (Boston, MA), May 30, 1897.
[8] “The Brave Colonel Shaw,” The Sunday Herald (Boston, MA), May 30, 1897.
[9] “The Brave Colonel Shaw,” The Sunday Herald (Boston, MA), May 30, 1897.
[10] Civil War Union Pension, Oct. 8, 1881. Burrill Smith Jr. (1” Sgt., Co. A, 54th MA Inf., Civil War), pension application no. 351,512, certificate no. 209.259, Case Files of Approved Pension Applications..., 1861-1934; Civil War and Later Pension Files; Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
[11] Civil War Union Pension, Oct. 8, 1881. Burrill Smith Jr. (1” Sgt., Co. A, 54th MA Inf., Civil War), pension application no. 351,512, certificate no. 209.259, Case Files of Approved Pension Applications..., 1861-1934; Civil War and Later Pension Files; Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
[12] George Adams, Directory of the City of Boston, 1868 (Boston Athenaeum) p. 537.
[13] Massachusetts, U.S., Birth Records, 1866, Boston. No. 86., accessed through Ancestry.com; Massachusetts, U.S., Death Records, 1870, Boston. No. 56., accessed through Ancestry.com.
[14] “Oldest Colored Post,” Boston Globe, June 30, 1892.
[15] Barbara A. Gannon, The Won Cause, 35.; "Introduction," The Grand Army of the Republic and Kindred Societies, Main Reading Room. (Library of Congress)
[16] “Bell Post Veterans Imitate War-Time Festivities,” Boston Globe, April 2, 1889.
[17] “Election by Robert A. Bell Post, G.A.R.” Boston Globe, December 6, 1895.
[18] “To the Colored Citizens of Massachusetts and New England,” Boston Globe, August 17, 1872.
[19] “Voters Who Object to Cleveland Men and Their Complexion,” Boston Herald, August 17, 1888.
[20] “Burrill Smith’s Story,” Boston Daily Advertiser, May 24, 1897.
[21] “Burrill Smith’s Story,” Boston Daily Advertiser, May 24, 1897.
[22] “Veterans at his Bier,” Boston Herald, March 19, 1900.
[23] “Burrill Smith,” Boston Daily Advertiser, March 19, 1900.