From staff reports
On Thursday, July 20, at 6 p.m., Reconstruction Era National Historical Park invites the public to attend a series of free special tours in downtown Beaufort marking the 160th anniversary of the 54th Massachusetts’s Infantry’s assault on Fort Wagner and return to Beaufort.
In July 1863, the Black soldiers of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry led an ill-fated attack against Fort Wagner on Morris Island, just outside Charleston Harbor. This moment was famously depicted as the climax of the 1989 film, Glory.
But the regiment’s story did not end on the sandy beaches of Charleston or when the movie’s credits rolled. Two days later, on July 20, 1863, the wounded men of the 54th Massachusetts began pouring into the hospitals of downtown Beaufort, while the local paper lamented their “sad evidences of bravery and patriotism.”
In commemoration of the 160th anniversary of the 54th Massachusetts’s return to Beaufort, the National Park Service is planning a special program to take place downtown on the evening of July 20, 2023. The first phase of this two-part program will be a 1/2-mile, 45-minute walk through downtown, beginning at the Reconstruction Era National Historical Park visitor center at 706 Craven Street at 6 p.m. At the conclusion, visitors are encouraged to travel to Beaufort National Cemetery on Boundary Street, where the second phase of the program will be a 30-minute ranger presentation beginning around 7 p.m. that that explores the stories of the men who died in Beaufort in the days after the assault on Fort Wagner.
Visitors are welcome to attend one, or both, of these programs, and are encouraged to bring a water bottle and wear comfortable walking shoes. As a reminder, for the tour portion taking place at Beaufort National Cemetery, pets are not permitted, and visitors and staff will be required to adhere to all national cemetery regulations.
For more information about Reconstruction Era National Historical Park, visit www.nps.gov/reer
or follow on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ReconstructionNPS.
