Group of two buttons, two shirt studs, and a masonic pin worn by John Whittier Messer Appleton (1832-1913), Captain in the famous 54th Massachusetts, a regiment primarily comprised of African American soldiers. The military buttons were worn by Appleton during his service in the Civil War, and were quite likely with him at the Second Battle of Fort Wagner. There, Appleton valiantly led his men and was seriously wounded. Unlike the regiment's Colonel, Robert Gould Shaw, Appleton managed to escape with his life.

This small grouping was part of a larger collection of Appleton's effects (including his sword) and is accompanied by a letter of provenance as well as photos that show the buttons with Appleton's other items.

The 54th Massachusetts Infantry was organized in March 1863 by Robert Gould Shaw, the son of a notable Boston abolitionist. Composed primarily of free northern blacks, including two sons of iconic abolitionist Frederick Douglass, the regiment carried the expectations of an enslaved race on their shoulders. Men like Harper and Richardson rose to the occasion. Colonel Shaw (played by Matthew Broderick in Glory) was killed during the regiment’s historic charge at Battery Wagner in South Carolina and was buried in a mass grave with his fallen troops. Intended as an insult, it became an eternal honor.

[Civil War, Union, Confederate, African Americana, African American History, Slavery, Abolition, Enslavement, Emancipation, USCT, United States Colored Troops, Emancipation Proclamation, Manuscripts, Documents, Letters, Ephemera]