Over the weekend, this nineteenth century slip script red earthenware plate sold at Thomaston Place Auction Galleries in Thomaston, Maine. The script appears to read, "J.W. Francis / May 28th 1862," whereas I suspect the plate was made in either Connecticut, New York, New Jersey or Pennsylvania.
However, what really caught my attention about this object was the date, which when I first saw this object I had hoped it read May 28th, 1863 because that is a historic day in Boston history.
According to National Park Service, "Following the Emancipation Proclamation in January 1863, President Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) called for the raising of Black regiments. Massachusetts Governor John Andrew (1818-1867) quickly answered Lincoln's call and began forming the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment, one of the first Black regiments to serve in the U.S. Civil War. Black men from across the city, state, country, and even other nations, traveled to Boston to join this historic regiment. Through their heroic, yet tragic, assault on Battery Wagner, South Carolina in July 1863, the 54th helped inspire the enlistment of more than 180,000 Black soldiers…a boost in morale and manpower that Lincoln recognized as essential to the victory of the United States and the destruction of slavery throughout the country.
Governor Andrew, an abolitionist, eagerly organized the creation of the regiment once securing the permission to do so. Recruiting offices opened throughout the United States and even in Canada as Massachusetts did not have a sufficiently large free Black population to fill the regiment. Local leaders such as Lewis Hayden (1811-1889) as well as national spokesmen including Frederick Douglas (1818-1895) helped recruit soldiers for the regiment. Recruitment met with such success that enough men enlisted to form not only the 54th Regiment but also a second Black infantry regiment, the 55th Massachusetts.
Governor Andrew chose Robert Gould Shaw (1837-1863) of the 2nd Massachusetts Infantry Regiment to lead the 54th. The son of prominent abolitionists, Shaw had already seen combat and been wounded at the Battle of Antietam. Shaw and other officers trained the men of the 54th at Camp Meigs in Readville, just outside of Boston, until late May 1863.
On May 28, 1863, the 54th departed for the war front, marching through Boston, and loaded onto the transport DeMolay for their voyage south. Thousands turned out to watch their farewell parade. According to the Boston Evening Transcript, "no single regiment has attracted larger crowds into the streets than the 54th."... With the band playing "John Brown's Body," the 54th marched down State Street to the waterfront "passing over ground moistened by the blood of Crispus Attucks (1723-1770), and over which Anthony Burns (1834-1862) and Thomas Sims (1834-1902) had been carried back to bondage."
Nonetheless, the plate sold for $1,500 plus the buyer's premium.
A Good 19th Century Slip Script Red Earthenware Plate
Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...
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