<Tr> <Th> Colonel </Th> <Td> Robert Gould Shaw </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Colonel </Th> <Td> Edward Needles Hallowell </Td> </Tr> <P> The 54th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that saw extensive service in the Union Army during the American Civil War . The unit was the first African - American regiment organized in the northern states during the Civil War . Authorized by the Emancipation Proclamation, the regiment consisted of African - American enlisted men commanded by white officers . </P> <P> The unit began recruiting in February 1863 and trained at Camp Meigs outside Boston, Massachusetts . Prominent abolitionists were active in recruitment efforts, including Frederick Douglass, whose two sons were among the first to enlist . Massachusetts Governor John Albion Andrew, who had long pressured the U.S. Department of War to begin recruiting African - Americans, placed a high priority on the formation of the 54th Massachusetts . Andrew appointed Robert Gould Shaw, the son of Boston abolitionists, to command the regiment as Colonel . The free black community in Boston was also instrumental in recruiting efforts, utilizing networks reaching beyond Massachusetts and even into the southern states to attract soldiers and fill out the ranks . After its departure from Massachusetts on May 28, 1863, the 54th Massachusetts was shipped to Beaufort, South Carolina and became part of the X Corps commanded by Major General David Hunter . </P>

What was the first african american regiment in the civil war