Sergeant Major John H. Wilson

Faces of the 54th

Item contributed by Museum of African American History, Boston & Nantucket

Born in Cincinatti, Ohio, in 1840, John H. Wilson enlisted in the 54^th Massachusetts in April of 1863 at 23 years of age. Wounded at the Second Battle of Fort Wagner, Wilson survived and received a promotion to Sergeant Major after Lewis Douglass resigned the position. He later suffered further injury after getting trapped between two captured train cars. These injuries followed him well after the end of his military service, as he spent time later in life at hospitals for disabled veterans. He married Rosa Holland the day after he mustered out in 1865, and together they had two daughters whom he raised alone after Rosa’s death in 1879. His second wife, Charlotte Bannister, also predeceased him, and he died in the home of his daughter at age 78 in 1919.