January 6, 2025 • 33 mins
The Carolina Storyteller is back for 2025 and ready to tell the stories like never before. The week we're talking about Josiah Walls, a slave once forced to work for the Confederate army, Josiah went on to be a military hero, and United States Senator, and a great Educator. Josiah also worked with the 54th Massachusetts Infantry when the regiment joined Josiahs and other to spearhead an attack on Fort Wagner in attempt to take Charleston SC.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Atomicon twenty twenty five is coming to May third and
fourth at De Trient Technical College Convention Center in North Charleston,
South Carolina. This fan driven celebration of all thanks Geeky
celebrates its eleventh year with guest of Honor to Elilah
Dawson's Charleston Absent Friends, the annual film festival, panels, podcasts,
(00:21):
costume contests, and so much more. Go to atomicon dot
org for tickets and more information, and we'll see you there.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
In the Dog Words with Shadows Creek Story Rise as
the Kimpfarties.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Johnsa hansis with every sale heap bensil and goes.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Whispers to Nice.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Lousy by the Firelousely show, a lot of storytellergize through
the stuff.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
The Missing night Night, a nice.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Lot sells, A Friday Tread every heart of path We
tread fan expenses.
Speaker 4 (01:27):
Happy new year everyone, It's twenty twenty five, and welcome
back to the Carolina the Storyteller, Brand new year, brand
new season. I am your storyteller, Jonathan Poenix. It is
a pleasure to have you here with me today. You
got a lot going on. It's twenty twenty five. It's
been crazy already. This is the first full week. Happy
Monday to those of you that are listening to this
on the day it comes out. And this year has
(01:50):
already been crazy, and I'm just one that hopes it
gets better. A lot of things are happening, and a
lot of things are happening here at the Carolina Storyteller.
First of all, it's the fact that I've kind of
started my own company. It's the Carolina Storyteller Productions. It's
still into works. I haven't even gotten the LCC stuff yet,
but I've got products. Other than the merchandise and everything.
(02:12):
I have three shows that I am technically producing. I mean,
of course, I have The Carolina Storyteller, which is my
thing I've been doing for two years. It's really easy.
I know how to do it and I know what
you guys like, so that's not a problem. I have
Valmont The Black Raven Chronicles, where I am the head
writer and producer, and I've got a great group, a
(02:34):
great cast and crew that are helping me put that
show together. We've got two episodes out right now. The
third episode will hit Patreon on the fifteenth, So if
you've listened to episode one and episode two and you
want to get a jump on everyone else. Dollar a month,
you can join the Valmont family and get to listen
to that episode two weeks before everyone else. You'll get
(02:54):
a whole bunch of behind the scenes stuff that's going
to be coming up, and you get to support the
great cast and crew that are giving their time and
their talent to make this show possible. So definitely want
to go over to Patreon dot com Ford s Last
see Carolina Storyteller if you're a fan of Valmont and
just you know, help out the cast and crew. They
(03:16):
would love it and appreciate it, and you'll get a
jump on everybody else and be able to say you're
not going to believe what this episode is going to be. Oh,
you can't believe what's about to happen. And if you
are a fan of Truth or Demon podcast, which I
know some of you are, just know that Stevie from
Truth or Demon's character, she's playing Detective Sarah Klein, and
(03:40):
her character will be making her debut in this next episode.
So you know the first few episodes and kind of
bringing the cast together, kind of starting to tell the story.
It's all world building and so we're getting a final
piece of the puzzle there with Stevie finally making her introduction.
This is this episode is going to be pretty big
(04:02):
on the lore of what's actually going on in Black Raven.
So I think everybody's gonna really like it. I think
it's gonna kind of make people go, what in the
world is going on? They're gonna figure it out now
because it's going to be in this episode that's coming up.
Mont to Black Raven Chronicles always airs in the first
of the month unless you have it on Patreon and
you get it on the fifteenth, two weeks early. Remember that. Next,
(04:25):
we have my newest show, the live streams that come
out every other Saturday. This one is called Not Just Paranormal,
Not Normal Either. Yes, I put the subtitle in there
because we're not normal either, and we're not just paranormal.
The show does have a paranormal flavor to it. That's
(04:47):
just who I am. But we do talk about other things.
We do have some fun, and of course we have
the National Cryptid Championship, the first ever championship tournament will
be starting January eleventh, and the first show of the year.
I believe it's gonna be with Alabama versus I can't
(05:08):
remember who Alabama's going up against. Wow, I really gotta
figure that out. Anyway, it's gonna be Alabama versus somebody,
and they're gonna be well, they're gonna be having a
bad time because Alabama is just gonna lay into it.
And that's gonna be coming up, as I said, just
(05:30):
a couple of weeks, in just a week on not
just Paranormal. So anyway, we've gotten into all that, there's
one last thing I want to talk about, and that
is this show right here, the Carolina Storyteller, the Carolina Storyteller.
We're gonna be changing up how we do things a
little bit. I love what I do, I really do,
(05:51):
and I love that you guys love what I do.
But I want to branch out just a little bit.
And in order to do that, what I've decided to
do is to kind of take it and push it
to the next level by creating what I'd like to
think of as being a new format for the show.
(06:14):
So we're going to be doing two stories every episode
now instead of just one. And the reason we're doing
two stories is because I'm going to be having more
guests on this year and these guests going to be
guests who will be sharing their stories with me to
share with you. So just like I'm telling you stories
(06:37):
all the time, they're going to be telling me stories.
And then of course I'll have a story that ties
into their story, and then we'll have the great story
that you guys will be enjoying ever so much. So
please be ready and on the lookout for that. And
with that being said, I'm really really psyched to get
(06:58):
started with today's episode. Today we do have two stories,
as I said, and the two stories are connected. So
the first story I want to tell you about isn't
so much a story, but it's about a man. He
is probably one of the least known, yet most amazing
(07:20):
figures to come out of the American Civil War. And
I feel like, honestly, we have a really rough political
climate right now, but you know, the Civil War happened.
It was probably the worst political climate ever in the
United States of America. But there was some very interesting
(07:41):
and good things that came out of it, and one
of them was the life of Josiah Thomas Walls. Josiah
Thomas Walls was born on December thirtieth, eighteen forty two.
He was a farmer. Well, he was a slave as
a farmer, I said, nineteen forty two, eighteen forty two.
(08:03):
We're in the eighteen hundreds, not to nineteen hundreds. He
was born in Winchester, Virginia. His parents were not known.
He lived a slave's life for about twenty years until
the American Civil War happened, and then when the American
Civil War happened, he was basically given to the Confederate
Army as a slave to work for them with no pay,
(08:25):
because you know, why would you pay someone who's working
in your army when you're going to war. That makes
no sense whatsoever when you can have slaves. Honestly, look, guys,
if you're listening to this and you plan on forming
an army, understand something, Okay, Armies run on two things,
money and stomachs. If you're not feeding them and you're
(08:47):
not paying them, they're going to turn on you and
you're going to lose. That's just how it is. A
loyal army who's there and is fighting because they believe
on you is ten times better then a paid off
or unpaid so they really have no interest in fighting
for you in the first place. Army that was just
(09:11):
no wonder the Confederate Army Lost's the dumbest thing I've
ever heard of, anyway. In eighteen sixty two, at Yorktown,
the Union Army captured and freed him from slavery. So
he voluntarily joined the United States Colored Troop and was
a member of the third United States Regiment. A third
(09:35):
United States Colored Regiment. He rose to the rank of
first sergeant, fighting in several campaigns throughout the southeast South Carolina, Georgia,
and Florida in eighteen sixty sorry. In eighteen sixty three,
he made first sergeant. After the war, he was discharged
(09:57):
in Florida and settled in at Lacha County, Florida. Because
he had self taught himself and had some early education,
Walls became a teacher in the nearby town of Archer,
where he helped educate African American students and taught them
(10:18):
how to read, write, and things like that because they
could now. After a brief period of time, Walls became
a delegate to the state Constitutional Convention in eighteen sixty eight.
His county looked at him as a leader because he
was a teacher, and so they sent him and he
(10:40):
was almost immediately elected from the county to the Florida
House of Resentatives. When State Senator Horatio Jenkins resigned because
he was given a judge ship, Walls decided to run
in a special election. He won his seat in December
(11:03):
of that same year. So he went from and it's
amazing he went from a slave to soldier, to sergeant,
to teacher, to delegate, to congressman to senator, all in
the span of eight years. Because it was December twenty ninth,
(11:28):
nineteen sixty eight when he took office as a state senator,
and he would serve as a state senator until eighteen seventy.
So here he is. This man is born I understand.
He's born eighteen forty two, eighteen sixty two. He's just
twenty years old, and he's having and he's a slave,
and he becomes a freed slave from the Confederate Army.
(11:50):
At twenty years old, he joins the army, serves in
the army. At twenty six, he becomes a he becomes
a senator six twenty six. He was twenty six years
old December twenty ninth, eighteen sixty eight, twenty six years old.
He's already a state Senator. He serves until eighteen seventy
(12:14):
when Florida has a big at large congressional seat election
and Walls is like, yeah, I'll do that, And while
there were many delegates that were spitting for it, he
ended up winning the nomination on the eleventh ballot and
went on to win the eighteen seventy general election and
(12:37):
serve in the forty second Congress. Now, of course, as
soon as he became a congressman a Southern Democrat. And understand,
if you don't know, the Democrats back then were basically
the Confederates. The side switch happened in the nineteen fifties
(12:57):
thanks to Strong Thurman deciding that all the day Astocrats
needed to join the Republicans. But before that the Democrats
were the bad guys, just so you guys know, And
so they contested the vote and a Democratic Committee on
Elections unseated Walls midway through his first term due to
(13:21):
election irregularis, so he ran again in eighteen seventy two.
He won held his office. He established bills for an
education fund and to aid pensioners and for seminal war veterans.
The Seminal Wars. It took place in Florida between eighteen
sixteen and eighteen fifty eight between the seminal Native Americans
(13:43):
and of course Floridians. He was trying to get these
people benefits. That's right, this guy was looking out for veterans.
In seventy four, he ran for reelection to what was
now known as the as the Florida Second District. He
won the election, but another Democrat and former Confederate Colonel
(14:06):
Jesse J. Finley, contested the results of the election. After
some hymen in han which took almost a year, Finley
was declared the winner by the Democratic controlled House of Representatives,
and unfortunately Walls was yet again for the second time
(14:27):
out of three elections, unseated from a seat that he won.
Just an idea of how crooked politics can really be
and how sometimes the winner isn't really the winner. You'll
figure that out later anyway, So we go back to
(14:47):
state politics. Walls decides that he's going to go back
to the being senator for a little while, and he
served again in his old Senate seat for four years,
and then in eighteen eighty he lost his reelection. Now
in the midst of his varied political career, and I'm
(15:09):
realizing eighteen eighty the man was thirty eight when he
really ended his political career. He was thirty eight years old.
I'm forty five and I've never been near politics. This
guy's I don't know what to say about Walls. I mean,
just amazing. In the midst of all this, Walls became
a lawyer. He taught himself and took the bar in
(15:33):
Alancha County in April seventh, eighteen seventy three, and passed.
He also served as the mayor of Gainesville, Florida, for
a period of time, of course, religning, resigning so that
he could go to the Senate. He created his own
law partnership in Gainesville, Florida with Henry S. Harmon, who
(15:55):
was the first African American to be admitted to the
bar in Florida, and had a successful law firm going
in Tallahassee, Florida. Now he did leave all of that
behind in the eighteen nineties. He operated a farm for
(16:17):
a while as well as a lawyer farmer. You know,
this guy's got it all going. And then in the
eighteen nineties he decided to take a teaching position as
the farm director of the State Normal and Industrial College
for Florida students. This would much later become Florida A
and M. It's just kind of like how the University
of South Carolina's Agricultural School ended up becoming Clemson. Schools
(16:44):
evolve as they grow and they become better at what
they're doing. Florida A and M came out of what
was literally the state's normal and industrial college for colored students,
which just shows how much he put in. He taught
there all the way till he died on May fifth,
nineteen oh five. So that is Josiah Walls, a great American,
(17:05):
a great man, and he did so much in such
a short period of time and then went on to
help people and to teach people, which is just amazing.
And I'm sure there are people that would go through
and say, well he did this and this and that.
I don't care. We're focusing on what he did that
was amazing, and I don't want to hear anything else.
(17:27):
Gove Govey, we woight not be talking to Goevey. I
talked to a second time. Now we're going to talk
about there's a reason that I brought up Josiah. Josiah
was key in battles that took place in the South,
particularly in South Carolina. I'm from Charles, South Carolina. I'm
(17:49):
from Charleston, South Carolina, and Charleston, South Carolina was a major,
major target for the Union in eighteen sixty three. And
that leads us to the second story for today, which
is the story of the fifty fourth Massachusetts and Morris Island.
(18:13):
So the fifty fourth Massachusetts, for those of you who
don't know, was an all colored regiment. It was all
African American save for officers who were of course white.
Because you know, we were willing to give freedom out
back then, but we weren't willing to let you lead
yourselves back then. I don't know what the hell was
going on with people's brains back then, but you know,
(18:37):
this was a very big push to try and get
We needed men and we had people who had a
reason to fight, and so it was pushed. People like
Frederick Douglas and John Albion Andrew were all trying to
recruit African Americans into this and it was the formation
of the fifty fourth. And if you think you've heard
(18:59):
about this before, it's because you have. There was a
little movie that came out in nineteen eighty nine. I'm
kind of nothing cast really. I mean, there was some
stam Matthew Broderick was in it, and Carrie Wells. You know,
(19:19):
I think Morgan Freeman was in it. I think Morgan
Freeman played a character in it at one point in time.
And then there was this one guy. Oh he was
a nobody at the time. What was his name? What
was the guy's name? Oh? Yeah, Denzel Washington who took
(19:40):
home an oscar early on in his career for Best
Supporting Actor for his performance, which, by the way, I'm
just saying it was an amazing performance in that movie
and very deserving of that oscar. Anyway, that movie is
based on the true story of the fifty fourth Massachusetts. Yeah,
(20:01):
they took some liberties, but really it follows what actually happened,
where these men who had nothing gave everything to defend
and protect this country. And so they were formed in Boston, Massachusetts,
February of eighteen sixty three. It was one hundred and
(20:25):
fifty all black regiment that was raised there. They started
training at Camp Mingus on the outskirts of Boston. Their
leader was Robert Goldshad, who was, you know, just your
average union officer, and this was his first command. He
(20:48):
was giving command of this regiment, not because it was
supposed to be a punishment like many thought it was
to be, but because he was the son of an
abolitionist and he was sympathetic to the plight and movement
of colored people in the United States of America at
the time. Now, the fifty fourth was originally kind of
(21:13):
put as part of the X Corps. What the X
Corps was. It was part of the Union Army, and
it served operations in South Carolina in the South and
then moved on to join Benjamin Butler's Army of James
during the Bermuda, hundred and Petersburg campaigns later on down
(21:34):
the war. They were a support unit. They weren't actually
supposed to be front lines. That all changed very soon.
But during their service they took part in major operations.
And this is what we're going to focus. Apart these
operations were the Siege of Charleston, and to really tell
(21:55):
the story, we have to talk about the Battle of
Grimbal's Landing. So the Battle of Grimble's Landing, it was
the regiment's first engagements. First time these people who have
trained ever got a chance to fight, and this took
place on July sixteenth, eighteen sixty three, when the Union
attacked James Island, South Carolina. If you've never been to
(22:15):
James Island, it's on the south end of Florida. The
idea was to draw troops away from Fort Wagner because
we were getting ready to hit Fort Wagner so that
we could get to Charleston. The goal was to take Charleston.
In the engagement, which was later published by First Sergeant
(22:36):
Robert John Simmons of the fifty fourth, it was described
to be a desperate battle in which two hundred and
fifty pickets are you know what they're talking about is
is soldiers from the regiment. So two hundred and fifty
went up against nine hundred Confederates with a reserve of
three thousand men on the front had towards them. The
(23:02):
fifty fourth stopped their advance and held them for a
time before retreating to their own encampment. After this engagement,
the fifty four earned its It earned its name. They
were recognized by Brigadier General Afford Terry for their steadiness
(23:24):
and solidarity of conduct. Because these men did not did
not waver. They held until the last and stopped all
nine hundred of those men. They were outnumbered more than
three to one, almost four to one, and held their ground.
Now two days later it would come the Battle of
Fort Wagner, and this is where the regiment has gained
(23:49):
its widespread acclaim. If you've watched the movie Glory, you
know about the Battle of Fort Wagner and understand that
there were many, many things that came out of this.
So the fifty fourth had just returned from James Island
their withdraw and they had two days without food. They
(24:13):
returned to the main Union first and in the afternoon
July thinks. They were tired, they were hungry, and they
were placed at the vanguard of a force of four
thousand men to storm Fort Wagner. It was launched at
seven forty five pm. There was a narrow split of
land that kind of opened up as the tide went
(24:34):
and this was their shot. They had sixteen thousand, I'm sorry,
sixteen hundred yards to cross along this split. It was
a very treacherous part of marshland. It was the only
way they could get in. They were literally the spear
had going through the bottomneck. They had to cross a
water filled ditch and then cover the forts outer wall,
(24:56):
and the fifty fourth, after their success at the Battle
of Gemo, tired, haggard, hungry, took to this mission with Gumpshen.
The fifty fourth Massachusetts numbered about six hundred men at
the time they stormed that beach climbed that wall. Two
(25:22):
hundred and seventy members of the fifty fourth were wounded, captured,
or killed during the engagement. Colonel Shaw, the original leader,
was killed. Twenty nine of his men died climbing that wall.
Twenty four more later died of wounds. There were fifteen
(25:44):
that were captured, fifty two were declared missing an action,
and over one hundred and forty nine of them were wounded,
and these casualties represented the highest in the history of
a regiment during a singling engagement. The two company commanders
were also killed. The Union forces at the time did
(26:04):
not take the ford, but what the fifty fourth did
is acclaimed as being the highest act of valor during
the engagement. The standard bearer was shot, he went down,
and this was when a man named William Harvey Carney,
(26:26):
sergeant and soon to be Medal of Honor winner, for
what he was about to do because he grabbed the
US flag and continued carrying it up. There is a
song now called Boys the Old Flag never touched the ground,
(26:47):
and it is based on William Harvey Carney's actions that
day because in the middle of the battle the standard
bearer went down, he grabbed the American flag and continued
to fight his way up that hill. Their actions, even
though they lost, even though they did not take the
Ford on that day, inspired Union troops. It basically lit
(27:12):
a fire in the bellies of not just white Union
soldiers but African American Union soldiers and freed slaves who
were seeing their people out there dying. It was probably
one of the less regarded major turning points of the war,
(27:33):
not because it was a victory, but because of what
the symbolism represented for what they did. Believe it or not,
There is a monument to the fifty fourth Regiment in Boston.
It is placed in I believe it is called the
(27:58):
Black Heritage Trail as a site in the Boston Commons
and it was constructed in eighteen eighty four to represent
Colonel Shaw in the fifty fourth Massachusetts who again led
this and believe it or not, their bodies that were
(28:25):
left there. They were just buried in kind of a
grave there, and it was as recent as two thousand
and I think eleven they were still finding uniforms, clothing.
It was just a mass burial of the regiment at
(28:48):
Fort Wagner. Well at Battery Wagner. The Confederate Battery Wagner
also has I reckon recognition of honor where they recognize
the fifty fourth Massachusetts because there is a mass burial
(29:09):
site for the soldiers that died there. Anyway, that is
our story for today, Josiah Walls and the fifty fourth
Massachusetts and the Battle of Fort Wagner and the idea
that even even when you lose, you can still win.
(29:32):
It's not about to quote I find it hilarious and
I'm gonna do this, but to quote Sylvester Stallone, it's
not about how hard you hit. It's about how hard
you can get hit and keep going. So twenty twenty
five has already come out swinging. It's already hit, and
(29:57):
just remember to keep keep going. I know it's gonna hit,
it's gonna be hard, but you can keep going. And
if you haven't had a chance, please go sit down.
It is a little bit of a long movie. I'm
not gonna lie, but watch the movie Glory. Some other
names that I didn't mention. One of the other names
(30:19):
Andre Bauer, who if you ever watched Brooklyn ninety nine,
he was also in that movie. And I just happened
to have the cast pop up and saw it and
was like, oh my god, I completely forgot he was
in that movie. So please go sit down, watch the
movie Glory and see what happened to these wonderful soldiers
(30:40):
who did so much for America. And yeah, that's it.
That's that's the end of the show for today. Remember,
you could support this show by going to Patreon dot
com ford Slash the Carolina Storyteller. You can also go
over to prinify and check out our mert shop. There's
a Prinipi pop up shop all kinds of merchandise for
(31:04):
this show, Balmont and everything else. Amazon has got the
book Red Coats Buy Me Jonathan Phoenix. You can check
that out, give that a read. And if you need
to contact me or anything, you can always reach out
to me on Patreon or hit me up on the
Carolina's on sc Storyteller on Twitter. That's our show for today.
(31:28):
On a personal note. In this week's episodes description, there
is going to be a link to a go fund
me page. I have spent the past week healing from
issues with my legs caused by diabetic neuropathy. If you
don't know what that is, that means that your nerves
(31:49):
just basically start telling you to go f yourself, and
it's very painful and it's probably going to put me
out of being able to work my normal job. So
I'm really hoping I start getting some sponsors soon for
everything that the Carolina Storyteller is doing, because if not,
I'm gonna have to be on disability because I'm not
(32:10):
gonna be able to work much longer. But because I've
missed so many days, I've had to put in put
up a GoFundMe and the link is there. If you
would be so kind as to donate, I would really
appreciate it, really help me and my family out. This
has nothing to do with the Carolina Storyteller, with the
podcast or anything like that. This is me Jonathan Miller
asking if you're listening to this and if you can help,
(32:33):
please go to the link in the description and help.
It would be greatly appreciated. That's it for the Carolina storyteller.
I wish you on a great twenty twenty five. I
will see you next week or we'll have two more
stories for you. Not giving you any hints, but believe me,
I got some things cooking. We'll see you next time,
(32:54):
and stay spooky. My friends.
Speaker 2 (33:03):
In the dark ones were shadows, cream stories rise as
the camfar reeves.
Speaker 3 (33:10):
John the voice of haunts and thrill. With every sail
he bends off. Will Echoes whispered to night cross me
by the fire light of fierce colight. The came a
lot of storyteller on the jive
Atomicon twenty twenty five is coming to May third and
fourth at De Trient Technical College Convention Center in North Charleston,
South Carolina. This fan driven celebration of all thanks Geeky
celebrates its eleventh year with guest of Honor to Elilah
Dawson's Charleston Absent Friends, the annual film festival, panels, podcasts,
(00:21):
costume contests, and so much more. Go to atomicon dot
org for tickets and more information, and we'll see you there.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
In the Dog Words with Shadows Creek Story Rise as
the Kimpfarties.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Johnsa hansis with every sale heap bensil and goes.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Whispers to Nice.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Lousy by the Firelousely show, a lot of storytellergize through
the stuff.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
The Missing night Night, a nice.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Lot sells, A Friday Tread every heart of path We
tread fan expenses.
Speaker 4 (01:27):
Happy new year everyone, It's twenty twenty five, and welcome
back to the Carolina the Storyteller, Brand new year, brand
new season. I am your storyteller, Jonathan Poenix. It is
a pleasure to have you here with me today. You
got a lot going on. It's twenty twenty five. It's
been crazy already. This is the first full week. Happy
Monday to those of you that are listening to this
on the day it comes out. And this year has
(01:50):
already been crazy, and I'm just one that hopes it
gets better. A lot of things are happening, and a
lot of things are happening here at the Carolina Storyteller.
First of all, it's the fact that I've kind of
started my own company. It's the Carolina Storyteller Productions. It's
still into works. I haven't even gotten the LCC stuff yet,
but I've got products. Other than the merchandise and everything.
(02:12):
I have three shows that I am technically producing. I mean,
of course, I have The Carolina Storyteller, which is my
thing I've been doing for two years. It's really easy.
I know how to do it and I know what
you guys like, so that's not a problem. I have
Valmont The Black Raven Chronicles, where I am the head
writer and producer, and I've got a great group, a
(02:34):
great cast and crew that are helping me put that
show together. We've got two episodes out right now. The
third episode will hit Patreon on the fifteenth, So if
you've listened to episode one and episode two and you
want to get a jump on everyone else. Dollar a month,
you can join the Valmont family and get to listen
to that episode two weeks before everyone else. You'll get
(02:54):
a whole bunch of behind the scenes stuff that's going
to be coming up, and you get to support the
great cast and crew that are giving their time and
their talent to make this show possible. So definitely want
to go over to Patreon dot com Ford s Last
see Carolina Storyteller if you're a fan of Valmont and
just you know, help out the cast and crew. They
(03:16):
would love it and appreciate it, and you'll get a
jump on everybody else and be able to say you're
not going to believe what this episode is going to be. Oh,
you can't believe what's about to happen. And if you
are a fan of Truth or Demon podcast, which I
know some of you are, just know that Stevie from
Truth or Demon's character, she's playing Detective Sarah Klein, and
(03:40):
her character will be making her debut in this next episode.
So you know the first few episodes and kind of
bringing the cast together, kind of starting to tell the story.
It's all world building and so we're getting a final
piece of the puzzle there with Stevie finally making her introduction.
This is this episode is going to be pretty big
(04:02):
on the lore of what's actually going on in Black Raven.
So I think everybody's gonna really like it. I think
it's gonna kind of make people go, what in the
world is going on? They're gonna figure it out now
because it's going to be in this episode that's coming up.
Mont to Black Raven Chronicles always airs in the first
of the month unless you have it on Patreon and
you get it on the fifteenth, two weeks early. Remember that. Next,
(04:25):
we have my newest show, the live streams that come
out every other Saturday. This one is called Not Just Paranormal,
Not Normal Either. Yes, I put the subtitle in there
because we're not normal either, and we're not just paranormal.
The show does have a paranormal flavor to it. That's
(04:47):
just who I am. But we do talk about other things.
We do have some fun, and of course we have
the National Cryptid Championship, the first ever championship tournament will
be starting January eleventh, and the first show of the year.
I believe it's gonna be with Alabama versus I can't
(05:08):
remember who Alabama's going up against. Wow, I really gotta
figure that out. Anyway, it's gonna be Alabama versus somebody,
and they're gonna be well, they're gonna be having a
bad time because Alabama is just gonna lay into it.
And that's gonna be coming up, as I said, just
(05:30):
a couple of weeks, in just a week on not
just Paranormal. So anyway, we've gotten into all that, there's
one last thing I want to talk about, and that
is this show right here, the Carolina Storyteller, the Carolina Storyteller.
We're gonna be changing up how we do things a
little bit. I love what I do, I really do,
(05:51):
and I love that you guys love what I do.
But I want to branch out just a little bit.
And in order to do that, what I've decided to
do is to kind of take it and push it
to the next level by creating what I'd like to
think of as being a new format for the show.
(06:14):
So we're going to be doing two stories every episode
now instead of just one. And the reason we're doing
two stories is because I'm going to be having more
guests on this year and these guests going to be
guests who will be sharing their stories with me to
share with you. So just like I'm telling you stories
(06:37):
all the time, they're going to be telling me stories.
And then of course I'll have a story that ties
into their story, and then we'll have the great story
that you guys will be enjoying ever so much. So
please be ready and on the lookout for that. And
with that being said, I'm really really psyched to get
(06:58):
started with today's episode. Today we do have two stories,
as I said, and the two stories are connected. So
the first story I want to tell you about isn't
so much a story, but it's about a man. He
is probably one of the least known, yet most amazing
(07:20):
figures to come out of the American Civil War. And
I feel like, honestly, we have a really rough political
climate right now, but you know, the Civil War happened.
It was probably the worst political climate ever in the
United States of America. But there was some very interesting
(07:41):
and good things that came out of it, and one
of them was the life of Josiah Thomas Walls. Josiah
Thomas Walls was born on December thirtieth, eighteen forty two.
He was a farmer. Well, he was a slave as
a farmer, I said, nineteen forty two, eighteen forty two.
(08:03):
We're in the eighteen hundreds, not to nineteen hundreds. He
was born in Winchester, Virginia. His parents were not known.
He lived a slave's life for about twenty years until
the American Civil War happened, and then when the American
Civil War happened, he was basically given to the Confederate
Army as a slave to work for them with no pay,
(08:25):
because you know, why would you pay someone who's working
in your army when you're going to war. That makes
no sense whatsoever when you can have slaves. Honestly, look, guys,
if you're listening to this and you plan on forming
an army, understand something, Okay, Armies run on two things,
money and stomachs. If you're not feeding them and you're
(08:47):
not paying them, they're going to turn on you and
you're going to lose. That's just how it is. A
loyal army who's there and is fighting because they believe
on you is ten times better then a paid off
or unpaid so they really have no interest in fighting
for you in the first place. Army that was just
(09:11):
no wonder the Confederate Army Lost's the dumbest thing I've
ever heard of, anyway. In eighteen sixty two, at Yorktown,
the Union Army captured and freed him from slavery. So
he voluntarily joined the United States Colored Troop and was
a member of the third United States Regiment. A third
(09:35):
United States Colored Regiment. He rose to the rank of
first sergeant, fighting in several campaigns throughout the southeast South Carolina, Georgia,
and Florida in eighteen sixty sorry. In eighteen sixty three,
he made first sergeant. After the war, he was discharged
(09:57):
in Florida and settled in at Lacha County, Florida. Because
he had self taught himself and had some early education,
Walls became a teacher in the nearby town of Archer,
where he helped educate African American students and taught them
(10:18):
how to read, write, and things like that because they
could now. After a brief period of time, Walls became
a delegate to the state Constitutional Convention in eighteen sixty eight.
His county looked at him as a leader because he
was a teacher, and so they sent him and he
(10:40):
was almost immediately elected from the county to the Florida
House of Resentatives. When State Senator Horatio Jenkins resigned because
he was given a judge ship, Walls decided to run
in a special election. He won his seat in December
(11:03):
of that same year. So he went from and it's
amazing he went from a slave to soldier, to sergeant,
to teacher, to delegate, to congressman to senator, all in
the span of eight years. Because it was December twenty ninth,
(11:28):
nineteen sixty eight when he took office as a state senator,
and he would serve as a state senator until eighteen seventy.
So here he is. This man is born I understand.
He's born eighteen forty two, eighteen sixty two. He's just
twenty years old, and he's having and he's a slave,
and he becomes a freed slave from the Confederate Army.
(11:50):
At twenty years old, he joins the army, serves in
the army. At twenty six, he becomes a he becomes
a senator six twenty six. He was twenty six years
old December twenty ninth, eighteen sixty eight, twenty six years old.
He's already a state Senator. He serves until eighteen seventy
(12:14):
when Florida has a big at large congressional seat election
and Walls is like, yeah, I'll do that, And while
there were many delegates that were spitting for it, he
ended up winning the nomination on the eleventh ballot and
went on to win the eighteen seventy general election and
(12:37):
serve in the forty second Congress. Now, of course, as
soon as he became a congressman a Southern Democrat. And understand,
if you don't know, the Democrats back then were basically
the Confederates. The side switch happened in the nineteen fifties
(12:57):
thanks to Strong Thurman deciding that all the day Astocrats
needed to join the Republicans. But before that the Democrats
were the bad guys, just so you guys know, And
so they contested the vote and a Democratic Committee on
Elections unseated Walls midway through his first term due to
(13:21):
election irregularis, so he ran again in eighteen seventy two.
He won held his office. He established bills for an
education fund and to aid pensioners and for seminal war veterans.
The Seminal Wars. It took place in Florida between eighteen
sixteen and eighteen fifty eight between the seminal Native Americans
(13:43):
and of course Floridians. He was trying to get these
people benefits. That's right, this guy was looking out for veterans.
In seventy four, he ran for reelection to what was
now known as the as the Florida Second District. He
won the election, but another Democrat and former Confederate Colonel
(14:06):
Jesse J. Finley, contested the results of the election. After
some hymen in han which took almost a year, Finley
was declared the winner by the Democratic controlled House of Representatives,
and unfortunately Walls was yet again for the second time
(14:27):
out of three elections, unseated from a seat that he won.
Just an idea of how crooked politics can really be
and how sometimes the winner isn't really the winner. You'll
figure that out later anyway, So we go back to
(14:47):
state politics. Walls decides that he's going to go back
to the being senator for a little while, and he
served again in his old Senate seat for four years,
and then in eighteen eighty he lost his reelection. Now
in the midst of his varied political career, and I'm
(15:09):
realizing eighteen eighty the man was thirty eight when he
really ended his political career. He was thirty eight years old.
I'm forty five and I've never been near politics. This
guy's I don't know what to say about Walls. I mean,
just amazing. In the midst of all this, Walls became
a lawyer. He taught himself and took the bar in
(15:33):
Alancha County in April seventh, eighteen seventy three, and passed.
He also served as the mayor of Gainesville, Florida, for
a period of time, of course, religning, resigning so that
he could go to the Senate. He created his own
law partnership in Gainesville, Florida with Henry S. Harmon, who
(15:55):
was the first African American to be admitted to the
bar in Florida, and had a successful law firm going
in Tallahassee, Florida. Now he did leave all of that
behind in the eighteen nineties. He operated a farm for
(16:17):
a while as well as a lawyer farmer. You know,
this guy's got it all going. And then in the
eighteen nineties he decided to take a teaching position as
the farm director of the State Normal and Industrial College
for Florida students. This would much later become Florida A
and M. It's just kind of like how the University
of South Carolina's Agricultural School ended up becoming Clemson. Schools
(16:44):
evolve as they grow and they become better at what
they're doing. Florida A and M came out of what
was literally the state's normal and industrial college for colored students,
which just shows how much he put in. He taught
there all the way till he died on May fifth,
nineteen oh five. So that is Josiah Walls, a great American,
(17:05):
a great man, and he did so much in such
a short period of time and then went on to
help people and to teach people, which is just amazing.
And I'm sure there are people that would go through
and say, well he did this and this and that.
I don't care. We're focusing on what he did that
was amazing, and I don't want to hear anything else.
(17:27):
Gove Govey, we woight not be talking to Goevey. I
talked to a second time. Now we're going to talk
about there's a reason that I brought up Josiah. Josiah
was key in battles that took place in the South,
particularly in South Carolina. I'm from Charles, South Carolina. I'm
(17:49):
from Charleston, South Carolina, and Charleston, South Carolina was a major,
major target for the Union in eighteen sixty three. And
that leads us to the second story for today, which
is the story of the fifty fourth Massachusetts and Morris Island.
(18:13):
So the fifty fourth Massachusetts, for those of you who
don't know, was an all colored regiment. It was all
African American save for officers who were of course white.
Because you know, we were willing to give freedom out
back then, but we weren't willing to let you lead
yourselves back then. I don't know what the hell was
going on with people's brains back then, but you know,
(18:37):
this was a very big push to try and get
We needed men and we had people who had a
reason to fight, and so it was pushed. People like
Frederick Douglas and John Albion Andrew were all trying to
recruit African Americans into this and it was the formation
of the fifty fourth. And if you think you've heard
(18:59):
about this before, it's because you have. There was a
little movie that came out in nineteen eighty nine. I'm
kind of nothing cast really. I mean, there was some
stam Matthew Broderick was in it, and Carrie Wells. You know,
(19:19):
I think Morgan Freeman was in it. I think Morgan
Freeman played a character in it at one point in time.
And then there was this one guy. Oh he was
a nobody at the time. What was his name? What
was the guy's name? Oh? Yeah, Denzel Washington who took
(19:40):
home an oscar early on in his career for Best
Supporting Actor for his performance, which, by the way, I'm
just saying it was an amazing performance in that movie
and very deserving of that oscar. Anyway, that movie is
based on the true story of the fifty fourth Massachusetts. Yeah,
(20:01):
they took some liberties, but really it follows what actually happened,
where these men who had nothing gave everything to defend
and protect this country. And so they were formed in Boston, Massachusetts,
February of eighteen sixty three. It was one hundred and
(20:25):
fifty all black regiment that was raised there. They started
training at Camp Mingus on the outskirts of Boston. Their
leader was Robert Goldshad, who was, you know, just your
average union officer, and this was his first command. He
(20:48):
was giving command of this regiment, not because it was
supposed to be a punishment like many thought it was
to be, but because he was the son of an
abolitionist and he was sympathetic to the plight and movement
of colored people in the United States of America at
the time. Now, the fifty fourth was originally kind of
(21:13):
put as part of the X Corps. What the X
Corps was. It was part of the Union Army, and
it served operations in South Carolina in the South and
then moved on to join Benjamin Butler's Army of James
during the Bermuda, hundred and Petersburg campaigns later on down
(21:34):
the war. They were a support unit. They weren't actually
supposed to be front lines. That all changed very soon.
But during their service they took part in major operations.
And this is what we're going to focus. Apart these
operations were the Siege of Charleston, and to really tell
(21:55):
the story, we have to talk about the Battle of
Grimbal's Landing. So the Battle of Grimble's Landing, it was
the regiment's first engagements. First time these people who have
trained ever got a chance to fight, and this took
place on July sixteenth, eighteen sixty three, when the Union
attacked James Island, South Carolina. If you've never been to
(22:15):
James Island, it's on the south end of Florida. The
idea was to draw troops away from Fort Wagner because
we were getting ready to hit Fort Wagner so that
we could get to Charleston. The goal was to take Charleston.
In the engagement, which was later published by First Sergeant
(22:36):
Robert John Simmons of the fifty fourth, it was described
to be a desperate battle in which two hundred and
fifty pickets are you know what they're talking about is
is soldiers from the regiment. So two hundred and fifty
went up against nine hundred Confederates with a reserve of
three thousand men on the front had towards them. The
(23:02):
fifty fourth stopped their advance and held them for a
time before retreating to their own encampment. After this engagement,
the fifty four earned its It earned its name. They
were recognized by Brigadier General Afford Terry for their steadiness
(23:24):
and solidarity of conduct. Because these men did not did
not waver. They held until the last and stopped all
nine hundred of those men. They were outnumbered more than
three to one, almost four to one, and held their ground.
Now two days later it would come the Battle of
Fort Wagner, and this is where the regiment has gained
(23:49):
its widespread acclaim. If you've watched the movie Glory, you
know about the Battle of Fort Wagner and understand that
there were many, many things that came out of this.
So the fifty fourth had just returned from James Island
their withdraw and they had two days without food. They
(24:13):
returned to the main Union first and in the afternoon
July thinks. They were tired, they were hungry, and they
were placed at the vanguard of a force of four
thousand men to storm Fort Wagner. It was launched at
seven forty five pm. There was a narrow split of
land that kind of opened up as the tide went
(24:34):
and this was their shot. They had sixteen thousand, I'm sorry,
sixteen hundred yards to cross along this split. It was
a very treacherous part of marshland. It was the only
way they could get in. They were literally the spear
had going through the bottomneck. They had to cross a
water filled ditch and then cover the forts outer wall,
(24:56):
and the fifty fourth, after their success at the Battle
of Gemo, tired, haggard, hungry, took to this mission with Gumpshen.
The fifty fourth Massachusetts numbered about six hundred men at
the time they stormed that beach climbed that wall. Two
(25:22):
hundred and seventy members of the fifty fourth were wounded, captured,
or killed during the engagement. Colonel Shaw, the original leader,
was killed. Twenty nine of his men died climbing that wall.
Twenty four more later died of wounds. There were fifteen
(25:44):
that were captured, fifty two were declared missing an action,
and over one hundred and forty nine of them were wounded,
and these casualties represented the highest in the history of
a regiment during a singling engagement. The two company commanders
were also killed. The Union forces at the time did
(26:04):
not take the ford, but what the fifty fourth did
is acclaimed as being the highest act of valor during
the engagement. The standard bearer was shot, he went down,
and this was when a man named William Harvey Carney,
(26:26):
sergeant and soon to be Medal of Honor winner, for
what he was about to do because he grabbed the
US flag and continued carrying it up. There is a
song now called Boys the Old Flag never touched the ground,
(26:47):
and it is based on William Harvey Carney's actions that
day because in the middle of the battle the standard
bearer went down, he grabbed the American flag and continued
to fight his way up that hill. Their actions, even
though they lost, even though they did not take the
Ford on that day, inspired Union troops. It basically lit
(27:12):
a fire in the bellies of not just white Union
soldiers but African American Union soldiers and freed slaves who
were seeing their people out there dying. It was probably
one of the less regarded major turning points of the war,
(27:33):
not because it was a victory, but because of what
the symbolism represented for what they did. Believe it or not,
There is a monument to the fifty fourth Regiment in Boston.
It is placed in I believe it is called the
(27:58):
Black Heritage Trail as a site in the Boston Commons
and it was constructed in eighteen eighty four to represent
Colonel Shaw in the fifty fourth Massachusetts who again led
this and believe it or not, their bodies that were
(28:25):
left there. They were just buried in kind of a
grave there, and it was as recent as two thousand
and I think eleven they were still finding uniforms, clothing.
It was just a mass burial of the regiment at
(28:48):
Fort Wagner. Well at Battery Wagner. The Confederate Battery Wagner
also has I reckon recognition of honor where they recognize
the fifty fourth Massachusetts because there is a mass burial
(29:09):
site for the soldiers that died there. Anyway, that is
our story for today, Josiah Walls and the fifty fourth
Massachusetts and the Battle of Fort Wagner and the idea
that even even when you lose, you can still win.
(29:32):
It's not about to quote I find it hilarious and
I'm gonna do this, but to quote Sylvester Stallone, it's
not about how hard you hit. It's about how hard
you can get hit and keep going. So twenty twenty
five has already come out swinging. It's already hit, and
(29:57):
just remember to keep keep going. I know it's gonna hit,
it's gonna be hard, but you can keep going. And
if you haven't had a chance, please go sit down.
It is a little bit of a long movie. I'm
not gonna lie, but watch the movie Glory. Some other
names that I didn't mention. One of the other names
(30:19):
Andre Bauer, who if you ever watched Brooklyn ninety nine,
he was also in that movie. And I just happened
to have the cast pop up and saw it and
was like, oh my god, I completely forgot he was
in that movie. So please go sit down, watch the
movie Glory and see what happened to these wonderful soldiers
(30:40):
who did so much for America. And yeah, that's it.
That's that's the end of the show for today. Remember,
you could support this show by going to Patreon dot
com ford Slash the Carolina Storyteller. You can also go
over to prinify and check out our mert shop. There's
a Prinipi pop up shop all kinds of merchandise for
(31:04):
this show, Balmont and everything else. Amazon has got the
book Red Coats Buy Me Jonathan Phoenix. You can check
that out, give that a read. And if you need
to contact me or anything, you can always reach out
to me on Patreon or hit me up on the
Carolina's on sc Storyteller on Twitter. That's our show for today.
(31:28):
On a personal note. In this week's episodes description, there
is going to be a link to a go fund
me page. I have spent the past week healing from
issues with my legs caused by diabetic neuropathy. If you
don't know what that is, that means that your nerves
(31:49):
just basically start telling you to go f yourself, and
it's very painful and it's probably going to put me
out of being able to work my normal job. So
I'm really hoping I start getting some sponsors soon for
everything that the Carolina Storyteller is doing, because if not,
I'm gonna have to be on disability because I'm not
(32:10):
gonna be able to work much longer. But because I've
missed so many days, I've had to put in put
up a GoFundMe and the link is there. If you
would be so kind as to donate, I would really
appreciate it, really help me and my family out. This
has nothing to do with the Carolina Storyteller, with the
podcast or anything like that. This is me Jonathan Miller
asking if you're listening to this and if you can help,
(32:33):
please go to the link in the description and help.
It would be greatly appreciated. That's it for the Carolina storyteller.
I wish you on a great twenty twenty five. I
will see you next week or we'll have two more
stories for you. Not giving you any hints, but believe me,
I got some things cooking. We'll see you next time,
(32:54):
and stay spooky. My friends.
Speaker 2 (33:03):
In the dark ones were shadows, cream stories rise as
the camfar reeves.
Speaker 3 (33:10):
John the voice of haunts and thrill. With every sail
he bends off. Will Echoes whispered to night cross me
by the fire light of fierce colight. The came a
lot of storyteller on the jive
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