Kinsley, Edward W. (Edward Wilkinson), 1829-1891

Civil War soldier from Boston, Mass.

Abolitionist, merchant, and agent for the state of Massachusetts.

Businessman of Boston, Mass.

Edward Wilkinson Kinsley (b. 1829) was an American businessman and abolitionist during the 19th century.

Kinsley was born in Nashua, New Hampshire on December 24, 1829 to abolitionist parents. His family moved to Springfield, Massachusetts when Kinsley was a young boy and by the age of 16 Kinsley had moved himself to Boston. Kinsley shared in his parent's cause, taking interest in salaries for Afro-American troops in the Union Army and promoting civilian assistance to freed slaves. He worked as an importer for the firm Horswell, Kinsley, and French in Boston, Massachusetts.

Governor John Albion Andrew of Massachusetts, a zealous abolitionist had been among the first to recognize the value to the Union of arming black recruits. After the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation, Governor Andrew pressed for the authority to recruit blacks into separate Massachusetts volunteer companies. He received such authority in January 1863, and the 54th Massachusetts Infantry was conceived soon after. Governor Andrew wanted to make the 54th Regiment "a model for all future Colored Regiments", and he was convinced that as the first black organization to be raised in the North, "its success or its failure would go far to elevate or to depress the estimation in which the character of the Colored Americans will be held throughout the World." Andrew selected as the regiment's colonel, Robert Gould Shaw, then a colonel in the 2nd Massachusetts Infantry; and as lieutenant colonel, Norwood P. Hallowell, a captain in the 20th Massachusetts Infantry.

Andrew's recruiters soon found that raising a full regiment in New England, let alone Massachusetts, was next to impossible. Boston yielded scarcely one company, New Bedford another. He concluded that his recruiting officers would have to go beyond the boundaries of his state. As this would have been contrary to official policy, a committee of private individuals was formed to raise men and money. George L. Stearns, a wealthy Boston ship-chandler who had helped finance John Brown, served as chairman. This Committee, whose membership eventually reached 100, became known as the "Black Committee". Those members who assisted in raising the 54th Massachusetts were largely prominent abolitionists in the state: Oakes Ames, John M. Forbes, Dr. LeBaron Russell, Richard P. Hallowell, F.W. Bird, William I. Bowditch, and the generator of these papers, Edward W. Kinsley. Kinsley (b. 1830 - d.?) was an abolitionist, merchant, and investor, and as a state agent and member of the committee, was apparently one of those instrumental in supplying the black regiments as well as the white volunteer regiments.

Stearns enlisted Frederick Douglass to encourage black volunteers. Douglass traveled throughout the North making speeches urging black audiences to enlist in the 54th Massachusetts Regiment. Douglass' first recruits in New York were his two sons, Charles and Lewis. Lewis Douglass became the 54th's first regimental sergeant-major.

By the end of March 1863, four companies were full and ready for muster, and recruits were coming into Readville, the Massachusetts training camp just outside Boston, at the rate of one hundred a week during the month of April. As a result of this, the 55th Regiment was organized in May. A.S. Hartwell, colonel and brevet brigadier-general, was transferred from the 54th, and became commander of the newly-formed 55th.

After the formation of the regiments, the "Black Committee" continued to raise funds, much of which came from the members themselves. The Committee became the supplier of the Massachusetts volunteer regiments, black and white. It also saw to the needs of the sick and wounded, and served as liaison between the soldiers and their families. Edward W. Kinsley, friend of the governor, merchant, investor, and an agent for the state of Massachusetts, was apparently one of the principle suppliers, sending the troops needed clothing and equipment upon request.

The 54th and 55th Regiments were involved in a number of battles as part of Sherman's "march to the sea." Their first engagement was the offensive to seize Morris Island and with it the control of the entrance to Charlestown Harbor. With Folly Island as a jumping-off place, the main offensive got under way on July 10, 1863. The two regiments were assigned to make a diversionary demonstration on James Island. The success of the offensive was reportedly due to the bravery of the men of the 54th and 55th.

One of the most significant battles in which these regiments fought was the one at Honey Hill, South Carolina, an area strategic to the defense of Savannah. Again, the two regiments acquitted themselves admirably, and continued to do so with each successive battle. By the end of the war, Massachusetts, thanks in large part to the efforts of George Stearns and his recruiting network, had provided the Union with 3,966 black soldiers.

Sources: Cornish, Dudley Taylor. The Sable Arm: Negro Troops in the Union Army, 1861-1865. Second Edition. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1966.

Emilio, Luis F. A Brave Black Regiment: History of the 54th Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, 1863-1865, Reprint. New York: Arno Press and the New York Times, 1969.

Luck, Wilbert. Journey to Honey Hill.