June 11, 1863---The burning of Darien, Georgia

JUNE 11, 1863:  

Black regiments of the Union Army raid and burn Darien, Georgia, including the black quarter and the First African Baptist Church (the oldest black church in America; later rebuilt). Colonel Robert Gould Shaw U.S.A., who ordered his men, the 54^th Massachusetts Volunteers, to do as little damage as possible, later denounced the raid as a “satanic action.” The 2^nd South Carolina Volunteers under Colonel James Montgomery, however, were permitted to run amuck.