Pvt Ralsey R. Townsend
| Townsend, Ralsey R. (also spelled Ralsy, Aralza, or Ralsaz) Born: c. 1822, Windsor, Connecticut Died: July 18, 1863, Morris Island, South Carolina Burial: Beaufort National Cemetery, Beaufort, South Carolina Occupation: Laborer > Farm Laborer > Driver Enlisted: March 3, 1863, Springfield, Massachusetts Unit: 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry Company: A Rank: Private --------------------------- Ralsey Townsend was born in Windsor, Connecticut, around 1822. His parents were Jefferson Townsend and Mary Bowers, who were married at First Congregational Church in Windsor on January 1, 1815. The couple appears in the 1820 census living in Windsor, with Jefferson listed as the head of household. The household includes a white woman over the age of forty-five, two white women between the ages of twenty-six and forty-four, and a white female child between the ages of ten and fifteen. Also present are two Black male children under the age of fourteen. Based on Ralsey’s estimated birth year, neither of these children is likely to be him, as he would not yet have been born. Determining Ralsey’s exact age, however, is difficult. Records created across his lifetime reflect differing birth years, a discrepancy that is not unusual. Many Black individuals in the nineteenth century—particularly those born into or near the period of enslavement—lacked formal birth records, and their ages were often estimated, reported by others, or recorded inconsistently. Ralsey was clearly affected by this reality. On April 24, 1824, the death of Ralsey’s father, Jefferson, was recorded in the records of First Congregational Church of Windsor. Ralsey’s mother, Mary, later married a man named David Boston on January 8, 1833, also documented in the same church records. Ralsey would have been about eleven years old at the time. The family likely moved out of Windsor around this period, as neither Mary nor her new husband appears in the 1840 census for the town. Ralsey first appears in the historical record on July 3, 1839, when he is listed as marrying Dency Norton in Berlin, Connecticut. The following year, an individual identified as Aralza Townsend appears in the 1840 census as head of household in Granby, Connecticut. The household consists of four individuals: one male and one female between the ages of 10 and 23, one female under 10, and one male between the ages of 36 and 54. It’s not clear if this is Ralsey and his family. In 1850, Ralsey is living in Winchester, Connecticut, with a woman named Emeline Arnum. Emeline was born in Granby, Connecticut, around 1821, which lends support to the identification of “Aralza Townsend” in the 1840 census as Ralsey—Granby potentially being where the two first met. Ralsey’s wife, Dency, does not appear in the household. Berlin town records indicate that a woman named Densey Norton married a man named Reuel Fowler on September 10, 1848, suggesting that Ralsey and Dency separated prior to this time. Also in the 1850 household are two children of Ralsey and Emeline: a son, Estollette, age three, and a daughter, Stella, four months old. Ralsey is listed as a laborer. By 1860, the family had relocated to Springfield, Massachusetts. Along with Estollette and Estella, they now had two additional children: Louisa, age eight, and a son, Lonely, age four. Ralsey continued to work as a farm laborer. Of additional interest, Emeline’s parents, Fisk Arnum and Charlotte Fuller, were living in Granby in 1820, but had moved to Adams, Massachusetts, by 1840. It is unclear whether this relocation relates to Ralsey and Emeline’s later move to Massachusetts. On March 3, 1863, Ralsey enlisted in the 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry Regiment. At the time, he was supporting a family of four children with a child on the way, making his decision to serve all the more significant. Just over 3 weeks later, his daughter, Annie I. Townsend was born. Ralsey and Emiline now had 5 children. On May 8, 1863, after approximately fifteen years together and five children, Ralsey and Emeline formalized their union, marrying in Springfield, Massachusetts, just weeks before his deployment. It is possible that Ralsey wanted to ensure his family was cared for with his pension if he did not survive the war. On May 28, 1863, the 54th Massachusetts marched through the streets of Boston to Battery Wharf. The band played “John Brown’s Body” as they passed the Massachusetts State House, where Governor Andrew and Mayor Lincoln reviewed the regiment. Thousands lined the streets to witness the moment. As the Boston Evening Transcript reported, “no single regiment has attracted larger crowds into the streets than the 54th.” The Boston Advertiser similarly noted that, despite lingering prejudice, the regiment was met with applause and well-wishes along the route. For families like Ralsey’s, the moment carried both pride and uncertainty—celebrating his service while confronting the dangers ahead. After arriving at Battery Wharf, the regiment boarded the transport DeMolay and departed for the South, arriving in Beaufort, South Carolina, in early June 1863. On July 18, 1863, the 54th Massachusetts led the assault on Battery Wagner, a heavily fortified Confederate position guarding Charleston Harbor. The fort’s construction of packed sand absorbed artillery fire, and its defensive features—including a deep ditch and protected gun emplacements—made it extremely difficult to breach. The attacking Union troops were forced to advance along a narrow strip of beach on Morris Island, leaving them exposed to intense artillery and musket fire. Harriet Tubman, who witnessed the battle from a distance, later recalled: “And then we saw the lightning, and that was the guns; and then we heard the thunder, and that was the big guns; and then we heard the rain falling, and that was the drops of blood falling; and when we came to get in the crops, it was the dead that we reaped.” Of the more than 600 men who charged Battery Wagner, over 250 were killed, wounded, or captured. Among the dead was Ralsey Townsend. An entry in the Massachusetts Adjutant-Generals report indicated “wounded and missing, July 18, 1863, in assault on Fort Wagner, S. C. ; supposed killed.” Just two months and ten days after her wedding, Emeline becomes a widow with five children to raise on her own. Her family’s patriarch lost to the realities of war. Following the Civil War, Union forces disinterred and reburied the remains of those killed at Fort Wagner at Beaufort National Cemetery in South Carolina. Because the bodies could not be individually identified, the graves were marked as “unknown.” Ralsey Townsend’s remains rest beneath one of those stones. A year later, on September 11, 1864, Emeline passed away; her cause of death was recorded as dysentery. The five children of Ralsey and Emeline were now left without parents—Estollette was seventeen, Stella fourteen, Louisa twelve, Lonely eight, and Annie just one year old. Though Ralsey’s name is lost among the markers at Beaufort National Cemetery, his story endures through the records that survive—and through the continued efforts to recover and preserve the lives of those who fought for freedom. |