E S S A Y
“A Team That Carried Everything Before It”:
∑ The Lost History of the Alpha Cricket Club of Salem Chris Fauske
O
f all the records in the libraries of Salem, Massachusetts, among the oddest and perhaps one of the saddest is that created by Enrique Victor Emilio.
Captain Luis F. Emilio c. 1863-1865, Tintype Pamplin Historical Park and The National Museum of the Civil War Soldier Unknown photographer
Emilio was the son of Spanish immigrants. His father was a musician and composer of some significant local reputation, who had been heavily involved in abolitionist causes since his arrival in Salem.1 His older brother, Luis, played a remarkable role in the Civil War, lying about his age to enlist in the 23rd Massachusetts Regiment. In less than a year, he had earned the rank of sergeant. Then, at the end of 1862, he volunteered for a commission in the newlycreated 54th Regiment, Massachusetts 2
Volunteer Infantry, later the subject of the movie “Glory.” It was not, the regimental history of the 23rd recorded, a “popular service.” Indeed, only 66 suitable men from the entire U.S. Army—the officers were all white—demonstrated the “no little moral courage” it took to volunteer for the “‘nigger regiment.’”2 By May 1863, Luis was a captain. He took part in the momentous assault on Fort Wagner, during which all higher-ranking officers were either killed or wounded. At the age of 19, he became the acting commander of the regiment. Four years later, on May 4, 1867, at the age of 12— perhaps helped by his connections to his war-hero older brother—Enrique was one of seven junior associate members admitted when the Alpha Cricket Club of Salem was “re-constituted.” Quite what the club was re-constituted from is not clear.
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Left: Captain Luis F. Emilio, older brother of Enrique Victor. Right: The gilded cricket ball won by the Alpha Cricket Club of Salem on July 4, 1866.