He had fought, he said later, "to serve my country and my oppressed brothers." .
Frederick Douglass' son Lewis wrote to his sweetheart shortly after the battle, "This regiment has established itself as a fighting regiment.not a man flinched, though it was a trying time.Remember if I die, I die in a good cause. I wish we had a hundred thousand colored troops--we would put an end to this war." .
Although the 54th lost over 50 percent of its men, including Col. Shaw, the glory of the regiment and this battle was honored by the nation both during the Civil War and in the 130 years since. .
The Atlantic Monthly wrote after the battle, "Through the cannon smoke of that dark night, the manhood of the colored race shines before many eyes that would not see." The New York Tribune wrote that the 54th's brave assault "made Fort Wagner such a name to the colored race as Bunker Hill has been for ninety years to the white Yankees." .
Of the hundreds of Civil War monuments in this country, perhaps the most noble is the Shaw Memorial in Boston, honoring Col. Shaw and his brave 54th Massachusetts soldiers. Crafted by distinguished American sculptor Augustin Saint-Gaudens, the memorial shows Shaw on horseback surrounded by 23 black soldiers. .
At the dedication of the memorial on May 31, 1897, Sergeant Carney marched forward carrying the 54th Massachusetts' flag once more, drawing tears of gratitude from the assembled audience.
This 1989 movie is, in my opinion, the best Civil War picture ever made. The story is largely seen through the eyes of Robert Gould Shaw, the young commanding officer of the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment. The Fifty-fourth was the first black regular army regiment in the Civil War.
Robert Gould Shaw was born in Boston on October 10, 1837. He died in action during the assault on Confederate Battery Wagner on July 18, 1837. He was born into a wealthy Boston family to abolitionist parents.