When I saw the movie Glory in the summer of 1990 -- a year after it was released in theaters -- I was not looking really through the movie with a fine tooth comb trying to separate historical fact from Hollywood dramatization. In fact it would be another year after watching the movie before I even took a serious interest in the history of the War Between The States and the personal accounts of the people who fought on both sides.
At the time all I saw was a really good and somewhat gritty war film that pulled no punches when it came to the brutality of war in the battle scenes and aftermath. To me the movie was a cinematic masterpiece with excellent casting, well written dialogue, and a powerful and moving soundtrack that still brings tears to my eyes to this day.
Now fast-forward 29 years later, that 14 year old kid who loved action and dramatic movies is now a 43 year old history buff with a small private library of books related to history, and a very critical eye for historical detail. Its safe to say that these days I can't watch, or find myself fully enjoying any work of historical fiction in film without aggressively fact-checking the details in the movie and finding nearly all of them very much wanting in accuracy.
With the re-release of Glory in selective theaters last summer (July 20th and 21st) for its 30th anniversary, I once again find myself revisiting the film viewing it through the eyes of teenage nostalgia, and also through the lens of a historical critic respectively.
Glory opens up with a brief history of the main protagonist in the film, a young Union officer, Robert Gould Shaw, played by actor Matthew Broderick (best known as the title character in the 1986 teen comedy Ferris Bueller's Day Off). The real-life Robert Shaw was 23 when the war began and served as a 2nd lieutenant, then later a captain, if the 2nd Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment. Both the opening narration, and much of the film includes Shaw's point of view told largely through the narration of the personal letters written by Shaw to his parents in Boston. The actual letters written by Shaw (over 200 letters to his family) still exist today in the Houghton Library at Harvard University.
The first action in the film includes the bloody Battle of Sharpsburg (Antietam Creek for those of y'all above the Mason-Dixon line), Maryland on Wednesday, September 17, 1862 -- a battle believed to have been the bloodiest single day of fighting in the entire war with the official casualty count at around 22,700 men killed, wounded, and missing.
Shaw is wounded in the neck and falls unconscious leading his company into battle facing the devastating effects of Napoleonic military formations against entrenched Confederates using rifled muskets and cannon fire (probably at the Sunken Road, though the actual filming took place during a reenactment at Gettysburg). Later in a field hospital, Shaw learns from one of the surgical assistants tending to his wound that President Abraham Lincoln plans to issue the Emancipation Proclamation -- in reality this fact wouldn't be known to the general public for about another month.
Both the gritty battle scenes (including a man's face literally being blown off) and the hospital scene which includes an equally graphic depiction of a wounded soldier screaming as his leg is being surgically amputated, are well done. Though the later scene is not shown except through silhouette on a screen and the anguished cries of the wounded man, it is still very jarring to watch.
Also well done is the moment on medical leave at home during a social gathering when Shaw has a PTSD moment as the sound of a shutter snapping closed makes him flinch bad enough to spill his drink. Later on in the film, Shaw would have another one of these flashback moments when his new regiment is issued their weapons and watching them foolishly play around with the rifles. These scenes were much appreciated by this writer as a teen and even more so today for the message they send, reminding us that war is ugly and there is human cost that sometimes goes on even long after the bullets have stopped flying.
During the same social gathering mentioned before, Shaw would meet abolitionist Frederick Douglass and be informed by Governor John A. Andrew that he would be commissioned colonel of the newly created 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment, one of the first all-black regiments of the Union army.
In fact the unit would be the third African-American regiment following the 1st South Carolina Volunteer Infantry Regiment which began recruiting in May of 1862 and the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry Regiment which began service in August of the same year.
He accepts his appointment and then asks his friend, Cabot Forbes (actor Cary Elwes), to serve as his second in command, with the rank of major. Their first volunteer is Thomas Searles, a bookish, free African-American and friend of the family played brilliantly by actor Andre Braugher.
A couple of interesting historical points here. Shaw's parents were ardent abolitionists and were family friends with many prominent figures in that movement, including William Lloyd Garrison, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin -- a book that heavily influenced the real Shaw. Its likely that Shaw actually met Frederick Douglass long before 1862. All the same I get the dramatic effect for the sake of Hollywood storytelling here.
The next scene has the now Colonel Shaw meeting his new recruits, then leading the rag-tag group of largely former slaves marching barefoot in cold mud and being jeered at by white Union soldiers, where Thomas meets his new tent mates, John Rawlins (Morgan Freeman), Jupiter Sharts (Jihmi Kennedy), Silas Trip (Denzel Washington), and an unnamed mute teenage drummer boy (RonReaco Lee). A caption shows the recruits arriving at a place called Readville Camp, Massachussetts and gives the date as November 27, 1862.
Now here is where the Hollywood bullshit really starts folks.
For starters the 54th Massachusetts was largely made up of northern-born free men of color, most of them former dock workers and laborers from the free black community in and around Boston. There were only a few former runaway slaves scattered throughout the regiment's companies. Among those recruits were two of Frederick Douglass' own sons: Lewis Henry Douglass and Frederick Douglass Jr.
Next are the dates given in the film. General recruitment of African-Americans for service in the Union Army for the United States Colored Troops (USCT) would not officially be authorized until the Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Lincoln went into effect on January 1, 1863. The 54th Massachusetts did not even begin formal recruitment until the first of the year, and would not arrive at Camp Meigs (Readville) until February of 1863 -- and they certainly did not come into camp barefoot, as the regiment had been issued both brogans (boots), socks, and new uniforms from the quartermaster.
In fact one of the first points of contention in the story is the first tent scene where Private Sharts asks, in a stuttering voice, "Wonder when they gonna give us the blue suit?" This is bitterly addressed by Trip who responds, "Blue suit ain't for the n***er soldiers, blue suit for the white soldiers."
Ultimately, while this moment leading up to the awesome scene with issuing of the new blue Union uniforms later in the film after another dramatic moment that I will get to soon, its done more for Hollywood storytelling, rather than historical reality.
The fictional lack of proper shoes also leads up to a very dramatic moment where Trip goes AWOL to try and get new shoes, only to be caught and flogged with a cat-of-nine-tails whip -- and the scene where his bare back reveals the scars of years of abuse as a slave. This scene was largely inspired by a Union propaganda photo showing an escaped slave with whip scars on his back, who later became a member of the USCT. This scene is also probably one of actor Denzel Washington's best scenes in the film as he takes the whipping (which was actually one of the standard military punishments used by both sides in the early years of the Civil War) and lets out only one single tear starring down Shaw.
In truth by 1863, the most common punishment for Union soldiers who deserted -- if not dishonorably discharged from service -- would have either been being forced to wear a barrel and stand for hours under guard, being forced to "ride the mule" (sitting on an elevated wooden plank with buckets of sand, or weights on the legs for hours), or simply being tied to the spare wheel of a wagon. None of which would have been any more pleasant than being flogged.
This sets up a confrontation where an outraged Shaw, upon learning from Rawlins (Freeman) that most of the men didn't have proper shoes, storms into the quartermaster's office and plays out of control angry colonel at the sniveling little pencil pusher that we previously learned in another scene withheld the shoes deliberately for the "fighting soldiers" due to alleged supply limitations.
That is not to say that the training scenes in camp and the inaccurate Christmas scene (again the regiment didn't arrive until February the following year) in camp aren't good -- they're actually quite well done.
Speaking of the training scenes, some of my favorite moments are the scenes involving the hard-assed Irish Sergeant Major Mulcahy (actor John Finn) who cusses and berates the new recruits, calling them every name under the sun -- dropping the film's only f-bomb while doing so -- and slowly molding them into disciplined fighting men the way only an tough-as-leather army drill sergeant possibly could. Although I still give the award for meanest drill sergeant in a war film to Gunny Hartman in Full Metal Jacket (1987), Sergeant Major Mulcahy comes in at a very close second, followed by Gunny Highway from Heartbreak Ridge (1986) a close 3rd and Sergeant Howell in Hacksaw Ridge (2016) at 4th place.
One particular camp scene that stands out is when Shaw is standing with the men in formation in pouring rain reading to them a proclamation allegedly by the Confederate Congress effectively put both African-American enlisted men and their white officers under a death sentence if captured on the grounds that they were inciting servile insurrection. The next day all of the recruits remained.
This scene only has partial historical accuracy.
The proclamation described was issued by Confederate President Jefferson Davis on Tuesday, December 23, 1862, not actually by the Confederate Congress itself. The wording is fairly accurate, although there is no serious evidence that the Confederate army actually carried out summary executions of captured black Union POWs as a form of official policy -- battlefield incidents later in the war such as Fort Pillow in Tennessee and the melee at the Crater at Petersburg notwithstanding; and those were largely committed in the heat of battle rather than some Soviet-type execution of prisoners lined up on their knees after they'd dropped their weapons. President Davis' proclamation itself was largely a ploy to discourage the recruitment of African-Americans by the Union -- which obviously failed.
Most captured black Union soldiers were imprisoned in POW camps, although some were put to work under guard as forced laborers building fortifications, which is actually a violation of the rules and articles of war under the Geneva Convention (the first adopted in 1864) that states enemy prisoners cannot be forced to do manual labor unless they volunteer and must be paid for any labor. There is also some anecdotal evidence that a very few captured USCT soldiers who were escaped slaves were returned to their former owners. Although I accept that these could be true I have yet to find a historical account of this happening.
Perhaps one of the best and slightly more historically accurate scenes in the movie is the scene where the recruits are informed by a very reluctant Shaw that because they are a colored regiment, they would only be paid $10 a month instead of the promised $13 a month that other Union soldiers receive. The men learning this tore their pay vouchers up in protest, along with Shaw who stands with them in solidarity.
There is much truth to this, although it ended up happening later in the regiment's history once they leave camp and are transferred to the Department of the South, which would only pay them $7 a month ($10 with $3 withheld for clothing, while white soldiers did not pay for clothing at all.) When these men were recruited, they were promised the same pay as other Union soldiers. This would be a subject of great controversy since it was a clear case of racial discrimination by the US War Department and the Lincoln administration.
Despite the Massachusetts state government offering to make up the difference in
pay, a regiment-wide boycott of the pay tables on paydays
became the norm, with the men refusing to take the reduced pay. Refusing their reduced pay actually became a point of honor for the men of the 54th. At the Battle of Olustee (Saturday, February 20, 1864)
when ordered forward to protect the retreat of the Union forces, the
men moved forward shouting the battle cry: "Massachusetts and Seven Dollars a Month!"
Ultimately the U.S. Congress took action to pass a bill authorizing equal pay the men of the 54th and other USCT regiments on Wednesday, September 28, 1864, less than a year before the war would end and after most of the original recruits still living having served 18 months -- and after many in the regiment's original group had died from battle wounds, or camp diseases.
Once the 54th completes its training, the men are transferred under the command of General Charles Harker in the Department of the South near Beaufort, South Carolina. On the way there, Rawlins is promoted to the rank of Sergeant Major, since only white officers were allowed to lead the regiment, but nothing was stated officially about non-commissioned officers.
While Freeman's character is fictional, he does have a real-life counterpart in Lewis Henry Douglass, who achieved the rank of Sergeant Major in the 54th Regiment -- allegedly the highest rank a man of color could reach in the Union army.
In actuality there were a small number of African-Americans in the Union army who were promoted to the rank of officer. In fact according to research done by the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States and the Sons of Union Veterans Civil War about 120 or so Black Union Veterans became officers by the end of the war.
One scene that is really moving is a scene where young black children are singing "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" before a gathering of Union officers and guests. This is actually based on a real event that occurred near Port Royal, South Carolina on Thursday, January 1, 1863, the day the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect. Other accounts site Christmas of 1862, the week before, when the proclamation was read to freed slaves gathered around a tree on the grounds of the Smith Plantation. Understanding the importance of the proclamation for them and what it meant, after the Federal commander finished reading the document, a single voice in the crowd of men and women started singing "My County, 'Tis of Thee" followed soon after by a spontaneous joining in of others in the crowd who somehow knew the song, possibly taught to them by Northern abolitionists who arrived from Boston a year earlier as missionaries to the Port Royal Experiment.
The 54th soon sees its first action in a "foraging expedition" where they join the 2nd South Carolina Volunteer Infantry commanded by Colonel James Montgomery. Here they are ordered to sack and burn the small town of Darien, Georgia. Shaw initially refuses to obey the unlawful order, but reluctantly agrees under threat of having his command taken away. In a scene prior to this, we witness Montgomery drawing his pistol and shooting one of his own soldiers for putting his hands on a white woman, then blaming the secessionist woman for having to do that.
A couple of major points of contention here.
In the film Montgomery claims to have been from Kentucky originally and having "owned" a few slaves. The actual James Montgomery was born in Ohio in 1814. He did live in the State of Kentucky from 1837 - 1852 where he was a school teacher. Later he moved to Kansas and became a fanatical Free State Jayhawker who used extreme measures and total war tactics against pro-slavery populations. In my research I have found no evidence he was ever a slave owner while living in Kentucky, though I don't rule out the idea he might have been one briefly while living there with his wife's family.
The town of Darien, Georgia was sacked and burned by Union soldiers as depicted in the film on Montgomery's orders even though it was not defended, and had not offered any resistance. In fact the town was mostly abandoned by the time the Union soldiers arrived and held no strategic value to either side. In a private letter, Shaw gave Montgomery's reason for burning the town as stated to him: "the Southerners must be made to feel that this was a real war, and that they were to be swept away by the hand of God, like the Jews of old. We are outlawed, and therefore not bound by the rules of regular warfare." A paraphrasing of the first part of that statement is made by Montgomery in the film.
In real history Montgomery's raids were part of a Union strategy to damage the Confederate states' ability to supply food and materials to the Confederate defenders of Charleston and Savannah. The most famous of these operations was the Raid at Combahee Ferry in which 800 slaves were freed with the help of abolitionist Harriet Tubman, who served as a Union scout on many of these missions and a woman that the real Montgomery greatly admired.
If I had been involved in the making of the movie, I actually would have included a scene where Shaw and his men would have met Tubman (just as Shaw met Frederick Douglass earlier in the film). Its likely that the real Colonel Shaw might have meet the famous abolitionist and future women's suffrage leader while serving in the Southern Department before the later assault of Fort Wagner, and the scene would have been a good added touch for the film.
As the film progresses, Shaw continues to lobby his superiors to allow his regiment to join the fight, as their duties to date have involved mostly manual labor. Shaw finally gets the 54th a combat assignment after he blackmails his superiors by threatening to report the illegal activities he has discovered -- which in reality were likely overlooked by the US government and Lincoln administration anyhow.
In their first real baptism under fire at James Island, South Carolina, the 54th successfully stops a Confederate assault that had routed other Union units. During the very graphically depicted battle scene, Searles is wounded in the shoulder, but saves Trip. In the actual engagement, known locally as the Battle of Grimball's Landing, on July 16, 1863, the 54th lost 42 men killed or wounded in their first official action.
In a scene that takes place after the battle, Shaw offers Private Trip the honor of bearing the regimental flag in battle. During the War Between the States, carrying the regiment's colors was considered the highest honor -- and also the most dangerous since, in the smoke of battle, the flags were easily spotted for identification, and usually were the first things aimed at by the enemy. Trip declines the honor, telling Shaw that he isn't fighting the war for him not sure that the war will result in a better life for ex-slaves like himself.
That was probably the most powerfully significant scenes in the film, and it was delivered brilliantly by both actors, particularly Denzel Washington.
This scene depicts quite accurately the thoughts of many men of color who served in the War Between The States. In many letters written by USCT soldiers this author his read over the years, there are various reasons why black men fought for the Union, though patriotism was usually the least of them. A better life for them and their families was a driving theme. Considering the treatment of black Americans in the Northern States prior to the war, there would have been little patriotic incentive.
The same could also be said for those Black Confederates who served as they could with the Confederate army during most of the early and middle of the war, particularly those who were free men of color as military life was better. They too wanted a better life and believed their fortunes were with their home states -- though as the war went on and Union fortunes began to rise, a number of these men crossed the lines and traded gray and butternut for blue, while others stuck it out and stayed true to the South, for better or worse (sometimes both).
In the final climax of the film, General George Strong informs Shaw and the other Union commanders of the assault on Morris Island and capturing of Battery Wagner in order to weaken and take Charleston harbor. He shows that the only landward approach is a narrow strip of open beach that only allows for one regiment at a time to charge across, with the lead regiment certain to be inflicted by heavy casualties. Shaw volunteers the 54th to lead the attack.
While Glory shows Shaw volunteering his unit immediately after hearing General Strong describe Fort Wagner's defenses, the regimental commanders had previously conferred among themselves before going back to Strong and telling him that the 54th was to make the assault. Some suggest that the all-black 54th Massachusetts was used as "cannon fodder" although this is purely speculation rather than confirmed fact.
The next scene is another favorite of mine showing the men of the 54th conduct a beautifully acted religious service. Several of the main actors make emotional speeches, particularly Trip who admits to not being a particularly religious person, to inspire others.
On their way to the battlefield, the 54th is cheered by the same white Union troops who had scorned them earlier in the film and line up to charge Wagner. The 54th leads the charge on the fort, suffering serious losses as the forts big guns fire on them. The regiment takes cover behind a sandbar and wait as night falls to continue the assault.
While the depiction of the Second Battle of Fort Wagner (July 18, 1863) is mostly accurate, there is one tiny historical nit-pick here. The film shows the 54th attacking Fort Wagner from north to south with the ocean on their left. The actual attack occurred from the opposite direction, from the south with the ocean on their right, parallel to the regiment. But unless you are a major history buff, that detail won't bother you too much. The results of the scene are accurate enough.
As they continue the attack the regiment is pinned down against the walls of the fort. Attempting to encourage his men forward, Shaw leads the regimental color bearer ahead up the rampart of the fort, and is shot down, dying instantly. Despite his previous statements to Shaw, Trip lifts the US flag to rally the soldiers to continue, but he too is soon shot dead, laying lifeless beside Shaw's body. Major Forbes and Rawlins take charge and the soldiers break through the fort's defenses. Seemingly on the brink of victory, the 54th are fired upon by Confederate artillery, with the scene ending in a puff of smoke.
This scene is accurate in all aspects, except that Glory depicts Shaw being shot leading a charge up the wall of the fort. In fact Shaw was actually shot down on the parapet, and according to some Confederate reports, his body had seven bullet holes in it. The men of the 54th actually managed to get inside the fort, but were driven out by the defenders of Battery Wagner despite being outnumbered by the Union attackers -- a testament to their bravery having been under a constant naval bombardment prior to the attack.
The morning after the battle, the beach is littered with the bodies of black and white Union soldiers and the 2nd Confederate National Flag is raised over the fort -- officially the only time in a movie about the war that seeing a Confederate banner didn't make me smile. The dead Union soldiers are buried in a mass communal grave, with Shaw and Trip's bodies laying next to each other.
The very inaccurate closing text reveals that the 54th Massachusetts lost over half its number in the attack and that Fort Wagner never fell to the Union Army. It also goes on to state (more accurately) that the courage demonstrated by the 54th resulted in the United States accepting thousands of black men for combat and US President Abraham Lincoln credited them with helping to turn the tide of the war.
1,515 Union casualties from the Second Battle of Fort Wagner -- 246 killed, 880 wounded, and an estimated 389 missing or captured. Confederate casualties were around 175.
Of the 600 men of the 54th Massachusetts who charged Fort Wagner, 270 were casualties. Colonel Shaw was killed, along with 27 of his men and 2 officers; 24 more later died of wounds, 15 were captured, 52 were missing in action and never accounted for (either not counted with the dead, or deserted -- or both), and 149 were wounded. The total regimental casualties of 270 would be the highest total for the 54th in a single engagement during the war -- but far from over half of the regiment.
According to some accounts, the commander of Battery Wagner at the time, Confederate Brigadier General Johnson Hagood, refused to return Shaw’s body to the Union army, and buried him with his men as a show of contempt for a white officer leading black troops. Like many Confederate officers, he believed that the African-American soldiers were fugitive slaves and characterized the attack on the fort as a slave revolt led by Shaw. Hagood reportedly told a captured Union surgeon that ordinarily the officer's body would have been released for burial, but said, "We buried him with his n***ers."
Is the account of Hagood's specific show of contempt for Shaw actually true?
General Hagood states in his book, "Memoirs of the War of Secession", that he never knew Shaw before the war and that his body was never requested by General Gilmore nor his staff. Over 800 Union dead were buried in mass graves in front of Wagner. Shaw was not the only Union officer buried in a mass grave that morning. Two of his captains named Simpkins and Russel were also buried as well as numerous other Union officers with the men of their respective companies. The argument that Shaw was the only field grade officer buried in one of the trenches is probably false also. Colonel Haldimand S. Putnam of the 7th New Hampshire was killed in the salient during the battle as well. His body was never recovered, and presumably, was buried in the trench with his own men as well. Hagood stated in his official report to Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard that he buried 800 bodies in mass graves in front of Wagner.
Rather than considering this a dishonor, Shaw’s father proclaimed "We would not have his body removed from where it lies surrounded by his brave and devoted soldiers....We can imagine no holier place than that in which he lies, among his brave and devoted followers, nor wish for him better company -- what a body-guard he has!"
When the Federal Government reburied the men of the 54th they did so at Beaufort National Cemetery and as is the tradition the Officers were to be buried in separate section reserved for officers. However, the families of all the officers requested that they be laid to rest next to their men and the US Army complied with that request.
Battery Wagner was ultimately abandoned by the Confederates on the evening of Thursday, September 7, 1863, after resisting 60 days of shelling, it having been deemed untenable because of the damage from constant bombardment, lack of provisions, and the close proximity of the Union siege trenches to Wagner. Worse, the constant shelling buried bodies of killed Confederate soldiers in the walls and unearthed the graves of many of the Union soldiers buried close by, causing an unearthly stench.
The fort was never specifically captured in battle, that part is at least accurate to a point.
The conduct of the 54th in the battle improved the reputation of African-Americans as soldiers, leading to greater Union recruitment of African-Americans, which strengthened the Northern states' numerical advantage. It is estimated that 178,000 African-Americans became Union soldiers from 1863 till the end of the war in 1865.
The men of the 54th Massachusetts were hailed for their valor. Color Sergeant William Harvey Carney, an African-American sergeant with the 54th, is considered the earliest action for which the Medal of Honor was awarded to an African American for his actions that day in recovering and returning the unit's US flag to Union lines, although he didn't receive the medal until decades after the war and several other Black Union Veterans were awarded the medal before him.
Perhaps one of the most memorable things about the film Glory is the incredibly beautiful and haunting soundtrack composed and orchestrated by James Horner in association with the Boys Choir of Harlem. Especially in the ending credits showing the monument to Colonel Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry in Boston Common. No matter how many times I've seen this movie over the years, that part never ceases to bring tears to my eyes as the film's score is played over close-ups of the memorial.
The landmark film also raised general public awareness of the role African-Americans played in the War Between The States, something that was only known to serious history buffs and students of American military history in academia. Prior to Glory only one other film, Shenandoah (1965), depicted black Union soldiers during the war -- though inaccurately depicting them as part of an integrated American force with white Union soldiers.
Credit for much of the film's moments of historical accuracy goes to director Edward Zwick and technical advisor, famed Civil War writer Shelby Foote. The all-star casting of the film was incredible, including Broderick as Shaw -- although several critics at the time disagreed, but they can get bent for all I care. His performance was well done in this blogger's estimation.
Morgan Freeman, Denzel Washington, and Andre Braugher all played outstanding roles, this film largely cementing all of their long and incredible acting careers. The film would never have had the same passion without the energy and gravitas they brought to their respective roles.
Though the movie ends with the 2nd Battle of Fort Wagner, the actual history of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment does not end there -- and the rest of the regiment's history is just as interesting as the stuff depicted in the film.
Following the 2nd Battle of Fort Wagner, the 54th, now under the leadership of Union Colonel Edward N. Hallowell, the regiment would go on to play key roles throughout the rest of the war, including the failed Union invasion of Florida at the Battle of Olustee on Saturday, February 20, 1864.
During the retreat, the 54th was suddenly ordered to counter-march back to Ten-Mile station where a locomotive of a train carrying wounded Union soldiers had broken down and the wounded were in danger of capture. When the 54th arrived, the men attached ropes to the engine and cars and manually pulled the train approximately three miles to Camp Finnegan, where horses were secured to help pull the train. After that, the train was pulled by both men and horses to Jacksonville for a total distance of ten miles. It took forty-two hours to pull the train that distance.
Later that same year, as part of an all-black brigade under Union Colonel Alfred S. Hartwell, they unsuccessfully attacked entrenched Confederate militia at the Battle of Honey Hill on Wednesday, November 30th.
On Tuesday, April 18, 1865, the 54th Massachusetts fought at the small, but notable Battle of Boykin's Mill -- the site of the last Union officer killed in action during the American Civil War. It was also the location of the final battle on South Carolina soil.
However, not all of the 54th's actions during the war were so heroic.
In September of 1863, soldiers of the 54th were assigned to guard 600 Confederate prisoners of war placed in exposed corrals in front of Union artillery placements firing into the city of Charleston as human shields to try and prevent Confederate artillery from hitting the guns. The black Union soldiers were ordered to shoot any prisoner who tried to escape -- none did largely out of fear of the artillery more than the guards, who were also exposed to the return fire of the Confederate guns. Ultimately, the plan -- the brainchild of Union Major General Quincy A. Gillmore -- would fail due to the Confederates taking more careful aim to avoid hitting their own men, and ultimately putting the Union artillery placements in greater risk.
All the same one cannot deny the courage of the Union soldiers of the regiment, and those African-Americans who served with distinction among the United States Colored Troops.
Overall, despite more than a few points of Hollywood dramatization replacing actual historical fact (the latter of which is far more interesting, in my humble opinion) the film Glory still holds up very well as one of my top ten favorite war movies of all time -- certainly one of the top 5 best movies to date about events during the War Between The States.
I give the movie four out of five stars overall.
Well folks, I hope y'all enjoyed my historical critique and review of this groundbreaking film. Please let me know what y'all thought in the comments section below.
Until next time, have a wonderful Dixie Day, and y'all come back now, ya hear?
Shaw is wounded in the neck and falls unconscious leading his company into battle facing the devastating effects of Napoleonic military formations against entrenched Confederates using rifled muskets and cannon fire (probably at the Sunken Road, though the actual filming took place during a reenactment at Gettysburg). Later in a field hospital, Shaw learns from one of the surgical assistants tending to his wound that President Abraham Lincoln plans to issue the Emancipation Proclamation -- in reality this fact wouldn't be known to the general public for about another month.
Both the gritty battle scenes (including a man's face literally being blown off) and the hospital scene which includes an equally graphic depiction of a wounded soldier screaming as his leg is being surgically amputated, are well done. Though the later scene is not shown except through silhouette on a screen and the anguished cries of the wounded man, it is still very jarring to watch.
Also well done is the moment on medical leave at home during a social gathering when Shaw has a PTSD moment as the sound of a shutter snapping closed makes him flinch bad enough to spill his drink. Later on in the film, Shaw would have another one of these flashback moments when his new regiment is issued their weapons and watching them foolishly play around with the rifles. These scenes were much appreciated by this writer as a teen and even more so today for the message they send, reminding us that war is ugly and there is human cost that sometimes goes on even long after the bullets have stopped flying.
During the same social gathering mentioned before, Shaw would meet abolitionist Frederick Douglass and be informed by Governor John A. Andrew that he would be commissioned colonel of the newly created 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment, one of the first all-black regiments of the Union army.
In fact the unit would be the third African-American regiment following the 1st South Carolina Volunteer Infantry Regiment which began recruiting in May of 1862 and the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry Regiment which began service in August of the same year.
He accepts his appointment and then asks his friend, Cabot Forbes (actor Cary Elwes), to serve as his second in command, with the rank of major. Their first volunteer is Thomas Searles, a bookish, free African-American and friend of the family played brilliantly by actor Andre Braugher.
A couple of interesting historical points here. Shaw's parents were ardent abolitionists and were family friends with many prominent figures in that movement, including William Lloyd Garrison, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin -- a book that heavily influenced the real Shaw. Its likely that Shaw actually met Frederick Douglass long before 1862. All the same I get the dramatic effect for the sake of Hollywood storytelling here.
The next scene has the now Colonel Shaw meeting his new recruits, then leading the rag-tag group of largely former slaves marching barefoot in cold mud and being jeered at by white Union soldiers, where Thomas meets his new tent mates, John Rawlins (Morgan Freeman), Jupiter Sharts (Jihmi Kennedy), Silas Trip (Denzel Washington), and an unnamed mute teenage drummer boy (RonReaco Lee). A caption shows the recruits arriving at a place called Readville Camp, Massachussetts and gives the date as November 27, 1862.
Now here is where the Hollywood bullshit really starts folks.
For starters the 54th Massachusetts was largely made up of northern-born free men of color, most of them former dock workers and laborers from the free black community in and around Boston. There were only a few former runaway slaves scattered throughout the regiment's companies. Among those recruits were two of Frederick Douglass' own sons: Lewis Henry Douglass and Frederick Douglass Jr.
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| The sons of abolitionist Frederick Douglass: Sgt. Lewis H. Douglass (left) and Frederick Douglass Jr. (right). Both served in the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment. |
Next are the dates given in the film. General recruitment of African-Americans for service in the Union Army for the United States Colored Troops (USCT) would not officially be authorized until the Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Lincoln went into effect on January 1, 1863. The 54th Massachusetts did not even begin formal recruitment until the first of the year, and would not arrive at Camp Meigs (Readville) until February of 1863 -- and they certainly did not come into camp barefoot, as the regiment had been issued both brogans (boots), socks, and new uniforms from the quartermaster.
In fact one of the first points of contention in the story is the first tent scene where Private Sharts asks, in a stuttering voice, "Wonder when they gonna give us the blue suit?" This is bitterly addressed by Trip who responds, "Blue suit ain't for the n***er soldiers, blue suit for the white soldiers."
Ultimately, while this moment leading up to the awesome scene with issuing of the new blue Union uniforms later in the film after another dramatic moment that I will get to soon, its done more for Hollywood storytelling, rather than historical reality.
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| This photo of an escaped slave bearing the marks of many violent whippings inspired the whipping scene in Glory. |
In truth by 1863, the most common punishment for Union soldiers who deserted -- if not dishonorably discharged from service -- would have either been being forced to wear a barrel and stand for hours under guard, being forced to "ride the mule" (sitting on an elevated wooden plank with buckets of sand, or weights on the legs for hours), or simply being tied to the spare wheel of a wagon. None of which would have been any more pleasant than being flogged.
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| Being tied to a spare wheel was a common punishment for theft or desertion in the Union army in 1863. |
This sets up a confrontation where an outraged Shaw, upon learning from Rawlins (Freeman) that most of the men didn't have proper shoes, storms into the quartermaster's office and plays out of control angry colonel at the sniveling little pencil pusher that we previously learned in another scene withheld the shoes deliberately for the "fighting soldiers" due to alleged supply limitations.
That is not to say that the training scenes in camp and the inaccurate Christmas scene (again the regiment didn't arrive until February the following year) in camp aren't good -- they're actually quite well done.
Speaking of the training scenes, some of my favorite moments are the scenes involving the hard-assed Irish Sergeant Major Mulcahy (actor John Finn) who cusses and berates the new recruits, calling them every name under the sun -- dropping the film's only f-bomb while doing so -- and slowly molding them into disciplined fighting men the way only an tough-as-leather army drill sergeant possibly could. Although I still give the award for meanest drill sergeant in a war film to Gunny Hartman in Full Metal Jacket (1987), Sergeant Major Mulcahy comes in at a very close second, followed by Gunny Highway from Heartbreak Ridge (1986) a close 3rd and Sergeant Howell in Hacksaw Ridge (2016) at 4th place.
One particular camp scene that stands out is when Shaw is standing with the men in formation in pouring rain reading to them a proclamation allegedly by the Confederate Congress effectively put both African-American enlisted men and their white officers under a death sentence if captured on the grounds that they were inciting servile insurrection. The next day all of the recruits remained.
This scene only has partial historical accuracy.
The proclamation described was issued by Confederate President Jefferson Davis on Tuesday, December 23, 1862, not actually by the Confederate Congress itself. The wording is fairly accurate, although there is no serious evidence that the Confederate army actually carried out summary executions of captured black Union POWs as a form of official policy -- battlefield incidents later in the war such as Fort Pillow in Tennessee and the melee at the Crater at Petersburg notwithstanding; and those were largely committed in the heat of battle rather than some Soviet-type execution of prisoners lined up on their knees after they'd dropped their weapons. President Davis' proclamation itself was largely a ploy to discourage the recruitment of African-Americans by the Union -- which obviously failed.
Most captured black Union soldiers were imprisoned in POW camps, although some were put to work under guard as forced laborers building fortifications, which is actually a violation of the rules and articles of war under the Geneva Convention (the first adopted in 1864) that states enemy prisoners cannot be forced to do manual labor unless they volunteer and must be paid for any labor. There is also some anecdotal evidence that a very few captured USCT soldiers who were escaped slaves were returned to their former owners. Although I accept that these could be true I have yet to find a historical account of this happening.
Perhaps one of the best and slightly more historically accurate scenes in the movie is the scene where the recruits are informed by a very reluctant Shaw that because they are a colored regiment, they would only be paid $10 a month instead of the promised $13 a month that other Union soldiers receive. The men learning this tore their pay vouchers up in protest, along with Shaw who stands with them in solidarity.
There is much truth to this, although it ended up happening later in the regiment's history once they leave camp and are transferred to the Department of the South, which would only pay them $7 a month ($10 with $3 withheld for clothing, while white soldiers did not pay for clothing at all.) When these men were recruited, they were promised the same pay as other Union soldiers. This would be a subject of great controversy since it was a clear case of racial discrimination by the US War Department and the Lincoln administration.
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| Recruitment poster for the 54th Regiment promising $13 dollars with a bounty of $100 for enlistment. |
Ultimately the U.S. Congress took action to pass a bill authorizing equal pay the men of the 54th and other USCT regiments on Wednesday, September 28, 1864, less than a year before the war would end and after most of the original recruits still living having served 18 months -- and after many in the regiment's original group had died from battle wounds, or camp diseases.
Once the 54th completes its training, the men are transferred under the command of General Charles Harker in the Department of the South near Beaufort, South Carolina. On the way there, Rawlins is promoted to the rank of Sergeant Major, since only white officers were allowed to lead the regiment, but nothing was stated officially about non-commissioned officers.
While Freeman's character is fictional, he does have a real-life counterpart in Lewis Henry Douglass, who achieved the rank of Sergeant Major in the 54th Regiment -- allegedly the highest rank a man of color could reach in the Union army.
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| Rawlins (Morgan Freeman) earning his Sergeant Major rank. |
In actuality there were a small number of African-Americans in the Union army who were promoted to the rank of officer. In fact according to research done by the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States and the Sons of Union Veterans Civil War about 120 or so Black Union Veterans became officers by the end of the war.
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| An interesting wardrobe mistake in the film where the regiment is marching by some children and one of them is wearing a digital watch. |
One scene that is really moving is a scene where young black children are singing "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" before a gathering of Union officers and guests. This is actually based on a real event that occurred near Port Royal, South Carolina on Thursday, January 1, 1863, the day the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect. Other accounts site Christmas of 1862, the week before, when the proclamation was read to freed slaves gathered around a tree on the grounds of the Smith Plantation. Understanding the importance of the proclamation for them and what it meant, after the Federal commander finished reading the document, a single voice in the crowd of men and women started singing "My County, 'Tis of Thee" followed soon after by a spontaneous joining in of others in the crowd who somehow knew the song, possibly taught to them by Northern abolitionists who arrived from Boston a year earlier as missionaries to the Port Royal Experiment.
The 54th soon sees its first action in a "foraging expedition" where they join the 2nd South Carolina Volunteer Infantry commanded by Colonel James Montgomery. Here they are ordered to sack and burn the small town of Darien, Georgia. Shaw initially refuses to obey the unlawful order, but reluctantly agrees under threat of having his command taken away. In a scene prior to this, we witness Montgomery drawing his pistol and shooting one of his own soldiers for putting his hands on a white woman, then blaming the secessionist woman for having to do that.
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| Colonel Montgomery shoots a "disorderly" soldier. There is no evidence that Montgomery actually shot one of his own men in reality. |
A couple of major points of contention here.
In the film Montgomery claims to have been from Kentucky originally and having "owned" a few slaves. The actual James Montgomery was born in Ohio in 1814. He did live in the State of Kentucky from 1837 - 1852 where he was a school teacher. Later he moved to Kansas and became a fanatical Free State Jayhawker who used extreme measures and total war tactics against pro-slavery populations. In my research I have found no evidence he was ever a slave owner while living in Kentucky, though I don't rule out the idea he might have been one briefly while living there with his wife's family.
The town of Darien, Georgia was sacked and burned by Union soldiers as depicted in the film on Montgomery's orders even though it was not defended, and had not offered any resistance. In fact the town was mostly abandoned by the time the Union soldiers arrived and held no strategic value to either side. In a private letter, Shaw gave Montgomery's reason for burning the town as stated to him: "the Southerners must be made to feel that this was a real war, and that they were to be swept away by the hand of God, like the Jews of old. We are outlawed, and therefore not bound by the rules of regular warfare." A paraphrasing of the first part of that statement is made by Montgomery in the film.
In real history Montgomery's raids were part of a Union strategy to damage the Confederate states' ability to supply food and materials to the Confederate defenders of Charleston and Savannah. The most famous of these operations was the Raid at Combahee Ferry in which 800 slaves were freed with the help of abolitionist Harriet Tubman, who served as a Union scout on many of these missions and a woman that the real Montgomery greatly admired.
If I had been involved in the making of the movie, I actually would have included a scene where Shaw and his men would have met Tubman (just as Shaw met Frederick Douglass earlier in the film). Its likely that the real Colonel Shaw might have meet the famous abolitionist and future women's suffrage leader while serving in the Southern Department before the later assault of Fort Wagner, and the scene would have been a good added touch for the film.
As the film progresses, Shaw continues to lobby his superiors to allow his regiment to join the fight, as their duties to date have involved mostly manual labor. Shaw finally gets the 54th a combat assignment after he blackmails his superiors by threatening to report the illegal activities he has discovered -- which in reality were likely overlooked by the US government and Lincoln administration anyhow.
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| The 54th face battle for the first time. |
In their first real baptism under fire at James Island, South Carolina, the 54th successfully stops a Confederate assault that had routed other Union units. During the very graphically depicted battle scene, Searles is wounded in the shoulder, but saves Trip. In the actual engagement, known locally as the Battle of Grimball's Landing, on July 16, 1863, the 54th lost 42 men killed or wounded in their first official action.
In a scene that takes place after the battle, Shaw offers Private Trip the honor of bearing the regimental flag in battle. During the War Between the States, carrying the regiment's colors was considered the highest honor -- and also the most dangerous since, in the smoke of battle, the flags were easily spotted for identification, and usually were the first things aimed at by the enemy. Trip declines the honor, telling Shaw that he isn't fighting the war for him not sure that the war will result in a better life for ex-slaves like himself.
That was probably the most powerfully significant scenes in the film, and it was delivered brilliantly by both actors, particularly Denzel Washington.
This scene depicts quite accurately the thoughts of many men of color who served in the War Between The States. In many letters written by USCT soldiers this author his read over the years, there are various reasons why black men fought for the Union, though patriotism was usually the least of them. A better life for them and their families was a driving theme. Considering the treatment of black Americans in the Northern States prior to the war, there would have been little patriotic incentive.
The same could also be said for those Black Confederates who served as they could with the Confederate army during most of the early and middle of the war, particularly those who were free men of color as military life was better. They too wanted a better life and believed their fortunes were with their home states -- though as the war went on and Union fortunes began to rise, a number of these men crossed the lines and traded gray and butternut for blue, while others stuck it out and stayed true to the South, for better or worse (sometimes both).
In the final climax of the film, General George Strong informs Shaw and the other Union commanders of the assault on Morris Island and capturing of Battery Wagner in order to weaken and take Charleston harbor. He shows that the only landward approach is a narrow strip of open beach that only allows for one regiment at a time to charge across, with the lead regiment certain to be inflicted by heavy casualties. Shaw volunteers the 54th to lead the attack.
While Glory shows Shaw volunteering his unit immediately after hearing General Strong describe Fort Wagner's defenses, the regimental commanders had previously conferred among themselves before going back to Strong and telling him that the 54th was to make the assault. Some suggest that the all-black 54th Massachusetts was used as "cannon fodder" although this is purely speculation rather than confirmed fact.
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| "Oh my Lord! Lord! Lord! Lord!" |
The next scene is another favorite of mine showing the men of the 54th conduct a beautifully acted religious service. Several of the main actors make emotional speeches, particularly Trip who admits to not being a particularly religious person, to inspire others.
On their way to the battlefield, the 54th is cheered by the same white Union troops who had scorned them earlier in the film and line up to charge Wagner. The 54th leads the charge on the fort, suffering serious losses as the forts big guns fire on them. The regiment takes cover behind a sandbar and wait as night falls to continue the assault.
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| Preparing for the charge. |
While the depiction of the Second Battle of Fort Wagner (July 18, 1863) is mostly accurate, there is one tiny historical nit-pick here. The film shows the 54th attacking Fort Wagner from north to south with the ocean on their left. The actual attack occurred from the opposite direction, from the south with the ocean on their right, parallel to the regiment. But unless you are a major history buff, that detail won't bother you too much. The results of the scene are accurate enough.
As they continue the attack the regiment is pinned down against the walls of the fort. Attempting to encourage his men forward, Shaw leads the regimental color bearer ahead up the rampart of the fort, and is shot down, dying instantly. Despite his previous statements to Shaw, Trip lifts the US flag to rally the soldiers to continue, but he too is soon shot dead, laying lifeless beside Shaw's body. Major Forbes and Rawlins take charge and the soldiers break through the fort's defenses. Seemingly on the brink of victory, the 54th are fired upon by Confederate artillery, with the scene ending in a puff of smoke.
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| Forbes, Rawlins, Searles and Sharts face Confederate cannons. BTW, what does he think that peashooter is gonna do? |
This scene is accurate in all aspects, except that Glory depicts Shaw being shot leading a charge up the wall of the fort. In fact Shaw was actually shot down on the parapet, and according to some Confederate reports, his body had seven bullet holes in it. The men of the 54th actually managed to get inside the fort, but were driven out by the defenders of Battery Wagner despite being outnumbered by the Union attackers -- a testament to their bravery having been under a constant naval bombardment prior to the attack.
The morning after the battle, the beach is littered with the bodies of black and white Union soldiers and the 2nd Confederate National Flag is raised over the fort -- officially the only time in a movie about the war that seeing a Confederate banner didn't make me smile. The dead Union soldiers are buried in a mass communal grave, with Shaw and Trip's bodies laying next to each other.
The very inaccurate closing text reveals that the 54th Massachusetts lost over half its number in the attack and that Fort Wagner never fell to the Union Army. It also goes on to state (more accurately) that the courage demonstrated by the 54th resulted in the United States accepting thousands of black men for combat and US President Abraham Lincoln credited them with helping to turn the tide of the war.
1,515 Union casualties from the Second Battle of Fort Wagner -- 246 killed, 880 wounded, and an estimated 389 missing or captured. Confederate casualties were around 175.
Of the 600 men of the 54th Massachusetts who charged Fort Wagner, 270 were casualties. Colonel Shaw was killed, along with 27 of his men and 2 officers; 24 more later died of wounds, 15 were captured, 52 were missing in action and never accounted for (either not counted with the dead, or deserted -- or both), and 149 were wounded. The total regimental casualties of 270 would be the highest total for the 54th in a single engagement during the war -- but far from over half of the regiment.
According to some accounts, the commander of Battery Wagner at the time, Confederate Brigadier General Johnson Hagood, refused to return Shaw’s body to the Union army, and buried him with his men as a show of contempt for a white officer leading black troops. Like many Confederate officers, he believed that the African-American soldiers were fugitive slaves and characterized the attack on the fort as a slave revolt led by Shaw. Hagood reportedly told a captured Union surgeon that ordinarily the officer's body would have been released for burial, but said, "We buried him with his n***ers."
Is the account of Hagood's specific show of contempt for Shaw actually true?
General Hagood states in his book, "Memoirs of the War of Secession", that he never knew Shaw before the war and that his body was never requested by General Gilmore nor his staff. Over 800 Union dead were buried in mass graves in front of Wagner. Shaw was not the only Union officer buried in a mass grave that morning. Two of his captains named Simpkins and Russel were also buried as well as numerous other Union officers with the men of their respective companies. The argument that Shaw was the only field grade officer buried in one of the trenches is probably false also. Colonel Haldimand S. Putnam of the 7th New Hampshire was killed in the salient during the battle as well. His body was never recovered, and presumably, was buried in the trench with his own men as well. Hagood stated in his official report to Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard that he buried 800 bodies in mass graves in front of Wagner.
Rather than considering this a dishonor, Shaw’s father proclaimed "We would not have his body removed from where it lies surrounded by his brave and devoted soldiers....We can imagine no holier place than that in which he lies, among his brave and devoted followers, nor wish for him better company -- what a body-guard he has!"
When the Federal Government reburied the men of the 54th they did so at Beaufort National Cemetery and as is the tradition the Officers were to be buried in separate section reserved for officers. However, the families of all the officers requested that they be laid to rest next to their men and the US Army complied with that request.
Battery Wagner was ultimately abandoned by the Confederates on the evening of Thursday, September 7, 1863, after resisting 60 days of shelling, it having been deemed untenable because of the damage from constant bombardment, lack of provisions, and the close proximity of the Union siege trenches to Wagner. Worse, the constant shelling buried bodies of killed Confederate soldiers in the walls and unearthed the graves of many of the Union soldiers buried close by, causing an unearthly stench.
The fort was never specifically captured in battle, that part is at least accurate to a point.
The conduct of the 54th in the battle improved the reputation of African-Americans as soldiers, leading to greater Union recruitment of African-Americans, which strengthened the Northern states' numerical advantage. It is estimated that 178,000 African-Americans became Union soldiers from 1863 till the end of the war in 1865.
The men of the 54th Massachusetts were hailed for their valor. Color Sergeant William Harvey Carney, an African-American sergeant with the 54th, is considered the earliest action for which the Medal of Honor was awarded to an African American for his actions that day in recovering and returning the unit's US flag to Union lines, although he didn't receive the medal until decades after the war and several other Black Union Veterans were awarded the medal before him.
Perhaps one of the most memorable things about the film Glory is the incredibly beautiful and haunting soundtrack composed and orchestrated by James Horner in association with the Boys Choir of Harlem. Especially in the ending credits showing the monument to Colonel Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry in Boston Common. No matter how many times I've seen this movie over the years, that part never ceases to bring tears to my eyes as the film's score is played over close-ups of the memorial.
The landmark film also raised general public awareness of the role African-Americans played in the War Between The States, something that was only known to serious history buffs and students of American military history in academia. Prior to Glory only one other film, Shenandoah (1965), depicted black Union soldiers during the war -- though inaccurately depicting them as part of an integrated American force with white Union soldiers.
Credit for much of the film's moments of historical accuracy goes to director Edward Zwick and technical advisor, famed Civil War writer Shelby Foote. The all-star casting of the film was incredible, including Broderick as Shaw -- although several critics at the time disagreed, but they can get bent for all I care. His performance was well done in this blogger's estimation.
Morgan Freeman, Denzel Washington, and Andre Braugher all played outstanding roles, this film largely cementing all of their long and incredible acting careers. The film would never have had the same passion without the energy and gravitas they brought to their respective roles.
Though the movie ends with the 2nd Battle of Fort Wagner, the actual history of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment does not end there -- and the rest of the regiment's history is just as interesting as the stuff depicted in the film.
Following the 2nd Battle of Fort Wagner, the 54th, now under the leadership of Union Colonel Edward N. Hallowell, the regiment would go on to play key roles throughout the rest of the war, including the failed Union invasion of Florida at the Battle of Olustee on Saturday, February 20, 1864.
During the retreat, the 54th was suddenly ordered to counter-march back to Ten-Mile station where a locomotive of a train carrying wounded Union soldiers had broken down and the wounded were in danger of capture. When the 54th arrived, the men attached ropes to the engine and cars and manually pulled the train approximately three miles to Camp Finnegan, where horses were secured to help pull the train. After that, the train was pulled by both men and horses to Jacksonville for a total distance of ten miles. It took forty-two hours to pull the train that distance.
Later that same year, as part of an all-black brigade under Union Colonel Alfred S. Hartwell, they unsuccessfully attacked entrenched Confederate militia at the Battle of Honey Hill on Wednesday, November 30th.
On Tuesday, April 18, 1865, the 54th Massachusetts fought at the small, but notable Battle of Boykin's Mill -- the site of the last Union officer killed in action during the American Civil War. It was also the location of the final battle on South Carolina soil.
However, not all of the 54th's actions during the war were so heroic.
In September of 1863, soldiers of the 54th were assigned to guard 600 Confederate prisoners of war placed in exposed corrals in front of Union artillery placements firing into the city of Charleston as human shields to try and prevent Confederate artillery from hitting the guns. The black Union soldiers were ordered to shoot any prisoner who tried to escape -- none did largely out of fear of the artillery more than the guards, who were also exposed to the return fire of the Confederate guns. Ultimately, the plan -- the brainchild of Union Major General Quincy A. Gillmore -- would fail due to the Confederates taking more careful aim to avoid hitting their own men, and ultimately putting the Union artillery placements in greater risk.
All the same one cannot deny the courage of the Union soldiers of the regiment, and those African-Americans who served with distinction among the United States Colored Troops.
Overall, despite more than a few points of Hollywood dramatization replacing actual historical fact (the latter of which is far more interesting, in my humble opinion) the film Glory still holds up very well as one of my top ten favorite war movies of all time -- certainly one of the top 5 best movies to date about events during the War Between The States. I give the movie four out of five stars overall.
Well folks, I hope y'all enjoyed my historical critique and review of this groundbreaking film. Please let me know what y'all thought in the comments section below.
Until next time, have a wonderful Dixie Day, and y'all come back now, ya hear?
1 comment:
Just found your blog. Like finding a breath of fresh air! I'm a 71 year-old retired great-grandpa. I've lived all my life in East Tennessee and have been an enthusiastic student of the Civil War since I was a kid in the 1950's. I'm a proud direct descendant of both Confederate and Union Veterans. While doing Civil War/genealogy research a few years ago, I discovered an East Tennessean that was conscripted into the 19th TN Infantry and served through Chickamauga, where he was probably slightly wounded. He deserted from the hospital and made it back to Tennessee where he eventually joined the Union Army's 4th TN Infantry. Not at all unusual for divided East Tennessee, except this man was a free-born Mulatto! I've been hooked on the Black Confederate narrative ever since. I'm thankful to have found someone telling and writing the truth. God Bless you sir!
https://www.fold3.com/page/653582594-william-thomas-jones
You mentioned the Immortal 600 in your article. This link will hopefully take you my article at Fold 3 on 1st Lieutenant William Thomas Jones Company C 35th NC Infantry, one of the 600, and the son of a slave and her white master. Keep up the great writing! I intend to keep reading!
Glenn Land
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