Andrew H. Talkov
Virginia Historical Society

Andrew H. Talkov is a member of the staff of the Virginia Historical Society and coordinator for Virginia’s Civil War sesquicentennial exhibit, An American Turning Point: The Civil War in Virginia, which will tour the state through 2015.

Andrew Talkov answers: The movie "Glory" (1989) which chronicles the experience of the African American soldiers and white officers of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, ranks among the best movies about the American Civil War and is one of the finest "war" movies ever made. Not only is the story compelling and the acting superb, but the clothing, uniforms, and equipment in the film are more accurate than in most period films.

It is true that the regiment’s colonel, Robert Gould Shaw (Matthew Broderick), was buried with his men at Fort Wagner, South Carolina, but, as always, there is more to the story.

Fort Wagner stood on Morris Island, guarding the approach to Charleston, South Carolina. The only approach to the fort was across a narrow stretch of beach bounded by the Atlantic on one side and a swampy marshland on the other. An operation in July 1863 was intended to take the island and seal the approach to Charleston Harbor.

On July 18, the 54th Massachusetts lead the assault against the fort. Colonel Shaw was the son of prominent New England abolitionists, and the regiment included the sons and husbands from across the free black population of the north—including two sons of abolitionist Frederick Douglass.

Union artillery battered Fort Wagner throughout the day, but the barrage did little damage to the fort or its garrison. Just before eight o'clock in the evening the Fifty-forth advanced for 1,200 yards through a hail of shot and shell before reaching the fort. As the men reeled in the face of fierce Confederate fire, Shaw shouted, "Forward, Fifty-Fourth Forward!" as he mounted the wall of the fort. He was shot through the heart, fell into the fort and died almost instantly. Two more hours of fighting and two additional brigades of federal troops failed to capture the fort.

Confederate gravediggers buried 800 Union soldiers in mass graves. Shaw was placed at the bottom of a trench with twenty of his men. Confederate general Johnson Hagood noted that "had he been in command of white troops, I should have given him an honorable burial; as it is, I shall bury him in the common trench with the negroes that fell with him." On learning that Shaw had been buried with his men his father wrote:

"We mourn over our own loss & that of the Regt, but find nothing else to regret in Rob's life, death, or burial. We would not have his body removed from where it lies surrounded by his brave and devoted soldiers. Please to bear this in mind & also, let it be known, so that, even in case there should be an opportunity, his remains may not be disturbed."

A few other inaccuracies in the film are worth noting. The most significant factual errors are as follows:

• The film depicts the 54th Massachusetts Infantry training during the Christmas holidays of 1862, but the regiment was not organized until March 1863—just four months before attacking Fort Wagner in the climactic scene.
• The governor of Massachusetts wanted the Fifty-fourth to be an elite unit and did not accept runaway slaves. In fact, among the soldiers of the Fifty-fourth there was a private who was a medical doctor and all, or nearly all, of the men could read and write.
• During the assault on Fort Wagner the ocean is to the left of the 54th Massachusetts—suggesting they were headed south instead of north. Wagner was actually attacked from the south and the Atlantic Ocean was on their right, not their left.
• Although the film suggests that Shaw called out the Fifty-fourth’s color bearer and asked, "If this man should fall, who will lift the flag and carry it on?" It was actually Union Brig. Gen. George C. Strong who posed the question and Shaw who stepped forward and responded, "I will."
• Wristwatches always seem to make an appearance in historical films and Glory is no exception. Look carefully at the child on the right when Sgt. Maj. Rawlins (Morgan Freeman) talks to a group of children standing by a white fence. As the child waves goodbye there’s the watch.
• During the scene in which the men sing around the campfire the night before the battle you can see the men's breath as they speak—an unlikely event in South Carolina in July.
  

Despite these few inaccuracies, "Glory" raised public awareness about the participation of African American soldiers during the Civil War. The 54th Massachusetts was not, however, the only African American unit that served in the Union army. By the end of the war, nearly 200,000 black soldiers served in the Union armies. They fought in thirty-nine major battles and 410 minor engagements, and lost 36,847, killed by battle or disease.