Glory
Selected Awards: 1989 Academy Awards: Best Supporting Actor (Washington), Best Cinematography, Best Sound; 1990 Golden Globe Awards: Best Supporting Actor (Washington; 1989 Academy Award Nominations: Best Film Editing; Best Art Direction - Set Decoration; 1990 Golden Globe Award Nominations: Best Picture; Best Director; Best Score; Best Screenplay.).
The Cast of Characters
Director Edward Zwick
Col. Robert Gould Shaw Matthew Broderick Sgt. Maj. John Rawlins Morgan Freeman Corp. Thomas Searles Andre Braugher Gov. John Albion Andrew Alan North Maj. Cabot Forbes Cary Elwes Pvt. Jupiter Sharts Jihmi Kennedy Private Trip Denzel Washington Mute Drummer Boy Ron Reaco Lee Capt. Charles Fessenden Morse Donovan Leitch Sgt. Maj. Mulcahy John Finn Edward L. Pierce Christian Baskous Gen. Harker Bob Gunton Col. James M. Montgomery Cliff De Young Henry Sturgis Russell JD Callum Gen. George Crockett Strong Jay O. Sanders
This film tells the story of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw and the Massachusetts 54th Volunteer Regiment, the first regular army regiment of black soldiers commissioned during the Civil War. At the beginning of the war, most people believed that blacks could not be disciplined to make good soldiers in a modern war and that they would run when fired upon or attacked. Colonel Shaw, a white abolitionist, and hundreds of soldiers in his regiment, all black volunteers, gave their lives to prove that black men could fight as well as whites.
Before the summer of 1863 a few experimental black units had been organized by Union Commanders. Some of these regiments won plaudits for their performance but their actions were not well known in the North. The performance of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment during the summer of 1863 in the almost suicidal attack on Fort Wagner was the first engagement in which the participation of black soldiers received wide publicity. After the assault on Fort Wagner, a reconstituted 54th Massachusetts, still consisting of black volunteers led by white officers, fought for the rest of the war. The soldiers of the 54th Massachusetts were among the Union troops that marched into Charleston, South Carolina, when it surrendered in February of 1865. They sang "John Brown's Body" as they entered the city.
The Massachusetts 54th consisted of 1,000 men. Six hundred of these men participated in the attack on Fort Wagner, the remainder having been left behind as a camp guard, in the hospital, as a fatigue detail, or having been killed or wounded in the recent fight on James Island.
Eventually 178,000 black soldiers served in the Union Army and 37,000 died. They were a substantial help to the North and they may have been decisive in turning the tide of the war.
At the beginning of the Civil War President Lincoln and most white Americans saw the war as a fight to save the only "government of the people" then existing in the world. Had the war been seen, initially, as an effort to free the slaves, most Northern soldiers would not have fought and risked their lives, and all of the slave holding Border States would have joined the rebellion. President Lincoln, until the later phases of the war, spoke only of the need to preserve the Union. However, the Emancipation Proclamation had strong psychological and political effects. It made allies of many slaves in the South. It was welcomed by the working class in Great Britain (which was strongly against slavery) stopping in its tracks a plan by British politicians to give assistance to the South. Had England entered the war on the side of the South, the result could have been very different. The Emancipation Proclamation also caused terrible riots in the North by workingmen afraid of competition from newly freed black slaves. 1 Before the Civil War abolitionists were regarded in most states as radicals. Robert Gould Shaw came from a family of strong abolitionists. His father had founded the National Freedman's Relief Association. Shaw's mother applauded his acceptance of the Colonelcy of a black regiment, an action that she must have known greatly increased the risk of his death.
Omitted from the movie is any mention of Shaw's wife, Annie. Shaw was married shortly before the battle at Fort Wagner. He had only a little time with his new wife. On the day of the assault on Fort Wagner his second in command, Ned Hallowell, found Shaw alone, lying near the pilot house on the top deck of the ship that was taking them to the scene of the battle. Hallowell said: "Rob, don't you feel well? Why are you so sad?"
Shaw replied, "Oh Ned! If I could live a few weeks longer with my wife, and be home a little while I think I might die happy. But it cannot be. I do not believe I will live through our next fight." An hour later Shaw came down and Hallowell reported that: "All the sadness had passed from his face, and he was perfectly cheerful...."
Frederick Douglas (1817 - 1895) escaped slavery and became a leading spokesman for abolition before and during the Civil War. His gifts as an orator propelled him to the head of the anti-slavery movement. He was largely self- educated, as he put it "a recent graduate from the institution of slavery with his diploma on his back." The threat of being seized and returned to his "owner" under the Fugitive Slave Laws forced him into exile in England where he continued the crusade. Eventually, supporters purchased his freedom and he returned to the U.S. He then took charge of the Underground Railroad in Rochester, New York. Douglas was associated with John Brown but withdrew from the conspiracy when Brown revealed that he intended to attack Federal property. During the War Between the States Douglas helped raise two regiments of black soldiers, the Massachusetts 54th and 55th Volunteer Regiments. Two of his sons were the first to volunteer for the 54th and one was the Sergeant Major of the regiment from the beginning. After the War Douglas became a spokesmen for former slaves nationwide. He also served as Marshall for the District of Columbia, Recorder of Deeds for the District of Columbia, and U.S. Minister to Haiti.
Most of the specific incidents shown in the film are true, including the enthusiastic send-off from Boston, the destruction of the South Carolina town of Darien and Colonel Shaw's objection to this action, the initial prejudice of many white troops, Shaw's action in handing letters to a newspaper reporter before he died, and the 54th's heroic and almost suicidal assault on Fort Wagner. However, there are several incidental inaccuracies. They include the following: (1) most of the members of the regiment were not former slaves, but had been free all of their lives; (2) the refusal to accept reduced pay was at Shaw's initiative, not one of the soldiers; (3) after the burning of Darien, Colonel Shaw found out that Montgomery had been acting under specific orders of his commander, Major General David Hunter; Shaw later came to like and respect Montgomery; (4) Shaw did not have to blackmail a Union officer to get his troops into battle; (5) our review of Shaw's correspondence reveals no situation in which he had to threaten a Union Army quartermaster to get shoes for his soldiers and (6) the film omits any mention of Shaw's wife.
Points to Ponder
1. Why is this film told through the eyes of the regiment's white Colonel? 2. In the 1860's why was preservation of the Union important to the cause of democracy world-wide? 3. Can you explain why tens of thousands of soldiers on each side, in battle after battle, had the commitment and the courage to march in regular order against the withering fire of the defenders while those around them fell with hideous and usually fatal wounds? 4. Why did Colonel Shaw decide to take the colonelcy of the 54th Massachusetts when he knew that it would probably lead to his death? Would you have made the same decision in the circumstances? 5. In the assault on Fort Wagner, Colonel Shaw could have chosen, without any dishonor, to lead his regiment from the rear rather than from the front. He probably would have survived. Why didn't he do this, especially given the fact that he had just been married and had obligations to his new wife?
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