Robert Gould Shaw And The Civil War

Glory is the story of Civil War Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, who leads the war's first all-black volunteer regiment the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry into battles and discovers along the way he has to confront the moral question of racial prejudice inside and outside of his regimen. Colonel Shaw was the commander of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, also known as the Massachusetts “Fighting” Fifty-fourth, which was a position he has been thrown into and felt that he may not be fit for the job. At first Shaw was a little cowardly, during the battle, bomb fragments almost hit him and he passed out. He later seems guilty and not very motivated, but with the help of his friend Forbes and some time, Shaw turns himself into the leader that his men need. At the end Colonel Shaw’s courage shows when he volunteers to be the leading regiment in the assault on Fort Wagner and then during battle he forges on when the battle seems to a lost cause.

Their strong bond, perseverance, trust and leadership marks a turning point for the 54th Regiment which convinced Shaw to fight for his soldiers, to stand by their side and to be bold and determined that they will win. Although there was bloodshed and half of the men died in the battle, the sacrifice and bravery of the soldiers was not wasted because this initiated the Union to hire more black men as soldiers.

The 54th Massachusetts Regiment aka the 54th Massachusetts Infantry, was the first official all African-American regiment with 1007 black troops and 3 white officers leading them. There was one very heroic man among named Robert Gould Shaw who was one of the white officers. The regiment began in the Boston Common and went down to South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. The regiment carried out a lot of operations across these states including the siege of Fort Wagner. Fort Wagner was not necessarily a win but it still showed heroic

southern infantry regiment marching down his front lawn! He grabbed his uniform that he made himself and ran down to greet the C.O. They exchanged pleasantries and Bob enlisted in the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. The year when he enlisted, 1861, was when a major battle started, and that battle was later called the Battle of Leesburg. The Battle of Leesburg was a Confederate victory. McClellan suffered a very humiliating defeat and there were about one thousand casualties on the union side.

Robert E. Lee was a very brilliant and strong military leader. He fought in many wars which he defeated them and he got defeated also. He was smart on how he fought in the wars. He had to earn his way up from the bottom all the way up to general. He had fought in the Civil War and in the Mexican War. He wanted to quit so bad but he never gave up and kept on going.

Both men are cowardly in the beginning of their movies. Shaw survived his first battle by hiding beside a few dead soldiers, he did not fight for his life. Later on when Shaw was promoted because of his “bravery” and leadership skills in that battle he did not want to take the promotion. Partly due to his guilt about how he acted in the first battle and the regiment he would be in charge of was all African Americans. He wouldn’t be seen as a real colonel because his men would never see battle. This is similar to how Lt. Dunbar in Dances with Wolves was seen as heroic riding his horse in front of the enemy, seemingly taunting them, when in reality he was attempting to kill himself.

During the Mexican war in August 1846 Robert Lee joined Gen. John E. Wool and his army. His attention was caught by his superiors in the battle of Buena Vista. Robert decided to return back to his engineering duty in 1852. 1857-1859 were rough for Robert he had to deal with family business and also thought of recommissioning his army leadership. Robert and his men put down John Brown’s insurrection at Harper’s Ferry, VA.

In the first battle, he was shot in the leg. Colonel Shaw was going to send him back to Boston for care, but refused to leave his fellow soldiers and continue to fight for his men. That shows you how much he matured throughout the movie. As soon as Colonel Shaw was shot down in the Battle at Fort Wagner, he took the flag and gave one of the best fights in the Battle of Fort Wagner. As he was shot down in that battle, which eventually lead to his death, his fellow soldiers knew they had lost a key part of their force. With that said, Corporal Thomas Searles might have only started out as a typical inexperienced soldier, but ended up being one of the most profound soldiers in the force, which proves he represents glory in the movie.

The time leading up to the Civil War was plagued by extreme sectionalism between the North and South caused by major social disagreements, as well as economic and political differences. The differences between the regions contributed both to the start of the war and the war’s outcome. In the years 1861-1865, the North and South each had significant advantages and disadvantages during the Civil War. Although the South’s passion for the “southern cause” was very strong, the Union also presented a huge commitment to the war and their values.

Lee was thought to be one of the most, if not the most well respected and known generals in the Civil War. He was born on January 19, 1807, in Virginia to Henry “Light-Horse Harry” Lee, who was a well-renown Revolutionary War veteran. Lee graduated West Point second in his class with no bad mark on his record. After West Point, he joined the Engineer Corp, and worked his way up the ranks to Captain. During this time, he married Mary Anna Randolph Custis, who was related to George Washington’s wife. Marrying her not only got the financial side of his life covered, but also gave him a popularity advantage due to him being (faintly) related to the great Revolutionary War and First President of the United States. During the Mexican War, Lee used his trade as an engineer and helped Major General Winfield Scott with planning and beating the Mexican forces. After the Mexican war, Lee went to become the superintendent of the military academy at West Point, and made major changes such as adding an additional year to the previous four. In 1855, Congress approved the creation of four new regiments. Due to Lee’s want for a faster-promoting job, left his engineering life for the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, and for the next six years, he was put in Texas with his regiment. A couple of days after Abraham Lincoln’s election in 1860, the South began to secede, and offered Lee the Brigadier General rank in their army. Lee would have declined it, and stuck with the Union if it

Lee and Grant would both serve under General Winfield Scott, a man whom they both admired, during his campaign to Mexico City. General Scott saw greatness in Lee and stated his “…success in Mexico was largely due to the skill, valor, and undaunted energy of Robert E. Lee.”15 Scott was also heard commenting a few years later that; “Lee is the greatest military genius in America.”16 Grant, only a first lieutenant, did not get an opportunity to show much leadership. Grant did however serve with valor. At the Battle of Monterey, Grant would gain some respect among his peers by successfully carrying much needed ammunition to his regiment while under fire.17 During the Civil War, Lee and Grant would implement skills learned while under the command of General Winfield Scott.

The Commander of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia was General Robert E. Lee. General Lee graduated second in his class from West Point in 1829 and served throughout the country, but is best known for his leadership during the Mexican-American War. General Lee believed in unity but when the state of Virginia decided to secede from the Union in April 1861, Lee decided to stay with Virginia. Confederate president Jefferson Davis asked Lee to serve as his senior military adviser and General Lee took command of the Army of Northern Virginia on June 1, 1862.

Each of the persons ,John Brown, Stephen Douglas, and Abraham Lincoln, with their own niche roles contributed greatly to the coming and the inevitability of the Civil War. Lincoln being chief among these people in respects to importance to the coming of the Civil War was a huge catalyst to the civil war through his election to presidency without the votes of a single southern state, and his debates with Stephen Douglas. Douglas was another large part of the fruition of the Civil War through his Compromise of 1850, and the Douglas-Lincoln debates which lead to Lincoln winning the election. John Brown while not contributing to the coming of the war as Lincoln or Douglas still played his role by becoming a martyr for the Republican-Abolitionist cause. Each person while contributing unique aspects to the onslaught that was the Civil War had one thing in common, they all progressed it 's coming heavily making the Civil War almost inevitable.

During the Shenandoah Valley Campaign, the 2nd Infantry was ordered to cover the retreat from Strasburg, Virginia in the battle at Front Royal on May 23, 1862. In this engagement Shaw received a minor wound and was recognized by his men for exhibiting courage and a cool composure during the fight. But the 2nd Infantry would not experience their real baptism of fire until the Northern Virginia Campaign at the Cedar Mountain wheatfield, August 9, 1862. The regiment suffered terrible losses and would be tested again on September 17 at the Battle of Antietam, considered the bloodiest single day in the war. Shaw, now a captain in the unit, received a minor wound but felt the excitement of the battle as never before. However, after experiencing the horrors of this event, he wished more than ever that the war would end. Shaw was offered a deal to take command of a new All-Black Regiment. At first, he declined the offer, but after further thought he accepted the

The northern part of the United States and the southern part of the United States separated because they disagreed on each other’s opinion regarding slavery. The Union was against slavery and the Confederacy was supporting slavery for their benefits. The first battle of the Civil War began when the Confederates bombarded Fort Sumter, South Carolina. The Union had surrendered Fort Sumter after 34 hours of intense fighting. Lincoln then decided that the army should move against the Confederacy near Bull Run. The Confederacy once again destroyed the Union. Lincoln wanted to switch out McClellan with General John Pope who had won several wars in the West before. Unfortunately Pope was more boastful than resourceful, and General Lee quickly defeated the Union in the second Battle of Bull Run. After that defeat, Lincoln quickly reinstated McClellan as commander of the Union