54th Mass. African American Regiment, Battle of Ft. Wagner, S.C. July 18, 1863: GLORY Film

Last edited Fri Sep 10, 2021, 01:47 AM - Edit history (1)

- The 54th Massachusetts charging Confederate held Ft. Wagner outside Charleston, South Carolina on July 18, 1863.

- 54th MASS: The 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that saw extensive service in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The unit was the 2nd African-American regiment organized in the northern states during the Civil War. Authorized by the Emancipation Proclamation, the regiment consisted of African-American enlisted men commanded by white officers. Prominent abolitionists were active in recruitment efforts, including Frederick Douglass, whose 2 sons were among the first to enlist.. Robert Gould Shaw, the son of Boston abolitionists commanded the regiment as Colonel.

The 54th Massachusetts took part in operations against Charleston, South Carolina, including the Battle of Grimball's Landing on July 16, 1863, and the more famous 2nd Battle of Fort Wagner on July 18, 1863. During the latter engagement, the 54th Massachusetts, with other Union regiments, executed a frontal assault against Fort Wagner and suffered casualties of 20 killed, 125 wounded, and 102 missing (primarily presumed dead)—roughly 40 % of the unit's numbers at that time. Col. Robert G. Shaw was killed on the parapet of Fort Wagner. In 1864, as part of the Union Army's Department of Florida, the 54th Massachusetts took part in the Battle of Olustee.

The service of the 54th Massachusetts, particularly their charge at Fort Wagner, soon became one of the most famous episodes of the war, interpreted through artwork, poetry and song. More recently, the 54th Massachusetts gained prominence in popular culture through the award-winning film Glory...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/54th_Massachusetts_Infantry_Regiment



- 54th Mass., Second Battle of Fort Wagner, July 18, 1863.
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- GLORY: Glory is a 1989 American historical war drama film directed by Edward Zwick about the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, the Union Army's first African-American regiment in the American Civil War. It stars Matthew Broderick as Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, the regiment's commanding officer, and Denzel Washington, Cary Elwes, and Morgan Freeman as fictional members of the 54th.

The screenplay by Kevin Jarre was based on the books Lay This Laurel (1973) by Lincoln Kirstein and One Gallant Rush (1965) by Peter Burchard, and the personal letters of Shaw.
The film depicts the soldiers of the 54th from the formation of their regiment to their heroic actions at the Second Battle of Fort Wagner on July 18, 1863.

The film was nominated for 5 Academy Awards and won 3, including Best Supporting Actor for Washington. It won many other awards from, among others, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, the Golden Globe Awards, the Kansas City Film Critics Circle, the Political Film Society, and the NAACP Image Awards... Read More, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glory_(1989_film)



- Union Gen. George Crockett Strong Discussion of the Strategic Importance of Fort Wagner.




- Readying for battle, 'Give Em Hell, 54th!"




- Good documentary program on the 54th Massachusetts Regiment.