Robert Gould Shaw

Colonel Robert Gould Shaw (October 10, 1837 – July 18, 1863) was an American military officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He commanded the all-black 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, which entered the war in 1863. He was killed in the Second Battle of Fort Wagner, near Charleston, South Carolina.

He is the main character of the 1989 film Glory.

Biography
During the American Civil War, Captain Robert Shaw is injured in the Battle of Antietam and sent home to Boston on medical leave. He visits his family there, where he meets the abolitionist Frederick Douglass, a former slave. Shaw is offered a promotion to the rank of Colonel to command the first all-black regiment in the Union Army, the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. He accepts and asks his childhood friend, 1st Lieutenant Cabot Forbes, to serve as his second in command, with the rank of major. Their first volunteer is another friend, Thomas Searles, a bookish African American. Other recruits soon follow, including Rawlins, timid freeman Jupiter, and Trip, an escaped slave who does not trust Shaw. Trip instantly clashes with Searles and Rawlins must keep the peace.

The men learn that the Confederacy has issued an order that all black soldiers found in Union uniform will be summarily executed, as will their white officers, and are offered a chance to take a honorable discharge, but none do. The black soldiers undergo a severe training regimen under Irish Sergeant-Major Mulcahy. When Shaw confronts Mulcahy about his methods he comes to realize that Mulcahy is in fact training them fairly and is trying to prepare the men for the extreme challenges that they will face.

When Trip goes AWOL and is caught, Shaw orders him flogged in front of the troops. The scars from his beatings as a slave are exposed, giving pause to the abolitionist Shaw. While talking to Rawlins, Shaw discovers that Trip had left to find shoes to replace his worn ones. Shaw learns that his men are being denied regular supplies and confronts the base's racist quartermaster on their behalf. He further supports them through a pay dispute, as the Federal government decided to pay black soldiers $10/month as opposed to the $13/month that white soldiers earn. Trip encourages the men to go without pay in protest, and Shaw tears up his own pay stub in solidarity, earning the respect and admiration of his men. In recognition for his leadership among the troops, Shaw invests Rawlins with the rank of Sergeant-Major.

Once the 54th completes its training, they are transferred under the command of General Charles Garrison Harker. On the way to joining the war in South Carolina, the 54th is ordered to sack a Georgia town and burn it by Harker's second-in-command, Colonel Montgomery. Though Shaw initially refuses to obey an unlawful order, he ultimately obeys under threat of being relieved and having his troops taken away, and the town is destroyed. Shaw continues to lobby his superiors to allow his men to join the fight, as their duties since being activated involved construction and manual labor. Shaw finally gets the 54th into combat after he confronts Harker and threatens to report the smuggling, looting, and graft he has discovered unless Harker orders the 54th into action. In their first battle on James Island, South Carolina, early success is followed by a bloody confrontation with many casualties. However, the Confederates are beaten and retreat. During the battle, Thomas is wounded but saves Trip, finally earning the respect of the former slave. He subsequently refuses to go home to recover. Shaw offers Trip the honor of bearing the regimental flag in battle, but he declines. Trip states that he doesn't believe the war will result in a better life for slaves, but at the same time that he knows he must fight for the mere hope that it might.

Sometime after, General George Strong informs Shaw and his other staff officers of a major campaign to secure a foothold in Charleston Harbor. This will involve assaulting the nearby Morris Island and capturing its impenetrable fortress, Fort Wagner. The fort's only landward approach is via a small strip of beach with little cover, and the first regiment to charge is sure to suffer extremely heavy casualties. Shaw volunteers to have the 54th lead the charge. The night before the battle; the black soldiers conduct a religious service where individual soldiers offer their prayers amid hymn signing.

The 54th leads the charge on the fort and heavy casualties ensue from artillery fire. As night falls, the bombardment continues, forestalling progress. Attempting to spur his men forward, Shaw is shot and killed. Trip lifts up the flag and rallies the soldiers to continue on. He is shot several times while doing so, but holds up the flag to his last breath. Forbes takes charge of the regiment, and they are able to break through the fort's outer defenses, but find themselves greatly outnumbered once they are inside, and over half of the regiment is killed by Howitzers. The morning after the battle, the beach is shown littered with bodies of Union soldiers and the Confederate flag is raised over the fort. The corpses are buried in a mass grave, with Shaw and Trip's bodies next to each other.s