Dear Journal,

I have just gotten back from our bloody, failed battle at Antietam and yet I have come back a hero to the people. My superiors seem to be pleased with me because they have just offered me a supreme position within the Union Army. I now command the 54th Massachusetts as their head colonel. Fredrick Douglas has asked upon me to command this troop as the first all black units. At first I was a bit shocked to find out that I would be commanding an all black regiment. I thought it over for a second and figured that I had no choice but to accept this offer. I thought of my good friend Thomas as soon as I had left and yet he had come to me and automatically offered his assistance to join the 54th. I just smiled and accepted him into my regiment. He is a nice, brilliant intellectual, but I can not see him fighting like a madman when the battle comes. Only time will tell. I saw my good friend Cabot Forbes just after Thomas approached me and I automatically offered him a position as Major Cabot Forbes to help me command the 54th. Thinking it over, I think it is a great idea to have blacks in the military. This gives them a chance to join the cause for their freedom and their love for their country. I bet even runaways will not pass up the chance to be fighting against slavery driven enemies. I believe it as a win-win situation for the blacks and for the rest of the Union. Many of the blacks in this country have just as much right as we do to fight for our own country. Having more people added to our military will definitely add power on our side to over exert those dirty scoundrels down in the South. I would also like to thank the South for giving us extra men to oppose them and fight for us to help destroy the Confederacy. All I need now is to recruit these men into our troop and train them until they are fit to kill. This should only take a matter of months. In the mean time I should celebrate with my family and tell them of my new position in the Union military. My mother should be very proud of me.

Dear Journal,

I have just recruited a large sum of men into the 54th Massachusetts. I am colonel of the regiment so I had to act like a colonel. The training started off slow with people singing songs and reminiscing of the past. The next day past and I had one of my officers train the troop in marching. One of the cadets showed ill fate in marching until the officer brutally stomped on his feet to help him tell left from right. It may sound cruel, but this is their only shot at learning how to become true soldiers. We must punish them for wrong doings as much as possible in order to get them to function properly. The other day, I saw my friend Thomas beaten and yelled at. Though I felt terribly wrong about allowing one of my officers to do so, I felt as though it must be done. Private Sharts probably has the best aim in the unit, but his reloading times were slow. With practice he will become one of the best riflemen of our time. Major Cabot Forbes has not thought well of my actions so far as Colonel. He thinks that I am being too hard on the recruits when I am only doing what is right to mold them into fine soldiers. Sometimes I believe what he believes on being too hard on them, especially after witnessing Private Trip being whipped in front of the entire regiment for just stealing a pair of boots. I feel as though I have been acting wrong. Son our checks came in for the troops. They only received part of what a white soldier received in cash for giving the country the same amount of life as they do. I noticed that they were very upset. Right away they started to boycott their payments, so I decided to do the same to show them my respect. They all seemed to like what I was doing so I even told them that the other officers would not accept pay either. That might have gotten the officers a little mad, but I digress. I reflected back on the boots Private Trip tried to steal and I knew that I had to fight for new boots the next time I was in town. That is exactly what I did. I marched back to town and my superior, offended, finally gave in to my request. The men were even happier when they found the crate full of new training boots. Now all they need to do is go into battle.

Dear Journal,

I do not think that it is fair for the blacks to be treated in such a harsh way. When I was first asked to command the troop everyone seemed to think of it as a joke. They were very much so wrong. These troops are among the best I have ever worked with. They show more heart than any of the white soldiers I have fought beside. It seems as if no matter where a black man goes, he will always be discriminated against. They seem to be treated almost worse by the whites in the North than in the South. People in the North do not believe in having blacks in the military as a way of protecting them from harm. They thought that they had no chance of winning a battle and they did not want a person of their race protecting what must be protected with delicacy. My parents were abolitionists and we have been associated with blacks all my life. One of my best friends is colored and he is now serving in my troop. He is also a free man willing to give up his life for me and the Union. I am so proud of him. Everyone in my troop is ready to fight and help defeat the Confederacy. We were given our first command finally going into battle against the South in an attempt to weaken the army. The men were so excited to find out about this. As soon as we reached the enemy lines, everyone was a bit afraid of what may happen next. They were so happy when the first line of soldiers came that they mowed them down in great effort. We thought we had won in that short instant until we noticed about another 500 soldiers coming through the woods. Many men lost their lives that day. We finally won in a blaze of glory. The soldiers rejoiced at their victory and the white man started to notice the affect that black soldiers can put into their army. The 54th got back to camp with very high morale and I, along with others, was congratulated for the success of the units. Hopefully there will be another battle where the 54th and I can fight it out again. I just hope that the next battle is even easier than the last.

Dear Journal,

We were called upon to lead an attack into Fort Wagner. After I accepted the orders, my troop and I went back to camp to live our last night before the great battle. I am a little scared right now knowing that I must command an entire troop through obstacles greater than any other obstacle we have ever seen. I can hear the soldiers singing their songs to raise that last blaze of glory out of them. This was a very exciting day for them due to the fact that it could be their last. The day is finally here where we shall storm Fort Wagner. I love you very much right now Mother.

Your son,

Robert Gould Shaw

Robert Gould Shaw was never to come back that day. Neither did most of the 54th Massachusetts. It was a very bloody day in the war. The men raided the fort at night so the Confederacy would have trouble finding them. Hundreds of men died by the artillery right at the beginning of the raid. The trouble was that the Confederacy had the higher ground and they began to mow down the Union troops one by one. Colonel Robert Gould Shaw was 3 times and killed by the Confederacy. This caused the rest of the 54th Massachusetts to charge the hill and avenge their colonel’s death. The first to die was Private Trip when he grabbed the flag and held it upright once more. The charge was led by Major Cabot Forbes after Shaw’s death. The regiment invaded the Confederate lines and started to show them how to fight. They heroically fought for glory until the very end. The last known to be seen was the troop fighting when a few canons go off into their direction leaving only a cloud of smoke. The battle was lost. After the battle, the body of Robert Gould Shaw was buried with his troops in a mass grave. He would have been proud to be buried with the men he trained to become war heroes.

Dear Journal,

Robert Gould Shaw was killed during the siege of Fort Wagner. His name will forever be remembered as a great man who commanded one of the first African-American troops in the Civil War. America will remember the acts of the 54th Massachusetts as a heroic raid that gave them one last blaze of glory. All will remember the acts of the people who they once hated due to the color of their skin. They sacrificed themselves so that the people of America could become one big country. They gave us a lot of what is now ours. The act of the 54th influenced a lot more African-Americans to join the Union military and help fight for the America. Colonel Robert Gould Shaw has memorials around the country. The movie “Glory” was made to honor Shaw and the 54th. The African-American soldiers fought just as well or even better than the white soldiers. They had even more heart. Due to the Emancipation Proclamation, the runaway slaves would be sent back into slavery and the colonels and officers that commanded the regiments would be shot and killed for doing so. The courage that the 54th Massachusetts displayed showed the country what is right and showed them the path to victory. There were many more all black regiments throughout the country that helped ward off the rebels. In the movie “Glory” when Robert Shaw falls in battle, it influenced the entire troop to charge forward and sacrifice themselves for the greater good of the United States of America. They fought victoriously until the end. This shows that Americans, in general, have the pride to fight for their homeland and to fight for themselves.