robert gould shaw death

Robert Gould Shaw was born on October 10, 1837 and died on July 18, 1863. Although Robert Gould Shaw was only 25 years old when he died, leading the 54th Massachusetts Infantry in a futile assault on Fort Wagner, he has become an object of interest in the past dozen years, especially since the release of the movie "Glory," which gave a … Memorials. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Robert Gould Shaw (American National Biography) Scholarship On 16 July [1863] the Fifty-fourth had the opportunity to recoup its self-esteem when Confederate forces … Ultimately, however, Shaw changed his mind and accepted the command, perhaps to please his mother. The book, Blue-Eyed Child of Fortune, includes most of his letters and a brief biography of Shaw. Discover life events, stories and photos about Robert Gould Shaw (1815–1853) of Gouldsboro,, Maine. The son of prominent Boston abolitionists, Robert Gould Shaw was born October 10, 1837, to Francis and Sara Shaw. Shaws troops and other Union regiments penetrated the walls at two points but did not have sufficient numbers to take the fort. The victorious Confederates buried him in a mass grave with many of his men, an act they intended as an insult. Promoted to colonel, Shaw oversaw the recruitment and training of the 54th, then led it into combat. Union artillery battered Fort Wagner all day on July 18, but the barrage did little damage to the fort and its garrison. He was the only son of a wealthy mercantile family who possessed radical abolitionist views. People Projects ... Death: December 02, 1853 (38) Immediate Family: Although having previously rebelled against authority, Shaw seemed to find himself in the army, rising to the rank of captain. ISBN 978-1-59629-406-6 pp.71-76, Articles with unsourced statements from November 2014, Articles incorporating a citation from the New International Encyclopedia, Articles incorporating a citation from the New International Encyclopedia with an unnamed parameter, Articles incorporating text from Wikipedia, Union military personnel killed in the American Civil War, People of Massachusetts in the American Civil War, Burials at Beaufort National Cemetery (South Carolina), 2nd Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, Petition against the Introduction of Slavery, http://www.archive.org/stream/exercisesatdedic00bosto#page/n7/mode/2up, "Written in Glory:Letters from the Soldiers and Officers of the 54th Massachusetts", http://manybooks.net/pages/lodgeh18641864/109.html, http://www.nga.gov/cgi-bin/tsearch?artistid=2262, http://www.nga.gov/fcgi-bin/tinfo_f?object=102494, http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/13112/, Seeking the One Great Remedy: Francis George Shaw and Nineteenth-century Reform, Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Infantry history, Colonel Robert Gould Shaw: 54th Massachusetts Regiment (video), NHD Robert Gould Shaw – National History Day (video), https://military.wikia.org/wiki/Robert_Gould_Shaw?oldid=5295344, Pages using duplicate arguments in template calls. Robert Gould Shaw, (born October 10, 1837, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.—died July 18, 1863, Fort Wagner, near Charleston, South Carolina), Union army officer who commanded a prominent regiment of African American troops during the American Civil War. Shaw was a rebellious youth who often tested the patience of his parents and teachers. In theory it may seem all right to some, but when it comes to being made the instrument of the Lord’s vengeance, I myself don’t like it. When Shaw was five the family moved to a large estate in West Roxbury, adjacent to Brook Farm. [1] He was killed in the Second Battle of Fort Wagner, near Charleston, South Carolina. There on horseback among them, in his very habit as he lived, sits the blue-eyed child of fortune, upon whose happy youth every divinity had smiled. In his teens, Shaw spent some years studying and traveling in Switzerland, Italy, Hanover, Norway and Sweden. Explore Robert Gould Shaw's biography, personal life, family and cause of death. He had four sisters, namely, Anna, Josephine, Sussana, and Ellen. Robert Gould Shaw was born on 10 October 1837 in Boston, the second of Francis George and Sarah Blake Sturgis Shaw’s children. Gen. Johnson Hagood ordered Shaw’s burial in a common grave as an act of intentional desecration, since Shaw died leading African American troops. They had one son: Robert Gould Shaw would have been 25 years old at the time of death or 177 years old today. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. On learning that black soldiers would receive less pay than white ones, he inspired his unit to conduct a boycott until this inequality was rectified. Robert Gould Shaw was just 25 years old when he was killed leading a regiment of black soldiers into battle during the American Civil War. Robert Gould Shaw was born on October 10, 1837, in Boston to a family of abolitionists. She died in 1907 and is buried at the cemetery of Church-on-the Hill in Lenox. Both Shaw’s father and mother were early ardent abolitionists (Shaw’s playmates included William Lloyd Garrison’s children). His parents, Francis George and Sarah Blake Shaw were philanthropists and quite wealthy. [citation needed], Shaw was promoted to major on March 31, 1863, and to colonel on April 17. The large sculptural monument by Augustus Saint-Gaudens has a frieze of Shaw on horseback, accompanied by members of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment, as they marched through Boston to depart for the war. [citation needed]. The enlisted men of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry (and the sister 55th) refused pay until Congress granted them full back pay at the white pay rate in August 1863. He mounted a parapet and urged his men forward, but was shot through the heart and died almost instantly. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Peter Burchard also used these letters as the basis for his book One Gallant Rush, which is one of the books upon which the film Glory was based. Shaw's father, upon hearing of this deed, stated however that he was proud that happened to his son and Robert would have wanted it that way. He is the principal subject of the 1989 film Glory. Genealogy for Robert Gould Shaw (1815 - 1853) family tree on Geni, with over 200 million profiles of ancestors and living relatives. When Massachusetts Gov. – what a body-guard he has! [citation needed], On June 11, 1863, Shaw wrote about war crimes committed against the citizens of Darien, Georgia when the civilian population of women and children were fired upon, forced from their homes, their possessions looted, and the town burned. On October 27, 1897, RGS II married Nancy Witcher Langhorne (1879—1964) in New York City. [7], On May 2, 1863, Shaw married Anna Kneeland "Annie" Haggerty (1835–1907) in New York City. They are currently located in the Houghton Library at Harvard University. She was the 18-year-old daughter of railroad millionaire Chiswell Dabney Langhorne and Nancy Witcher Keene. . Shaw was initially ordered by Colonel James Montgomery to perform the burning but he refused. In May 1861 he joined the 2nd Massachusetts Infantry as a second lieutenant, with which he fought in the First battle of Winchester, the Battles of Cedar Mountain, and Antietam. [citation needed], Shaw was approached by his father while in camp in late 1862 to take command of a new All-Black Regiment. Some drawings and plaster mock-ups also exist. Better day for man a large estate in West Roxbury, adjacent to Brook Farm currently in... Have any questions only son of a monument to the 54th Massachusetts Regiment by sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens Boston. Age of 28, never remarried detail of a monument to the 54th Massachusetts and is! 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