Glory: Hollywood vs. History Glory is a movie about the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, one of the first official all black units in the United States during the Civil War. It’s an inspirational story of how a young Union soldier, Robert Gould Shaw, is offered the chance to lead an army unit that will change not only his life, but the lives of many other Americans.
Glory does a great job of capturing many of the feelings towards the black soldiers during the Civil War. The film is based off of the writings of Robert Gould Shaw, from letters he sent to his friends and family members. Most of the events in the movie are depicted very closely to how they actually happened. Director Edward Zwick tried to keep the movie as historically
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When the 54th is marching south, they run into a regiment of white soldiers, and a quarrel breaks out between Private Trip and some of the white men. Rawlins steps in to stop the fight and one of the white men is about to be disciplined, but Rawlins says that there is no need. This scene is displays the harsh criticism the 5th received, even from their own side, but it also gives a halo effect to Rawlins, who could have easily said nothing, and watched the soldier get punished. Later on down the road the 54th meets up with Colonel James Montgomery, the colonel of another all black regiment. In the movie Montgomery was a racist and didn’t discipline his men at all. While the real Montgomery was noted to have discipline issues, the movie probably took it way out of hand, Montgomery even shoots one of his men for misbehaving. Montgomery later takes the 54th “to see some action”, which actually meant looting and setting fire to a town of innocents. In the movie, Montgomery threatens Shaw to set fire to the town by saying he’ll take command of the 54th if he doesn’t follow orders, so Shaw reluctantly orders the town to be burned. Shaw writes of this event in his letters, stating “the civilian population of women and children were fired upon, forced from their homes, their possessions looted, and the town burned.” Shaw also noted, "On the way up, Montgomery threw several shells
Also, the 54th is portrayed in the movie as being made up largely of runaway slaves, like John Rawlins or Private Trip. In fact, it was actually mostly a regiment of freed men like Thomas Seares, not only recruited from Massachusettes, but also New York and Pennsylvania. The assault on Battery Wagner was attacked on the wrong side in the movie, and it also suggests that over ½ of the regiment was lost during the assault. However, official records state that they had 272 casualties, which is closer to 40%. Lastly, the way in which they whipped and flagged the black soldiers is historically inaccurate because the practice of flogging had been outlawed before the civil war, and Robert would not have whipped them because it symbolizes slavery, which is what they were trying to
The federal government placed many restrictions and discriminatory actions on the black troops. At the beginning of the Civil War, African Americans were not allowed to serve in the U.S. military. By the summer of 1862 it was clear that additional troops were needed. To meet the need, Congress passed two bills that allowed the participation of black soldiers in the Union Army. The Government established segregated units called The Bureau of Colored Troops. The measure lacked popular support and the U.S. Army did not begin recruiting black soldiers until 1863.
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.
war was already over. After years of fighting, the Union won in the end. “Black soldiers played a
Film makers use many historical events to spark up and idea for a movie. One historical event that is commonly used is war. One advantage a film maker has when using war as a movie plot is that there is already a lot of drama in war. This may seem like a good advantage for the film maker, however focusing on all of the drama of war leaves much of the actual info. When watching a war movie, you may feel like you have an understanding about the war, but when you really compare a war movie to an actual war you find that there is a lot of factual information left out. One may ask why would directors and film makers leave out the facts of war and focus on the drama? After reading The Faces of Battle by John Keegan and reviewing war movies
War, the Ultimate Proving Ground: The black troops persevered in the face of hardship, prejudice, and discrimination. They fought in spite of atrocious treatment and in the face of bitter challenges, believing they could make a difference.
The Union military and naval effort to capture Charleston failed in 1863, So did the assault on Fort Wagner led by the 54th which most of them died in the attack. On may 1863 the 54 completed their training and marched through boston to embark for the front. The 54th was not the first black regiment organized or the first to see combat. The War Department quietly allowed the Union commanders occupy portions of the lower Mississippi valley and other places to begin organizing black regiments in the fall of 1862. Four of the regiments fought in battle with the vicksburg campaign during May and June 1863, but these events had received a little publicity in the Northern press. The White officers of the 54th represented of New Charges gland society like shaw were the combat veterans of white regiments during the first two years of the war. Glory does not go into detail about the impact the battle of Fort Wagner had on the Northern like it does not mention the draft
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.
The Battle of Gettysburg was amongst one the most important turning points during the Civil War. It was a three-day bloody battle between the Union and Confederate forces which would ultimately lead up to the victory of the Union. In The Killer Angels, Michael Shaara shows a depiction of the battle through the eyes of the officers and tries to give the reader a first-hand look into the daily struggles that they had to deal with when it came to distinguishing between what’s best for their men and chances of success in the battle. In the book, we are introduced with two important officers: Colonel Chamberlain of the Union force, and General Lee of the Confederate force. Throughout the book, we witness different leadership strategies and philosophies between both officers which ultimately serve as their road to success or failure in the battle. Focusing on General Lee’s philosophy on leadership, “To be a good soldier, you must love the army. But to be a good officer you must be willing to order the death of the thing you love.”, it reinforces the idea that in order to fully succeed at battle, you must set aside and sacrifice your sense of sympathy towards your soldiers as a way to avoid making emotional decisions.
The Civil War, a period of four years in the United States filled with bloody combat, thousands of casualties, and the destruction of much of Southern infrastructure. Although the Civil War had various causes (economy, politics, etc.), it mainly originated from the pressing issue of slavery at the time, mainly its expansion into the Western territories. As we all know, slavery was one of the most horrific times in our nation’s history, yet it was a typical and normal thing for the people of the 19th century. The film, Glory (1989), directed by Edward Zwick, doesn’t necessarily depict the horrors of slavery, however it does show 19th century America’s attitude toward African Americans, as well as the average African American’s hunger for
Before1989 most of the world could not tell you whether or not there was a black regiment during the civil war. In September 1989 if you had the chance to catch a movie at the theater you may have seen Glory. Glory, is a historical drama that told the story of one man and his all black regiment, the 54th Massachusetts Voluntary Infantry. It was produced by Freddie Fields, screen play Kevin Jarre, Director Edward Zwick and distributed by Tri-Star Pictures throughout American theatres.
The film Glory by Edward Zwick is one of the most well-known films of all time. The film itself is solely based upon the first formal unit of the Union Army during the American Civil War which consist of all African American men. They were essentially the very first unit of United States Colored Troops. They were formally known for their courageous attempts to and actions at Fort Wagner in 1863. The film is set in many different locations such as New York, Maryland, South Carolina and Massachusetts. In each of these different locations events took place that shaped our history. For example on November twenty seventh of 1862 Robert Shaw started to train soldiers. July eighteenth 1863 the Colonel Shaw and his troops attempted to take Fort Wagner, which didn’t succeed.
The movie, Glory, tells a story of the 54th regiment of Massachusetts journey in the Civil War. The 54th regiment was the first group of freed African Americans who volunteered to fight in the Union army. The film describes the journey of these brave men as they face prejudice to fight in the Union army and how they sacrificed their lives to fight for the cause of freedom. The film captures the heroic acts of the 54th regiment of black soldiers and their leader Colonel Robert Shaw.
“Battle Cry of Freedom; The Civil War Era id a work of such vast scope necessarily emphasizes synthesis at the expense of theme. If there is a unifying idea in the book, it is McPherson 's acknowledged emphasis on “the multiple meanings of
One of the most prominent armies of the civil war the Army of Northern Virginia is one of the most commonly analyzed aspects of the confederacy. In J. Tracy Power’s Lee’s Miserables, Power evaluates the mindset of the soldiers by following their correspondence to family members as well as their use of diaries. The book is designed to demonstrate the psychological changes of the soldiers from The Battles of the Wilderness and Spotsylvania to the eventual surrender of the army at Appomattox. Power effectively describes the spectrum of physiological states exhibited by the soldier while maintaining a theme of respect for the generalship of Robert E. Lee. While the work exhibits countless examples that become repetitive, the sentiments of the