Vignetted albumen CDV bust view of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw. Boston: J.W. Black, n.d. Publisher’s imprint to mount verso. Period pencil identification to mount verso. 

Provenance: Joseph Ward (ownership stamp to mount verso). 

“We can imagine no holier place than that in which he lies, among his brave and devoted followers, nor wish for him better company. – what a body-guard he has!”

These words, written by the father of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw (1837 - 1863), could no better explain the final resting place of his son, who was buried en masse with the Black soldiers he commanded. It was intended as a slight by Confederate General Johnson Hagood, who, defying the etiquette of returning officers' bodies, left the body of the slain Colonel Shaw to be buried with the rest of his fallen regiment. To the Shaws, an upper-class abolitionist family from Boston, they could think of no better honor for their fallen son. 

Robert Gould Shaw mustered into service in the New York 7th Infantry on 26 April 1861 and was commissioned into the 2nd Massachusetts Infantry shortly thereafter. Rising through the ranks, Shaw was promoted to Colonel of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry on 13 May, 1863. It was the first all-Black unit in the Northeast, and Shaw exhibited great pride in promoting the excellence of his men. As the Union promised equal treatment for all troops in hopes of garnering enlistment from Black men, Shaw encouraged his men to insist upon their rights. Disputes involving equal pay began to arise and Shaw supported his men in refusing their pay until settlements could be made that were equal to those of white soldiers. Shaw’s reputation and his efforts in camaraderie and advocacy became well-known and trickled throughout the ranks, ultimately inspiring tens of thousands of African American men to enlist in the Union army. This helped strengthen the Union army, giving it an advantage over the enfeebled Confederate forces. 

On 18 July 1863, Colonel Shaw would make his last stand at the Second Battle of Fort Wagner. After a previously successful campaign to weaken Confederate forces positioned at Fort Wagner, Union forces were determined to finally overrun the fort, theoretically positioning them to overpower Fort Sumter and gain access to its harbor. Fort Wagner, however, would not be seized, and the second assault would result in a mere 12 Confederate fatalities, while the Union army would suffer a loss of 330 men. 

After a morning of constant cannon fire raining down on the fort, the 54th Massachusetts regiment advanced, surging over the wooden stakes that surrounded the fort and wading through the water-filled ditch set around it. Many were shot down in this attempt, but Colonel Shaw urged his men forward, up the sandy slope. Reaching the top, with his determined men still behind, Shaw brandished his sword and shouted "Forward, 54th!" before being pitched into the sand with fatal wounds. The valiant colonel had been struck down, reportedly shot in the chest as many as seven times. 

By daylight, the full extent of the disastrous battle would be revealed, shocking even Confederate enemies with the scene of carnage. It had been a disastrous loss for Union forces. The 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment sustained the most casualties, with a crippling 54 killed and 48 never accounted for. Shaw and his men would be buried together in a mass grave.

A fine portrait of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment commander. 

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