COL Shaw, Robert Gould

Robert Gould Shaw​

Born: October 10, 1837

Birthplace: Boston, Massachusetts

Father: Francis George Shaw 1809 – 1882

(Buried: Moravian Cemetery, New Dorp, New York)​

Mother: Sarah Blake Sturgis 1815 – 1902

(Buried: Moravian Cemetery, New Dorp, New York)​

Wife: Anna Kneeland Haggerty 1835 – 1907

(Buried: Church of the Hill Cemetery, Lenox, Massachusetts)​

Married: May 2, 1863 in New York City, New York

Education:

1850 – 1851: Attended St. John's College​

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Attended a boarding school in Switzerland for two years​

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Expressed interest in attending West Point Military Academy​

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1856 – 1859: Attended Harvard University​

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Member of the Porcellian Club and Hasty Pudding Club at Harvard​

Occupation before War:

1859 – 1861: Worked for his uncle's mercantile firm on Staten Island​

Civil War Career:

1861: Private in 7th New York State Militia Regiment​

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1861: Marched with his regiment down Broadway in lower Manhattan​

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1861: Served in the Defenses of Washington, D.C.​

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1861: His regiment was dissolved around June​

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1861: 2nd Lt. Company H, 2nd Massachusetts Infantry Regiment​

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1861 – 1862: 1st Lt. Company H, 2nd Massachusetts Infantry Regiment​

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1862: Wounded at the First Battle of Winchester, Virginia​

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1862: Wounded at the Battle of Cedar Mountain, Virginia​

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1862 – 1863: Captain of Company H 2nd Massachusetts Infantry Regiment​

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1862: Wounded at the Battle of Antietam, Maryland​

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1863: Major of 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment​

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1863: Known as a strict disciplinarian to his soldiers of the 54th​

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1863: Colonel of 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment​

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1863: Served in the raid in Darien, Georgia​

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1863: Led the 54th Massachusetts in storming of Fort Wagner, South Carolina​

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1863: Killed while leading his regiment into the fight​

Died: July 18, 1863

Place of Death: Fort Wagner, Morris Island, South Carolina

Cause of Death: Gun Shots thru his chest three times

Age at time of Death: 25 years old

Burial Place: Battery Wagner Mass Union Grave, Charleston, South Carolina - (May have been moved with other mass graves)

Possible Burial Place: Unmarked Grave, Beaufort National Cemetery, Beaufort, South Carolina

 

[Pollaco]

It is commonly known that his parents were abolitionists and approved of Shaw being buried with his black enlisted men in a common grave.His family considered it to be an honor for him to buried with his soldiers.

 

[Pollaco]

He not only attended a boarding school in Neuchatel, Switzerland but later transferred to one in Hanover, Germany. Upon returning to America he attended Harvard.

 

[Pollaco]

Shaw and the 54th was placed initially under overall command of General David Hunter then under the command of General Quincy Gillmore.

 

[rpkennedy]

The 7th New York State Militia was activated for 30 days on April 26, 1861 and was mustered out on June 3, 1861. At the end of May, Shaw joined the 2nd Massachusetts as a 2nd Lt. and served with that unit until Antietam.

Ryan

 

[Kyle Kalasnik]

Does anyone know the circumstances of his wounds at Winchester, Cedar Mountain and Antietam?

Respectfully,
Kyle Kalasnik

 

[Bern52]

a very engaged officer for the rights of his black soldiers!

 

[J C J Barefoot]

Barlow , after he recovered from his wounds at Gettysburg, married Shaw's widow.

 

[Pollaco]

Barlow , after he recovered from his wounds at Gettysburg, married Shaw's widow.

Was it Shaw's widow or his sister?

 

[J C J Barefoot]

Was it Shaw's widow or his sister?

Wooops? Was told at a Gettysburg lecture it was the widow. I'll wipe the egg of the face and double check.

 

[Pollaco]

Mine was not meant to be a sarcastic reply , I was merely asking. That's one way we learn around here.

 

[mofederal]

Francis Barlow married Ellen Shaw, sister of Robert. His other sister Josephine married Col. Charles Russell Lowell, who was mortally wounded at Cedar Creek.

 

[Seduzal]

Wow! He was wounded three times before being killed leading his troops at Fort Wagner. Shot in the chest three times...
Thanks for sharing this awesome article.

 

[Viper21]

Many more people became aware of Col Shaw thanks to the movie Glory. I loved the movie when I first saw it. I've probably seen it 25 times over the years. One of the best Civil War movies ever done in my opinion. The only complaint I had after watching it for the first time was, "Couldn't they find an actor "tougher" than Matthew Broderick to play Shaw..?" Ferris Bueller didn't seem appropriate to me. Wow was I surprised the first time I saw the top picture in the OP. I quickly changed my opinion to, Broderick was perfect...!

 

[tomlamarcooughlin]

If you come to Boston be sure to see the wonderful memorial just across from the street from state house to Shaw and his men

Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Regiment

Robert Gould Shaw Memorial Boston African American NHS/ NPS The Robert Gould Shaw and Massachusetts 54th​ Regiment Memorial commemorates one of the first African American regiments of the Civil War. Although African Americans served in both the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, Northern racist sentiments kept African Americans from taking up arms for the United States in the early years of the Civil War. However, a clause in Abraham Lincoln's 1863 Emancipation Proclamation allowed for the raising of Black regiments. Governor John Andrew soon created the Massachusetts 54th​ Volunteer Infantry. He chose Robert Gould Shaw, the son of wealthy abolitionists, to serve as its colonel. Notable abolitionists including Frederick Douglass and local leaders such as Lewis Hayden recruited men for the 54th​ Regiment. African American men enlisted from every region of the north, and from as far away as Canada and the Caribbean. Through their heroic, yet tragic, assault on Fort Wagner, South Carolina on July 18 1863, in which Shaw and many of his men died, the 54th​ helped erode Northern public opposition to the use of Black soldiers and inspired the enlistment of more than 180,000 Black men into the United States forces. Sergeant William H. Carney, severely injured in the battle, saved the regiment's flag. For this act of bravery, he became the first African American recipient of the Medal of Honor. The 54th​ Regiment also fought in engagements on James Island, the Battle of Olustee, and at Honey Hill, South Carolina before their return to Boston in September 1865. Augustus Saint-Gaudens took nearly fourteen years to complete this high-relief bronze monument, which celebrates the valor and sacrifices of the Massachusetts 54th​. One of the premier artists of his day, Saint-Gaudens grew up in New York and Boston, but received formal training at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts Paris. In his studio in New York, he hired forty men to serve as models for the soldiers' faces. Paid for by private donations and unveiled on May 31, 1897, this monument depicts the 54th​ Regiment as they marched down Beacon Street off for war in 1863.

 

[Pollaco]

I only saw the movie "Glory" once and didn't catch it but I read somewhere that in the scene with the 54th marching down the street and with the crowd waving, a wristwatch can be seen on one of the young men in the crowd. But that takes nothing away from Shaw or the 54th.

 

[J C J Barefoot]

Mine was not meant to be a sarcastic reply , I was merely asking. That's one way we learn around here.

Not at all, no offense taken.

 

[USS ALASKA]

Anniversary Bump

Birthday

10 Oct 1837

Journal Article
A Monument to Colonel Robert Gould Shaw
Stephen T. Riley
Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society
Third Series, Vol. 75 (1963), pp. 27-38
Massachusetts Historical Society

A Monument to Colonel Robert Gould Shaw on JSTOR

Stephen T. Riley, A Monument to Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Third Series, Vol. 75 (1963), pp. 27-38

www.jstor.org

Full article at above link on JSTOR with Google sign-in (In the upper right-hand corner of the linked page, there is a 'Log in' button. If you have a Gmail account, you have a Google sign-in and this will allow for free reading of 100 articles a month).

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[Library Lady]

If you are interested in Robert Gould Shaw, then check your library for this book.