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The story goes that the author of "Glory," Kevin Jarre , was walking across Boston Common one day when he noticed something about a Civil War memorial that he had never noticed before. Some of the soldiers in it were black. Although the American Civil War is often referred to as the war to free the slaves, it had never occurred to Jarre - or, apparently, to very many others - that blacks themselves fought in the war. The inspiration for "Glory" came to Jarre as he stood looking at the monument.

It tells the story of the 54th Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, made up of black soldiers - some Northern freemen, some escaped slaves - and led by whites, including Robert Gould Shaw, the son of Boston abolitionists. Although it was widely believed at the time that blacks would not make good soldiers and would not submit to discipline under fire, the 54th figured in one of the bloodiest actions of the war, an uphill attack across muddy terrain against a Confederate fort in Charleston, S.C. The attack was almost suicidal, particularly given the battlefield strategies of the day, which involved disciplining troops to keep on marching into withering fire. The 54th suffered a bloodbath. But its members remained disciplined soldiers to the end, and their performance on that day - July 18, 1863 - encouraged the North to recruit other blacks to its ranks, 180,000 in all, and may have been decisive in turning the tide of the war.

"Glory" tells the story of the 54th Regiment largely through the eyes of Shaw ( Matthew Broderick ), who in an early scene in the film is seen horrified and disoriented by the violence of the battlefield.

Returned home to recover from wounds, he is recruited to lead a newly formed black regiment and takes the job even though his own enlightened abolitionist opinions still leave room for doubts about the capability of black troops.

It is up to the troops themselves to convince him they can fight - and along the way they also gently provide him with some insights into race and into human nature, a century before the flowering of the civil rights movement. Among the men who turn into the natural leaders of the 54th are Trip ( Denzel Washington ), an escaped slave, and John Rawlins ( Morgan Freeman ), first seen in the film as a gravedigger who encounters the wounded Shaw on the field of battle.

These men are proud to be soldiers, proud to wear the uniform and also too proud to accept the racism they see all around them, as when a decision is made to pay black troops less than white. Blacks march as far, bleed as much and die as soon, they argue. Why should they be paid less for the same work? Shaw and his second in command, Cabot Forbes ( Cary Elwes ), eventually see the logic in this argument and join their men in refusing their paychecks. That action is a turning point for the 54th, fusing the officers and men together into a unit with mutual trust. But there are countless smaller scenes that do the same thing, including one in which Shaw is pointedly told by one of his men that when the war is over, nothing much will have changed: "You'll go back to your big house." "Glory" has been directed by Edward Zwick , designed by Norman Garwood and photographed by Freddie Francis with enormous attention to period detail, as in such small touches as the shoes issued to the troops (they don't come in right and left, but get to be that way after you've worn them long enough). These little details lead up to larger ones, as when the children of poor black sharecroppers look on in wonder as black soldiers, in uniform, march past their homes. And everything in the film leads up to the final bloody battle scene, a suicidal march up a hill that accomplishes little in concrete military terms but is of incalculable symbolic importance.

Watching "Glory," I had one reccuring problem. I didn't understand why it had to be told so often from the point of view of the 54th's white commanding officer. Why did we see the black troops through his eyes - instead of seeing him through theirs? To put it another way, why does the top billing in this movie go to a white actor? I ask, not to be perverse, but because I consider this primarily a story about a black experience and do not know why it has to be seen largely through white eyes. Perhaps one answer is that the significance of the 54th was the way in which it changed white perceptions of black soldiers (changed them slowly enough, to be sure, that the Vietnam War was the first in American history in which troops were not largely segregated). "Glory" is a strong and valuable film no matter whose eyes it is seen through. But there is still, I suspect, another and quite different film to be made from this same material.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Glory (1989)

122 minutes

Matthew Broderick as Robert Gould Shaw

Denzel Washington as Trip

Cary Elwes as Cabot Forbes

Morgan Freeman as Rawlins

Jihmi Kennedy as Sharts

Andre Braugher as Searles

John Finn as Mulcahy

Directed by

• Edward Zwick

Produced by

• Freddie Fields
• Kevin Jarre

Photographed by

• Freddie Francis
• Steven Rosenblum
• James Horner

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Glory (1989) Movie: Summary and Review

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• Glory (1989) Movie: Summary and…

Glory captures the heroism of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw and the first black regiment in the Civil War, the Massachusetts “Fighting” Fifty-fourth.  An extremely talented cast and crew earned three Academy Awards (cinematography, sound and supporting actor) and five nominations for their work in Glory.  The outstanding cinematography, sound, score and acting recreate the events leading up to the Union attack on Fort Wagner on July 18th 1863.

Matthew Broderick portrays the young Bostonian abolitionist Col. Robert G. Shaw who takes command of the Fifty-fourth, following the Emancipation Proclamation.  Shaw along with Cabot Forbes (Cary Elwes) leads a band of ex-slaves, servants and other black volunteers including a rebellious runaway slave Trip (Denzel Washington), Shaw’s educated childhood friend Thomas Searles (Andre Braugher), and a former gravedigger Rawlins (Morgan Freeman).  

Together these men face the adversity of a racist Union Army, struggling to prove themselves worthy of their government-issued blue uniforms.  After months of training and exploitation for physical labor, the Fifty-fourth gains the opportunity to fight in an attack on Fort Wagner on the beaches of South Carolina.  

Poised to dispel the belief that blacks would not be disciplined under fire, the Fifty-fourth leads the almost suicidal attack on Ft. Wagner.  There Col. Shaw valiantly falls and the Fifty-fourth, suffering great losses, displayed the courage that persuaded the Union to enlist many more black soldiers.  

Matthew Broderick delivers a noteworthy performance in the role of Col. Shaw, which Leonard Maltin calls his most ambitious part.  In an interview for the New York Times, Broderick spoke of his method acting,  “The first step [in preparing for the role of Robert Gould Shaw in Glory] was to try to learn as much as I could about the real person.  

That was mostly from letters, photographs, descriptions, and a poem by Emerson.  The thing I had to do was bring myself into that situation.  I didn’t want to be an imitation of what I thought Shaw must have been like.”  Broderick’s acting talent has been noted on Broadway as well as in films.  Broderick won a Tony Award for his performance in “Brighton Beach Memoirs” in 1983, a year after his film debut in Max Dugan Returns. (Maltin, 102)

But it was his role as a computer hacker in War Games and his role as a handsome young teen touring Chicago in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off that alerted moviegoers to his talent.  Denzel Washington has received critical acclaim for his role as Trip (as well as an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor).

Denzel commented on the role of Trip in an interview with the New York Times.  “Trip’s an instigator – wild, rebellious, angry.  He’s a product of racism who’s become a racist. He hates all white people, Confederates most of all. But in the end, when he sees the white officers make the maximum sacrifice, he’s the most patriotic one in the bunch.”  

Director of Glory, Edward Zwick described Washington by stating, “Whatever that mysterious chemical process is that makes the camera love someone, he has more of it than any one person should.”(Maltin, 921)  It is that presence that earned him an Oscar for Glory and nominations for his roles in Cry Freedom and Malcolm X.  

Equally as important as acting to the impact of the movie Glory is the Musical score composed by James Horner.  In the final battle scene in Glory, Horner chose the Boys Choir of Harlem which creates a moving effect during the death of Col. Robert Shaw. (Magill, 158)  Horner won a Grammy Award for the score for Glory.

He was nominated the same year for an Academy Award for the score for Field of Dreams.  Horner’s previous Grammy Awards include a song of the year and best song written for a motion picture or television, all for “Somewhere Out There” from An American Tale in 1987. (CTFT, 228)  Leonard Maltin calls Horner one of today’s most prolific film composers.  

Horner composed thirty-one motion picture scores from 1979 to 1989. (Maltin, 411)  There are many elements that contribute to the success of a film.  Glory combines the best cinematography, sound, score, and acting to create a moving representation of this portion of U. S. history.  Roger Ebert called it a “strong and valuable film.”  

In his review written for the Chicago Sun-Times, Ebert notes the amount of effort devoted to accurate period detail.  One of Ebert’s criticisms of Glory is that the perspective of the movie is constantly seen from one view, that of the white officer.  Ebert points out that a white man is cast as the lead role when the movie is essentially about a black experience.  Glory could have been told from the eyes of a black soldier in the Fifty-fourth.  Ebert makes a valid assumption when he suggests that a totally different film could be made from the same material.  

Indeed Glory is a story of how the freed blacks were able to prove themselves in battle.  The Fifty-fourth regiment could also be considered one of the first times we see blacks look for equal opportunity.  Ebert notes the scene when the black soldiers of the Fifty-fourth learn they will not be paid the regular (white) wage.  “Blacks march as far, bleed as much and die as soon, they argue.”(Ebert)  It would be 100 years later that they gained equal opportunity when in Vietnam both black and white soldiers were interspersed in the military.

While Roger Ebert discusses the idea of a different point of view he notes that Glory is an important film no matter whose eyes it is seen from.  Blake Lukas on the other hand is far more critical of the film.  In Lukas’ review for Magill’s Cinema Annual, he picks at elements of the film, including weak characterization and directing that leaves something to be desired.  Lukas seems at times to be lost in his own rhetoric when he writes about the dismal war genre.  

He delves into the number of Vietnam films that are “a far more popular subject in this period.”(Magill, 155)  After a brief synopsis of the film, Lukas comments on the dynamics of the protagonist character who we see mature through the film.  The remaining characters Lukas believes lack dimension.  He calls the role of Cabot Forbes “fleetingly interesting”  and the role of Trip, (which Denzel Washington won Best Supporting Actor for) “predictable.”  

He goes on further to say that the role of Rawlins portrayed by Morgan Freeman is only enlightened by this “brilliant actor’s own characteristic intelligence.”  Therefore without the phenomenal acting talent presented in Glory Lukas feels the movie would be flat.  In addition to finding flaws in the characterization, Lukas compares director Edward Zwick to the director John Ford.  Ford directed earlier Civil War films such as The Horse Soldiers(1959) or Sergeant Rutledge (1960)which based on the all-black cavalry regiment in the Civil War.  

Lukas suggests that Ford was able to attain a “thematic richness” that eluded Zwick.  Lukas also remarks that Zwick used ineffective “emphasis on close-ups and shallow focus which do little to make the film’s historical moment seem …alive in spite of admirable attention to detail in the art direction sets and costumes.”  

Lukas is impressed however by Zwick’s direction of the final scene in which he uses “vigorous tracking shots”  to create a “stunning effect.”  Lukas also comments on James Horner’s inventive use of the Boy’s Choir of Harlem. Lukas suggests that Zwick looked to appeal to contemporary audiences.  Interestingly enough Lukas is surprised that Glory met with such “critical and commercial success.”  Lukas also seems hung up on the past.  he makes two comments which seem out of place.  

First, when comparing Zwick to Ford he states that Zwick does not attempt the same “thematic richness” and that “(Zwick’s) sensibilities are more attuned with the responses of the 1989 audiences.”  I don’t think Zwick should be faulted for creating a film that is appealing to contemporary audiences.”  I certainly would not go see a film directed by Lukas.  

Desson Howe reviewing Glory for the Washington Post like Lukas notes that the scriptwriter Jarre (whose credits include Rambo: First Blood Part II) provides only a superficial characterization “his script is made better by the performers.” Howe believes that the is too much “liberal eyed giddiness (thanks chiefly to the gushy, rhapsodizing score by James Horner).”  Both Ebert and Lukas acclaim Broderick’s performance of Shaw, yet Howe criticizes it writing, “In this movie he is an amiable non-presence, creating unintentionally the notion that he Fifty-fourth earned its stripes despite wimpy leadership.”  

This comment leads me to wonder whether Howe and I saw the same movie.  Howe notes that the performance of Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman uplift the film.  Perhaps the reviewers did not have the luxury of time to research the history of Robert Gould Shaw or the Fifty-fourth.  If so they would have found that Shaw was indeed a youthful officer given charge of the Fifty-Fourth as Colonel at the age of 26.  

Understanding Shaw’s philosophical views as an abolitionist and the societal views of blacks being subservient to whites, certainly a young man leading the first black regiment would experience a certain degree of self-doubt and contradiction.  In the end, Shaw develops the courage to lead his men into battle to a symbolic triumph displaying the bravery of these black soldiers.  Broderick’s portrayal of Shaw is credible from my point of view.  

The credibility of Glory is heightened by the amount of effort devoted to recreating the historical details.  From the camps to the costumes Glory captures the aura of battle.  Most of the critics agree that the historical detail was a redeeming element of the film.  Glory is a film that balances its shortcomings out with exceptional talent.  Perhaps a lack of dimension in the characters is balanced with outstanding performances.  

Any faults in the directing are made up by the detail put into the film and the superior sound and score.  Glory is a carefully constructed film with a didactic theme. It is an accurate representation of the lives of Civil War soldiers.  The climax of the movie is fairly accurately represented.  

The Fifty-fourth regiment had slightly over five hundred members when they marched into battle on July 18th, 1863.  Over two hundred and fifty members of the regiment died in that battle and several more were injured.  That is what proved to the white regiments looking on that the black soldiers were worthy of battle.  Glory captures that triumph.

Bibliography

Contemporary  Theatre, Film and Television.  Detroit: Gale Research, Volume 10  

Ebert, Roger. The Chicago Sun-Times, January 12, 1990  

Howe, Desson. The Washington Post, January 12, 1990  

Lukas, Blake. Magill’s Cinema Annual 1990,  Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Salem Press, 1990  

Maltin, Leonard.  Leonard Maltin’s Movie Encyclopedia,  The Penguin Publishing Company, New York, NY 1994.

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Home — Essay Samples — War — American Civil War — Glory and The Movie Glory

Glory and The Movie Glory

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Published: Mar 20, 2024

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Historical accuracy, portrayal of the african american experience, significance in american history and film.

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Film. Directed by Edward Zwick. 1989. 122 minutes. The all-Black 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment is brought to the screen in this star-studded Civil War film.

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Glory tells the story of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry from its organization in the winter of 1863 to the climactic assault of July 18, 1863, against Fort Wagner, a massive earthwork guarding the approach to Charleston. The Union military and naval effort to capture Charleston failed in 1863. So did this assault on Fort Wagner led by the 54th, which suffered nearly 50 percent casualties in the attack. One of them was Col. Robert Gould Shaw, killed while leading his men over the parapet.

But if in this narrow sense the attack was a failure, in a more profound sense it was a success of historic proportions. The unflinching behavior of the regiment in the face of an overwhelming hail of lead and iron answered the skeptic’s question, “Will the Negro fight?” It demonstrated the manhood and courage of the race to millions of white people in both North and South who had doubted whether Black men would stand in combat against soldiers of the self-styled master race. . . .

This description is excerpted from the 1990 review of the movie Glory by the historian James M. McPherson for The New Republic magazine . Two additional reviews are Why ‘ Glory ’ Still Resonates More Than Three Decades Later by Kevin Levin and Tainted Glory : Truth and Fiction in Contemporary Hollywood (PDF) by Patricia A. Turner.

Watch Online

Watch Glory free online at Crackle .

The Massachusetts Historical Society offers a website with essays, primary sources, and photographs of 54th Massachusetts soldiers.

Read more about the 54th at BlackPast.org .

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The Power of Resilience and Sacrifice in 'Glory': Movie Review

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Glory, Movie Review Example

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Introduction

The 1989 film ‘Glory’ was based on the true event of the 54 th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry battle against the Confederate troops set in the midst of the American Civil War. It has come to represent the suffering of war and the triumph of courage in the face of opposition, especially in the terms of its namesake, ‘Glory’.

Definition of Glory

In personal terms, the word glory is defined as honor earned by the notable achievement of a person or people. It is only given or received after a major struggle or major success, and is often observed by many. In the film, glory is gained by the individuals of the 54 th regiment, by their persistence to win the war, despite the odds.

Particularly, the courage shown by Robert Gould Shaw, the captain of the regiment, and Private Trip, a former slave-turned-soldier are the symbols of glory at the height of the battle to capture Battery Wagner. Despite being outnumbered and encountering heavy losses, these two men fought until their final breath, and inspired their troops to do the same. Humanity has also taken a leaf out of such a lesson, not just in war, but also in life. The same struggle exists between the minority and the majority, whatever the situation may be; and the one who continues until the end achieves ultimate glory.

Qualities of Leadership

As aforementioned, the leadership exemplified by Captain Robert Gould Shaw is worthy of note, especially in regards to the quality of his leadership characteristics. There are three qualities of a good leader: trust, communication, and inspiration. Robert Gould Shaw is forced to prove his trustworthiness throughout the film, particularly to his General, Charles Garrison Harker. The General does not treat the African-American counterparts in the 54 th regiment as equals with the Caucasians, which leads to Robert Gould Shaw’s confrontation with him to led the regiment lead the battle. This ultimately earns the trust of his fellow comrades. Communication between Robert Gould Shaw’s troops initially becomes heated when the African-Americans are integrated into the army. It is up to Robert Gould Shaw to make ends meet, and he does so by ensuring that both sides work together. Indeed, it is his courage and resistance to fear that inspire his comrades to continue the battle when he dies at the hands of the Confederates. In this last act to his troops, he ‘hands over the banner’, and lets the 54 th regiment continue what he left behind.

Private Trip

As one of the main characters, Private Trip joins the 54 th regiment, but is distrustful of Captain Robert Gould Shaw. In one of the scenes, Private Trip goes Absent Without Official Leave (AWOL), and is berated by Robert Gould Shaw and is ordered to be flogged in front of the troops as a lesson. However, Robert Gould Shaw reverses his decision after he sees Private Trip’s back riddled with scars from when he was beaten as a runaway slave. As an abolitionist, Robert Gould Shaw ultimately pleads on Private Trip’s case, and gets provisions for his African-American soldier, who have been overlooked in favor of their Caucasian counterparts. This act of assistance allows Private Trip and Captain Robert Gould Shaw to become comrades, gain the mutual respect of each other, and fight side by side until they die together.

Overall Theme and Conclusion

In summary, Glory depicts the war as a struggle between power and equality, with the most courageous receiving the crown of honor. By leading the 54 th regiment to work together, fight together, and die together, they gain the respect of the Union and the country, and ultimately, gain the glory. It is for this reason that people of all backgrounds have embraced the concept of glory, and hold it in high honor.

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Based on a True Story

Why ‘Glory’ Still Resonates More Than Three Decades Later

Newly added to Netflix, the Civil War movie reminds the nation that black Americans fought for their own emancipation

Kevin M. Levin

Thirty-one years ago, the Hollywood movie Glory debuted in theaters, garnering positive reviews from critics and historians as it told the Civil War story of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, the first all-Black regiment raised in the North. Although it had middling success at the box office , the film became a stalwart of high school history classes and its popularity will only expand with its recent addition to the Netflix library.

The historical epic’s appearance on the streaming giant comes at the end of a summer that witnessed the sometimes-violent removal of roughly 75 Confederate monuments amidst nationwide protests under the “Black Lives Matter” banner. But even as the story of the black Americans who served in the United States army during the Civil War becomes more widely known, new viewers of the movie may wonder where fact and faction intersect in Glory .

The movie, directed by Ed Zwick, stars Matthew Broderick as the real-life figure Colonel Robert G. Shaw. The supporting cast includes Morgan Freeman as Sergeant John Rawlins, Andre Braugher as the well-educated Thomas Searles, and Denzel Washington as the escaped slave Trip. (All the black characters are fictional, though some have suggested that Searles is based on one of Frederick Douglass’ sons, who served in the regiment.)

The overall trajectory of Glory hews closely to the historical record; the script relies heavily on Shaw’s letters home during his time in the army (a title card opening the movie refers to the correspondence.) Over the course of just over two hours, viewers move from Battle of Antietam to the regiment’s military training to the deep South of Georgia and South Carolina. The movie's climax, involving the 54th’s failed attack at Battery Wagner on July 18, 1863, depicts a final victory over adversity and a collective sacrifice around the flag. Shaw is killed attempting to lead his men in a final assault as is Trip, who falls having finally embraced the regimental colors.

When Glory was first released in 1989, it challenged a deeply entrenched popular memory of the war that centered the conflict around brave white soldiers and left little room to grapple with the tough questions of slavery and emancipation. The film’s most important contribution is its success in challenging this narrow interpretation by reminding white Americans of the service of roughly 200,000 Black Americans in Union ranks and their role in helping to win the war and end slavery.

By 1863, the outcome of the war was far from certain. Following the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1 of that year, President Abraham Lincoln authorized the raising of Black troops to help defeat the Confederacy. There was no more enthusiastic supporter of this policy than Massachusetts Governor John Andrew, who immediately commenced with the raising of the 54th Massachusetts, along with two other all-black units.

Shaw was a young 25-year-old at the time, and Broderick ably emotes the challenges the colonel faced overcoming his own racial prejudices while in command of the regiment, despite his family’s abolitionist credentials. Yet the movie falls short in capturing the extent of Shaw’s ambivalence toward being offered the command of the all-black regiment. In the movie, it’s played as a question that demanded but a few moments of reflection, when in reality Shaw initially rejected the governor’s commission citing concerns about whether commanding black soldiers would advance his own career and reputation in the army. His letters home throughout the first half of the war reveal more ambiguity about emancipation than the film acknowledges.

In a letter written to his mother following the battle of Antietam, Shaw questioned Lincoln’s issuance of the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. “For my part,” Shaw wrote, “I can’t see what practical good it can do now. Wherever our army has been, there remain no slaves, and the Proclamation will not free them where we don’t go.”

One of the most accurate scenes in the movie is the burning of Darien, Georgia, on June 11, 1863. Shaw and his men accompanied Colonel James Montgomery’s force and did, as depicted, help to set fire to the town. Shaw was, in fact, concerned that the incident would reflect negatively on his men and prevent them from ever having the opportunity to fight in battle. The movie Shaw’s threat to expose General David Hunter’s illegal activity has no basis in truth, but more importantly, his relationship with Montgomery was much more complex than that written. Shaw respected Montgomery’s commitment to his abolitionist principles and belief that Southern society needed to be completely remade, despite his racist outlook on the men under his command. In a letter to his wife, Shaw described Montgomery as a “very conscientious man” and later to his mother admitted that “he is very attractive to me, and indeed I have taken a fancy to him.”

Notably, the movie also ignores the fact that Shaw spent significant time away from his men during the war, particularly during the time when they would have been training, as he was engaged to and later married Anna Kneeland Haggerty on May 2, 1863, just weeks before the regiment was scheduled to ship out to Beaufort, South Carolina .

Among its other dramatic licenses is the depiction of the regiment as made up primarily of the formerly enslaved, a creative choice that highlights a transition from slavery to freedom. While the story of emancipated men becoming soldiers and fighting for their freedom provides a powerful narrative that was indeed true of most black regiments, the 54th Massachusetts was made up primarily of free black men born in states like Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York. In contrast to scenes that show Shaw struggling to procure weapons, food, uniforms or other supplies, the soldiers lacked very little owing to Governor Andrew’s commitment to black enlistment.

In one of the most powerful scenes in the movie, Washington’s Trip is whipped by an Irish drill sergeant for leaving camp without permission in front of the entire regiment. The sight of a bare-backed former slave with old whipping marks still visible certainly works to stir the emotions of viewers, but had little basis in fact as the army had already banned the practice of flogging.

What these deviations from the historical record do accomplish, however, is reinforcing the truth that black soldiers experienced dangers on the battlefield and racial discrimination that white enlisted men never faced. Delivering this message is another of Glory ’s key additions to the public’s understanding of the United States Colored Troops. These men were subject to racial taunts and abuse by white soldiers and were forced to engage in manual labor by officers who didn’t believe they had the skill or bravery to engage in combat.

This discrimination extended to the government’s decision to pay black men $10 per month (as compared to white soldiers’ $13). This policy is briefly addressed by the movie when Colonel Shaw joins his men in tearing up their pay vouchers. The scene offers another opportunity for Shaw to work through his own prejudices and bond with his men, but leaves viewers with the question of whether the policy was ever discontinued. It was not.

The 54th Massachusetts and other Black regiments continued to protest their unequal pay following Shaw’s death in July 1863 and through much of 1864. Even Governor Andrew’s offer to pay the $3 difference out of state funds was met with a stern refusal by the regiment . Discipline deteriorated in the 54th Massachusetts and other regiments as men engaged in insubordinate behavior in response to their unequal pay. In April 1864, 75 men in the 55th Massachusetts flirted with open mutiny by appealing to President Lincoln for immediate assistance. Congress finally discontinued the policy in the summer of 1864, but not before a soldier in the 55th Massachusetts was executed for striking his commander twice in the face after refusing to follow an order.

While Glory presents the regiment’s failed assault on Battery Wagner as its greatest achievement, their extended protest against unequal pay helps to align the service of Black soldiers within the broader history of civil rights, and perhaps is an even stronger connection to modern-day protests against racial injustice.

The movie also leaves little to the imagination in exposing the horrors of Civil War combat, but only alludes to the full range of dangers experienced by black soldiers on the battlefield. Black soldiers that met the enemy on Civil War battlefields were massacred on more than one occasion (most notably at Fort Pillow and the Crater in 1864) after being captured by Confederates, who viewed them as slaves in rebellion rather than soldiers that were protected by the rules of war. Some were even sold into slavery rather than sent to prison camps. White officers like Shaw also risked being executed for inciting slave rebellion.

The final scene in which Confederates bury Shaw along with the rest of his now shoeless men in a mass grave brings the story to a fitting close by suggesting that he and his men managed to triumph over racism within the ranks in a war that ultimately led to Confederate defeat, the preservation of the Union and a "new birth of freedom." (The regiment’s story continues off screen, as it saw military action through the end of the war and remained stationed in South Carolina until December 1865, when it returned home to be decommissioned.)

Viewers are left to reflect on the image of Augustus Saint-Gaudens' beautiful monument to Shaw and his regiment, located across from the Massachusetts State House in Boston. Dedicated in 1897, the relief sculpture commemorates the march through Boston by Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts that is beautifully captured in the movie. Until the 1990s, it remained one of the only public reminders of the service of roughly 200,000 free and formerly enslaved Black men in the United States army during the Civil War.

By the beginning of the 20th century, Confederate monuments blanketed prominent public spaces in cities and towns throughout the South and even beyond. They celebrated the Christian virtue and bravery of the Confederate soldier, as well as generals such as Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, and denied that the war had anything to do with the preservation of slavery and white supremacy.

Some Confederate monuments went even further and intentionally distorted the history of African Americans by celebrating their supposed loyalty to the Confederate cause. In 1914, for example, the United Daughters of the Confederacy dedicated a large Confederate monument on the grounds of Arlington National Cemetery that included the images of the loyal “Mammy” protecting the child of a Confederate officer going off to war and a body servant marching alongside white soldiers.

Altogether, these monuments ignored the steps that African Americans took to undermine the Confederacy by fighting against it and as a result denied that they had any interest in attaining their freedom. This denial helped to reinforce the Jim Crow culture of white supremacy that prevented black Americans from voting and the ability to take part in any public discussion about how to commemorate the past in public spaces.

Glory still offers a powerful reminder of the stakes of the Civil War for communities across the country debating whether to remove their Confederate monuments. The decisions made will go far in determining whether ‘Black Lives Matter’ today and in history.

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Kevin M. Levin | | READ MORE

Kevin M. Levin is a historian and educator based in Boston. He is the author of numerous articles and books about the Civil War, including Searching for Black Confederates: The Civil War’s Most Persistent Myth .

The Movie “GLORY 1989” by Edward Zwick Analysis Essay (Movie Review)

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The Movie “GLORY 1989” is the first movie in the United States that explains the nation’s civil war. The movie makes use of fiction devices to pass its information and this makes it to be interesting to the audience compared to the other films focusing on the civil war. In my opinion, the movie is an ensemble piece that gives more information on the time of the civil war as well as the circumstances that led to the war. It, however, does not concentrate on the personalities of the characters and the characters only serve to demonstrate a glorious time in America’s history, a role they play with constant conviction.

I love the way the movie begins. It starts in an interesting manner with local citizens dressed in costumes that are alike, clean, and well pressed. The film opens with a charge at Antietam where the faces of the characters appear to be charmingly smudged as if done by a volunteer artist. It unfolds in a series of brilliantly recognized vignettes following the 54th organization and I find it interesting that it idiosyncrasies of the characters emerge at this point.

The character, searles, who is an intellectual, makes the movie colorful. He is a black man in his youth and it is quite surprising how he makes sleeping with his glasses on. The fact that the film keeps its focus short is amusing. One of the movie’s least efficient sequences is traditionally true. For instance, the movie talks of an incursion to the village of South Carolina whereby, Shaw, the village head, is ordered by one of the officers to command his people to destroy and burn all the buildings in the village. I could not resist watching the movie since it is at this point that it adds a little raping to the series and quickly becomes more hilarious and melodramatic.

I feel like the Fort Wagner attack is the climax of the film. This part of the film cannot be compared to any other film have ever watched on screen. At this point, the film clearly illustrates the chaos and violence that were specific to the civil war scuffle. It is surprising the way weapons maimed during murder and how the Territorial Army was behaved up to the extent that they marched in straight lines into the scenes of weapons shot at a direct distance.

The movie talks of enormous tolls being taken in each combat. It is interesting that despite these vast tolls, the men continued to proceed and trusted their actions. Though the civil war involved much killing and suffering, it was a time of unlimited optimism for many American citizens. The Movie “GLORY 1989” is good, interesting, and complicated. I love the fact that though it is a celebratory movie, it does this in a manner that acknowledges the grief involved. It is a good example of what occurs when studio gloss is faced with open art based narrations. The movie attempts to achieve fundamental truths concerning men, political movements, and personalities.

Although the film is one of the best films, which clearly demonstrate the civil war in America, I realized numerous historical inaccuracies especially in relation to racial associations. For instance, the 54th is depicted in the film as constituting of runaway slaves and this was actually a troop of free men. By inaccurately portraying the 54th as a regiment of runaway slaves, the movie reveals that black men were not the free slaves as believed by the people from the southern part of America.

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IvyPanda. (2020, April 29). The Movie "GLORY 1989" by Edward Zwick Analysis. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-movie-glory-1989-by-edward-zwick-analysis/

"The Movie "GLORY 1989" by Edward Zwick Analysis." IvyPanda , 29 Apr. 2020, ivypanda.com/essays/the-movie-glory-1989-by-edward-zwick-analysis/.

IvyPanda . (2020) 'The Movie "GLORY 1989" by Edward Zwick Analysis'. 29 April.

IvyPanda . 2020. "The Movie "GLORY 1989" by Edward Zwick Analysis." April 29, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-movie-glory-1989-by-edward-zwick-analysis/.

1. IvyPanda . "The Movie "GLORY 1989" by Edward Zwick Analysis." April 29, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-movie-glory-1989-by-edward-zwick-analysis/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "The Movie "GLORY 1989" by Edward Zwick Analysis." April 29, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-movie-glory-1989-by-edward-zwick-analysis/.