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The Massachusetts 54th, under the leadership of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, led an attack against Battery Wagner. The ensuing battle is depicted in the movie Glory and was the inspiration behind Andy's passion in the Civil War.
1863 January President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1st, 1863. Within weeks, on January 26, the Secretary of War authorized Governor John Andrew of Massachusetts to raise the first African American corps in the North. Prejudicial beliefs that blacks would lack military discipline and fight badly set a negative attitude, but Andrew, a strong abolitionist, supported enlistment of African Americans. Inscriptions on Saint-Gaudens' memorial and Charles Follen McKim's architectural exedra to Robert Gould Shaw and the Massachusetts Fifty-fourth Regiment in Boston. From The Shaw Memorial: A Celebration of an American Masterpiece (1997). On the front of the monument, part of the relief itself:
OMNIA RELINQVIT / SERVARE REMPVBLICAM Underneath the relief:
ROBERT GOULD SHAW / COLONEL OF THE FIFTY FOURTH REGIMENT OF MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY BORN IN BOSTON 10 OCTOBER / MDCCCXXXVII KILLED WHILE LEADING THE ASSAULT / ON FORT WAGNER / SOUTH CAROLINA 18 JULY MDCCCLXIII Underneath, the verse of James Russel Lowell:
RIGHT IN THE VAN ON THE RED RAMPART'S SLIPPERY / SWELL WITH HEART THAT BEAT A CHARGE HE FELL / FOEWARD AS FITS A MAN: BUT THE HIGH SOUL BURNS / ON TO LIGHT MEN'S FEET WHERE DEATH FOR NOBLE / ENDS MAKES DYING SWEET On the back of the frame of the tablet. The inscription was composed by Charles W. Eliot:
TO THE FIFTY FOURTH / OF MASSACHUSETTS / REGIMENT INFANTRY / THE WHITE OFFICERS / TAKING LIFE AND HONOR IN / THEIR HANDS CAST IN THEIR LOT WITH MEN OF / A DESPISED RACE UNPROVED IN WAR AND RISKED / DEATH AS INCITERS OF SERVILE INSURRECTION IF / TAKEN PRISONERS BESIDES ENCOUNTERING ALL THE / COMMON PERILS OF CAMP MARCH AND BATTLE / THE BLACK RANK AND FILE VOLUNTEERED WHEN / DISASTER CLOUDED THE UNION CAUSE SERVED / WITHOUT PAY FOR EIGHTEEN MONTHS TILL GIVEN / THAT OF WHITE TROOPS FACED THREATENED / ENSLAVEMENT IF CAPTURED WERE BRAVE IN ACTION / PATIENT UNDER HEAVY AND DANGEROUS / LABORS AND CHEERFUL AMID / HARDSHIPS AND PRIVATIONS / TOGETHER / THEY GAVE TO THE NATION AND THE WORLD / UNDYING PROOF THAT AMERICANS OF AFRICAN / DESCENT POSSESS THE PRIDE COURAGE / AND DEVOTION OF THE PATRIOT SOLDIER / ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY THOUSAND SUCH / AMERICANS ENLISTED UNDER THE UNION FLAG IN / MDCCCLXIII - MDCCCLXV
A word about Andrew Keith Anderson Andy's interests were both wide and passionate. His Viola - his Artwork - his Civil War Soldiers - His Sea, his animals and his family - these were his passions. These he lived. His love for family and devotion to fatherhood brought about the most glorious of times for him as he found he was to father a son. This same passion drove him to an untimely death as he found that his son had been aborted. Andy will live forever in the life and times of his mom. He will live forever in the hearts of his 'brothers'...his cousins. He will live forever in the hearts and souls of his Aunts and Uncle. He will forever be 'little Andy' . Thanks for visiting Andy's Memorial Site. As I acquire additional information and/or photos, the site shall grow, so stop back now and then. It is an honor to 'know Andy' - this cousin I never met. I feel as if I've traveled into his inner soul while building this site and have learned so very much about this young and talented man. Thanks, Andy, for your inspiration. Take care of mamma. Love ya, Kid...........Christy
The Viola - History of the Instrument
The Viola - The String Instrument
Lethal White Aussies
Robert Gould Shaw Biography
Robert Gould Shaw Memorial Page
55th. Mass. Burials on James Island
54th Mass Volunteer Company
Beaufort SC National Cemetary
Return to Nodie Mullady Wright Clan Site
Return to Mullady Clan Website
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