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All letters are in the Robert G. Shaw II collection with three. exceptions: to Elizabeth "Mimi" Russell Lyman, February 20, 1863 (Lyman Family Papers); to Amos A. Lawrence, March 25, 1863 (Amos A. Lawrence Papers); and to Gov. John A. Andrew, April 6, 1863 (draft, Miscellaneous Bound).
Robert Gould Shaw (October 10, 1837 – July 18, 1863) was an American military officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War. As Colonel, he commanded the all-black 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment. The 54th was created under the order of Massachusetts Governor John Andrew in 1863.
The bulk of the collection consists of letters by Robert Gould Shaw to his family, including 98 letters to his mother, 31 to his father, and some to his sisters and brothers-in-law. Most were written during the Civil War, though some to his parents are from his pre-war days when he traveled in Europe and was a student at Harvard.
Robert Gould Shaw began this letter to his wife on July 15, 1863, just after the 54th Massachusetts had fought its first engagement against Confederate troops on James Island. Shaw
The collection contains correspondence of Robert Gould Shaw, primarily letters to his mother Sarah Blake (Sturgis) Shaw and father Francis George Shaw, 1852-1863, related to the 54th Mass. Infantry Regiment, African American soldiers, the destruction of Darien, Ga., and other subjects; letters from Mass. Gov. John A. Andrew to Francis Shaw ...
A letter from Colonel Robert Gould Shaw to the Adjutant General of Massachusetts written on April 27, 1863. The letter suggests that the recruiting center for the Massachusetts 54th infantry regiment in Springfield Massachusetts should be closed.
On the Boston Common stands one of the great Civil War memorials, a magnificent bronze sculpture by Augustus Saint-Gaudens. It depicts the black soldiers of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry marching alongside their young white commander, Colonel Robert Gould Shaw.
