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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).
Colonel Shaw was the Commander of the Massachusetts 54th Infantry regiment, the first official African American regiments to be formed in the United States. Colonel Shaw was killed at the battle for Fort Wagner, near Charleston South Carolina on July 18, 1963. Creator: Shaw, Robert Gould, 1837-1863. Date:
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.
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 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 ...
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.
Robert Shaw writes to his father, Francis, of the need of his help in the formation of the first black regiment [the 54th Massachusetts]. He mentions that the regimental committee has hired a black man, W. Wells, who will help to enlist men and will call upon Francis.
