Glory is a 1989 American historical war drama film directed by Edward Zwick about the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, one of the Union Army's earliest African-American regiments in the American Civil War. It stars Matthew Broderick as Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, the regiment's commanding officer, and Denzel Washington, Cary Elwes, and Morgan Freeman as fictional members of the 54th. The screenplay by Kevin Jarre was based on the books Lay This Laurel (1973) by Lincoln Kirstein and One Gallant Rush (1965) by Peter Burchard and the personal letters of Shaw. The film depicts the soldiers of the 54th from the formation of their regiment to their heroic actions at the Second Battle of Fort Wagner.
Glory was co-produced by Freddie Fields Productions, and theatrically distributed by TriStar Pictures in the United States, Columbia Pictures in the United Kingdom and Warner Bros. in Finland. It premiered in limited release in the United States on December 14, 1989, and in wide release on February 16, 1990, grossing $27 million worldwide on an $18 million budget. The film was nominated for five Academy Awards and won three, including Best Supporting Actor for Washington. It also won awards from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, the Golden Globe Awards, the Kansas City Film Critics Circle, the Political Film Society, and the NAACP Image Awards.
Plot[]
After being wounded at Antietam, Captain Robert Gould Shaw is sent home to Boston on medical leave. His well-connected father obtains for him a promotion to colonel of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, one of the first all-black regiments in the Union Army. Shaw appoints his friend and fellow soldier Cabot Forbes as his second-in-command. Their first volunteer is Thomas Searles, a bookish, free African-American who works as the Shaw family's secretary. Other recruits include John Rawlins, Jupiter Sharts, Silas Trip, and a mute teenage drummer boy whom Rawlins refers to as "Honey".
The men learn that in response to the Emancipation Proclamation, the Confederacy has issued an order that captured black men are to be returned to slavery. Black soldiers found wearing uniforms will be executed as well as their white officers. Shaw offers honorable discharges to any man who does not want to fight, but no one takes his offer. The men undergo rigorous training from Sergeant-Major Mulcahy, who is particularly hard on Searles. Despite Mulcahy's treatment of his friend and the abuse he inflicts on the other recruits, Shaw reluctantly accepts that tough discipline is needed to prepare them for the coming challenges the regiment must face.
Trip deserts and is caught; Shaw orders him flogged in front of the regiment. He then learns that Trip left to find proper shoes because his men are being denied these supplies. Shaw confronts the base's racist quartermaster on their behalf and gets the supplies. He also supports his men in a pay dispute; the federal government decrees that black soldiers will only be paid $10, not the $13 per month all white soldiers receive. When the men, led by Trip, begin tearing up their pay vouchers in protest of this unequal treatment, Shaw tears up his own voucher and declares that none of the white officers will accept pay. In recognition of the leadership he has displayed, Rawlins is promoted to the rank of sergeant major.
Once the 54th completes its training, the unit is transferred to serve under the command of Brigadier General Charles Harker. On their first mission, the 54th is ordered by Colonel James Montgomery to sack and burn Darien, Georgia with Montgomery's own poorly disciplined black soldiers. Shaw initially refuses to obey an unlawful order but reluctantly agrees under threat of facing a court-martial and being relieved of his command. He continues to lobby his superiors to allow his regiment to fight after weeks of having nothing to do but backbreaking manual labor.
Shaw finally gets the 54th a combat assignment after he blackmails Harker and Montgomery by threatening to inform the War Department of their involvement in illegal profiteering. In its first battle at James Island, South Carolina, the 54th successfully repels a Confederate attack that had routed other units. During the battle, Searles is wounded but saves Trip from being stabbed in the back. Shaw offers Trip the honor of bearing the regimental flag in battle. He declines, unsure if winning the war would result in a better life for ex-slaves like himself.
General George Strong informs Shaw along with his fellow commanders of a major campaign to secure a foothold at Charleston Harbor. This involves assaulting Morris Island and capturing Fort Wagner, whose only landward approach is a strip of open beach; a charge is certain to result in heavy casualties. Shaw volunteers the 54th to lead the attack. The night before the battle, the black soldiers conduct a religious service. Several make emotional speeches, including Trip, who finally embraces his fellow soldiers. On its way to the battlefield, the 54th is cheered by the same Union troops who had scorned them earlier.
The 54th leads the charge on the fort at dusk, suffering serious losses. As night falls, the regiment is pinned down against the fort's walls. Attempting to encourage his men forward, Shaw is struck by several bullets and killed. Trip, despite his previous assertion that he would not do it, lifts the flag and tries to rally the men before being shot dead. Forbes and Rawlins take charge, and the soldiers break through the fort's outer defenses. Seemingly on the brink of victory, Forbes, Rawlins, Searles, Sharts, and the two color sergeants realize that the enemy has cannons pointed right at them. The morning after the battle, the beach is littered with the bodies of black and white Union soldiers; the Confederate flag is raised over the fort. The dead Union soldiers are buried in a mass communal grave, with Shaw and Trip's bodies next to each other.
A textual epilogue reveals that the regiment lost over half its number during the assault and that Fort Wagner never fell to the Union Army. However, the courage demonstrated by the 54th spurred Congress to authorize the raising of black soldiers throughout the Union. Over 180,000 volunteered and President Abraham Lincoln credited them with helping to turn the tide of the war.