The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-05-30

And At the last day together
They shall 10 found again.
They buried him with his nlsscrsm
But the 8 orious souls set free
That nights for liberty.
Brothers in death, In glory
The same palm branches bear;
And tho crown is as bright DER tho sable brows
As over the golden hair.
10, 1887. The Shaw family is of honorable au-
Seestry, dating buck TO revolutionary times;
earnest defenders always Of freedom. Tho IA.
ternal great-grandfath of Robert Gould Shaw,
who was born in Maine, amassod great wealth,
case of tho father. MT least; was used with great
benevolence. Col. Shaw mother. who still
York city, was also intensely patriotic and OF
Abolitionist principles, Owing TO the ill health
of MTsi tS shay sSib the FIFasmntsiSs G GSoTSo e New sI ESr X;
Staten Island, in 1882.
of course the idol Of tho family. Ito entered
Harvard College in 1855. He did not rank high
President Lincoln in 1860. His great desire was
to gain distinction In tho Second Massachusetts
Regiment, but, having left college after u three.
years course to enter business Will an unclo
residing in New York city, he cast in his for.
tunes as a private with the Seventh New York
there would be trouble in the South after the
election of President Lincoln. On May 70
o ee e %sssscb q sssSn Rea tlseasn First IN his sas ssst
t AIN ! in af the Sam same ,S Tesai%en h0 G On RR rGh,9 Il, l Sss.
Massachusetts Regiment, at the special request
OF Gov. Andrew. May :, 1853. he was married,
black soldiers. This regiment created a tire,
mendous sensation and received an ovation as it
passed pas cd through q H Hew York Gn6S city en- g route TSt 4 for the
was a novelty to the people OF this city, who were
unaccustomed to seeing the children Of the Sun
clothed in the uniform of the Union, with their
faces turned resolutely to the common enemy.
The story Of this regiment is one Of the most ro-
% netion in IN w shI hif Il gained Os foe fop h itseif imm opt hfs
and for. its heroic Colonel q crown of i'm
perishable fame was begun at daylight on
first attack on Fort Wagner, which was repulsed
after 1t bad gained a foothold on the parapet of
BY the other troops. This reppuIse Convinced the
commander that the. guns of Wagner would
haye to be silenced before it could be success.
fully assaulted by the infantry; and to accom-
Earthworks were Immediately thrown up at a
m naoTtaTs " r;oI Brought tire from in' Folly Sl island Gd' and
other points and placed IN position. Morris, Isl
and, . on D.r whieh hs s@ az sryyS w tbrsa WAS located &c I.ns,b Is
with a breadth varying from a few hundred yards
toa few feet. The Confederates had exhausted all
ner. 1t was believed that by a continuous bonn
bardmen the fort could be reduced in a few
could take it. On the 18th OF July nearly thirty
cannon and mortars were trained on the fort.
The bombardment commenced on the 18th of
July and was kept up for Il few hours, the fleet
having moved up and Joined in the lombard
ment: The combined attack Of the land and
naval forces was grand beyond compare. The
shells and cannon and canister of the Federal
guns p%loughed up the sands of Morris Island SO
a ahat t fhe skies sp msrS aSr as II t See e Iae sTnf" Mepe
at war. After q few hours the Confederateg guns
were silenced. The Federal officers were elated
fort, and the troops urged Gen. Gill
more to permit them to attack it as soon as it
tions OF his officers, although reluctantly. He
was not convinced that the time to make the
attack (, on the fort e had arrived, but the order
at once. This decision was unfortunate. as the
Confederatus were enabled in the darkness to
Federal troops collided with each other, and the
Fed for feet t was vas S unable t TS eo-G nisS, cav with hhatshhe
tiful and calm when the troops moved out upon
the broad and smooth beach left by the r~cceding
miie fr phs the %sn for aal' fSo O. bla shs p SsaGh aS %ss to g
lead the assaulting column. The black soldiers
were proud Of their position. and believed
BY one thousand black soldiers, moved rap:
grim the fort. Not a Simmer Of light showed
through the darkness. Not a gun from the fort
broke broke the hsd St III 9 asa or II hl Locked s1,, as i 1T the rec Con fed
there. Deep down beneath the sand heaps great
caverns had been excavated, whose floors were
OF huge. trunks Of trees laid in double rows.
Above these massive beams sand was heapcd SO
impression upon them. In these dark recesses
!. 1000 determined men lay concealed wait
fourth Massachusetts Regiment. the Sixth
Connseticut, the Forty;eighth New York,
s syH and tho Ninth Maine Regiments.
As the attacking party came near the fort the
t Ssslfsef but 9Ps onfS f e rG1T mom nFs. i W ihtasF she di tes
was reached a thousand, men leaped into it,
clambered up the shattered ramparts: and Crap
pied with the foe, who yielded and fell back TO
the rear of the fort: At this moment the sub
terranean guns belched forth destruction. The
sands of their comrades who were landed on the |
beach under cover of the darkness, hurled them
sSiEey th hsa mista ahs S Mss mads t Of tirlh IL T into here sSs
The Federals were forced back to the edge OF
the ditch. and it was here that. Shaw and Put
nam and scores of the black soldiers met their
death; Says a historian:
Hand to hand, breast to breast. Here, on this
little strip of land. scarce bigger than a human
" the darkness. and SO fierce was the contest
the sands were Redeemed and soaked with
human gore, but resistance was vain. The as
upon the retreating survivors. What a fearful
WSandeS T's Rer ees' an al bore Ss F% fhem 20 a pl Ses
Of shelter! And what a mourpful morning.
yealed our terrible losses! What a rich harvest
death had gathered to HIMSELF During tho
short struggle nearly two thousand OF our men
had fallen. Moro than six hundred of our brave
boys lay dead on the ramparts of the fatal fort,
in its broad ditch and along the beach at its
base; A flag OF truce party went out to bury
our dead, but Gen. Beauregard, they found, had
already buried, them, where they fell. in broad.
When the body of Col. Shaw was sought by his
bereaved comrades, a Confederate Major vouch-
ness: I'VE have buried him with his nlggers.'
thus he died. The young, the gifted. the
mindful only to do his duty wherever
he was placed in defence of the Union, which
his ancestors had helped to create out OF the
original colonies; The noble spirit OF
the son came to him from his father, who, when
he heard that efforts were being made TO re-
cover the body Of Col. Shaw from the trenches
his enemies had buried him, wrote the
following letter to Brig. Gen. Gilmore, COM
the Department of the South:
sir: I take the liberty to address you be-
cause l am informed that efforts are to be made
70 recover the body of my son, Col. Shaw of the
MASSACHUSETTS hegiment.. which
Ing Is to say that such efforts are not authorized
me or any of my family and that they are
not approved by us. We hold that a soldiers
most Appropriate burial place is on the Held