Selections from Glory

In the upcoming concert, Portrait of the American Civil War, FCS & the Washington Symphonic Brass will be presenting selections from the movie Glory, with music by James Horner.  One of our Adult Chorus Members, Jamie Adams, put together some great information about the peice:

Fort (or sometimes Battery) Wagner was on Morris Island, off the coast of South Carolina and was built by the Confederates to guard the southern approach to Charleston Harbor.  It measured approximately 250 by 100 yards, with walls made of earth and sand that rose about 30 feet.  It was bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east and an impassable swamp on the west.  The land approach was guarded by a water filled trench and “torpedoes” (land mines).  It mounted 14 cannon and had a garrison of 1,700 soldiers.  The site of Fort Wagner has now been almost completely lost to the Atlantic Ocean.

Although overshadowed by the struggles for Virginia and for control of the Mississippi River, the Union did establish a presence along the Atlantic Coast of the Confederacy.  Hilton Head Island, south of Charleston, was captured by the Union in November 1861 and remained in Union hands for the duration of the war.  These pockets of Union control were used to support the Navy in the effort to blockade southern ports and served as starting points for Army operations against the Confederate coastline.

In June of 1863 then Brigadier General Quincy A. Gillmore took command of the (Union) Department of the South, with headquarters on Hilton Head, and set out to capture Charleston, often viewed as the birthplace of the rebellion.  His plan involved a series of assaults aimed at reducing the defenses of Charleston.   As part of this plan Union forces captured a portion of Morris Island on July 10, 1863 and unsuccessfully attacked Fort Wagner on July 11.  After that repulse, Gillmore planned a second assault for the evening of July 18 following a massive bombardment by naval forces.

The terrain limited the Union approach to one regiment at a time.  The assault was spearheaded by the 54^th Massachusetts Infantry, commanded by Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, aged 25.   The 54^th suffered significant casualties, and Col. Shaw was killed in the assault.  Supporting regiments, notably the 6^th Connecticut Infantry, seized control of a portion of the fort for a brief time but were ultimately driven out and the attack was unsuccessful.

Glory – the Movie
The movie was released in 1989 and depicted the stories of Col. Shaw and the 54^th Massachusetts Infantry, culminating with the heroic assault on Fort Wagner.  The United States did not recruit nor allow black soldiers in the army until 1863.  While the 54^th was neither the first black regiment, nor the first to see combat, the assault on Fort Wagner demonstrated the courage of the black soldiers and removed all doubts about the bravery of black troops.  The movie was nominated for five Oscars and won three, including Best Supporting Actor for Denzel Washington.  Composer James Horner won a Grammy for the soundtrack.  Matthew Broderick (playing Col. Shaw), Cary “Dread Pirate Roberts” Elwes, Andre Braugher and Morgan Freeman were also part of the cast.

The movie is reasonably accurate historically, with many scenes depicting actual events and the others being consistent with the time and place.  As a story it has much in common with a World War II “buddy movie”, following a group of men as they become friends, comrades and soldiers.  The climax of the movie is the 54^th’s attack on Fort Wagner.

Trivia
A memorial to Robert Gould Shaw and the 54^th Massachusetts was sculpted by Augustus St. Gaudens and erected in Boston.  (A plaster cast of this statute is in the National Gallery of Art).  This memorial was the inspiration for the first of “Three Places in New England” by American composer Charles Ives.