Accuracy of the Film Glory,

¶ … accuracy of the film "Glory," directed by Edward Zwick. The film "Glory" depicts the Massachusetts 54th Volunteer Infantry, which was the first black fighting unit in the North. The film is accurate in some of the history it portrays, but inaccurate in others, literally altering history in many areas.

The Inaccuracies:

The film depicts the 54th organizing in December 1862, but they did not really organize until March 1863.

Shaw received the command letter in Virginia with his regiment, not at a party in Boston, and he took several days to accept the command.

In 1863, Frederick Douglass would have been in his 40s, not aged.

In the attack on Fort Wagner, the 54th moved north, not south.

Whipping was not allowed in the Union Army, so Shaw would not have whipped Trip.

Most of the members of the 54th were not runaway slaves, but northern blacks.

Only one character, Shaw, was real, the others were composites (Russell).

The Authenticity of the Film

1. Robert Gould Shaw was a real person and was the commander of the 54th.

2. The 54th did fight at Fort Wagner, and Shaw was killed, along with many of his men. Others were taken prisoner. The mother of one of the 54th's fighters wrote, "My son fought at Fort Wagoner but thank God he was not taken prisoner, as many were" (Johnson).

3. The 54th was paid less than other units were, and the men did protest. One wrote a letter to President Lincoln about the inequities. He wrote, "Now Your Excellency, We have done a Soldiers Duty. Why can't we have a Soldiers pay?" (Gooding).

4. The black soldiers were dedicated and eager to serve. Another man writes, "You can discipline colored troops in half the time that you can white. The Negro gives his whole attention to the work, and takes a pride in it" (Sterns). Most of the blacks depicted in the film were very eager to serve.

5. The film is an attempt to portray black soldiers during the war, and that was another accuracy of the film. Another writer notes, "The forgotten fact of the contributions of African-American soldiers to the Union effort in the Civil War is more important than the minor historical inaccuracies and omissions to be found in 'Glory'" (Russell). The fact that the film brought the soldiers national attention and awareness so long after the war really indicates the power of the film, accurate or not.

6. The film used Civil War re-enactors during the battle scenes, and these re-enactors are notoriously accurate in their costumes, equipment, and weapons, making the battle scenes as accurate as they could be.

The film was created to entertain and inform, as most films are, and it was not created with the intention of being entirely historically accurate. That would be just about impossible in just about any film. It was created to dramatize and highlight the service of the Massachusetts 54th and other units like them, at a time when there was little known about the black soldiers of the Civil War. In addition, the producers and writers took some situations and dramatized them to make the film more meaningful and memorable. The whipping scene is one of those situations. Whipping was banned in the Army, and Shaw does not seem like the kind of person that would use that punishment, anyway. However, it showed how blacks were treated by their owners at the time, and it helped add drama to the film. It may not have been historically accurate, but it did have a purpose.

The film did portray the training and organization of troops fairly accurately, too, and it portrayed the Battle at Fort Wagner accurately for the most part, too. Shaw did die at the battle, but there are accounts that he died on the top of the Fort, and his body actually fell inside. Many of the 54th were killed that day. Most of the soldiers in the film were runaway slaves, and many slaves did run away to fight in the war, but in reality, most of the soldiers in the 54th were northern black men, some slaves, but most free, and they joined because they believed in the Union cause.

Some of the time periods and people may not have been entirely accurate in this film, but that does not take away from its' importance. It introduced a topic to Americans that most of them did not know or understand, and it portrayed an important time in American history. The film is an important piece of black history, and it is a good portrayal of how blacks were viewed at the time, even if they were free men. It is important to look at the impact of the film as a whole, and not just at the inaccuracies of the film.