American History

The 1989 civil war movie Glory starring Matthew Broderick and Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman and directed by Edward Zwick.  The film is about the formation of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment, a unit primarily consisting of African-Americans who came from varying backgrounds such as former slaves and free blacks.  They were formed in 1863 following President Abraham Lincolns Emancipation Proclamation and fought with distinction is several skirmishes.  Perhaps the most famous action they took part in was their assault on Fort Wagner which resulted in the death of their first commanding officer, Colonel Robert Gould Shaw.  Despite the loss of their first commander and a substantial number of their men in this engagement, the 54th was reconstituted and went on to take part in many more engagements until it was disbanded at the end of the war.

In the film, another colored infantry regiment was featured as well, the 2nd Regiment South Carolina Volunteer Infantry commanded by Colonel James Montgomery, a   Jayhawk  from Kansas.  The 2nd was made up of blacks from the surrounding area of South Carolina as opposed to the 54th which was made up of blacks who came from all over, including freed and escaped slaves from the South.  In the movie Glory, the 2nd is depicted as a unit made up of seemingly uneducated blacks, lacking manners and discipline that typical of any military unit like the 54th when both are to be compared.  The men were called  Contrabands (Zwick).   The 2nd would be notorious for pillaging and looting the town of Darien, Georgia which made the image of black soldiers tainted.  One caveat here is that this unit is different from a unit whose story is being told in Thomas Wentworth Higginsons book, Army Life in a Black Regiment, which focuses on the 1st South Carolina Regiment and the way Higginson described it is a far cry from the rowdy bunch commanded by Colonel Montgomery that committed abuses in Darien and supported (unwillingly) by Colonel Shaw and his 54th Massachusetts Regiment.  As a matter of fact, Higginson, in his journal entry on December 2, 1862 states

We are exposed to no direct annoyance from the white regiments, being out of their way and we have as yet no discomforts or privations which we do not share with them. I do not as yet see the slightest obstacle, in the nature of the blacks, to making them good soldiers, but rather the contrary. They take readily to drill, and do not object to discipline they are not especially dull or inattentive they seem fully to understand the importance of the contest, and of their share in it. They show no jealousy or suspicion towards their officers (11).

Incidentally, this was how the 54th Massachusetts was also depicted in the film.  It was a well-trained, well-disciplined unit which underwent intensive preparation despite the difficult conditions they had to go through such as getting shoes, being paid well and even the training itself before even being deployed to the combat zone in the South.  There is another similarity between the 54th Massachusetts and the 1st South Carolina where the men were deeply religious, if not spiritual.  In the film, the men of the 54th, on the eve of their assault on Fort Wagner, gathered around the bonfire and engaged in a spiritual activity with singing and speaking as a form of preparation for battle (Zwick  Gallagher, 96-98).  In Higginsons account, he would observe the men in camp doing the similar thing as well (13).

This film is one of the many movies made to depict the American civil war.  In his book, Causes Won, Lost and Forgotten, Gary Gallagher points out how such movies tend to be consistent to the four interpretative traditions of the war   the Lost Cause, which leans a lot on the Confederate side which tends to portray a gallant yet futile struggle against hopeless odds.  Such tradition denied the importance of slavery in causing secession and war, and ascribed to themselves constitutional gallantry on the battlefield in the defense of state rights against the alleged  tyranny  of Washington.  One good example of a civil war film that adheres to this tradition would be Gods and Generals and to some extent, Gettysburg and The Last Full Measure though Gods and Generals but a lot more emphasis on the gallantry and nobleness displayed by the Confederacy (11-12).

For the Union (Won) Cause, emancipation represented a tool to punish slavery and to weaken or  discredit  the Confederacy but unfortunately Hollywood, in earlier movies, would depict Union soldiers quite differently.  They are seen more as cruel and more racists than the Confederates.  After the release of Glory, that attitude has changed, and such movies like Gettysburg and The Last Full Measure would underscore that new attitude though Cold Mountain and Dances with Wolves appear to follow the old way of depicting the Union.  Gallagher further adds that Hollywood tends to depict Union soldiers the same way as American soldiers during the Vietnam War and such movies as Platoon, Full Metal Jacket , Apocalypse Now and  Casualties of War would come into mind (94-95).

The Reconciliation tradition, also related to the Union, adheres to the need of reconciliation, as the name suggests.  This aims to put behind the hurt and animosity that tore the nation asunder. What makes the adherents of the Reconciliation tradition different is that they tend to avoid discussion about which was the more just cause, supporters of the Union never wavered in their insistence that Confederates cause was wrong. The problem with this tradition is that it placed too much emphasis on the fence-mending attitude of the whites of both the north and south and in doing so, set aside, if not totally omit the issue slavery, or at least the issue of emancipation. And despite the Unionists insisting that the Confederates have pursued the wrong cause, many former Confederates, along with their descendants and regardless of their profession of loyalty to the Union, continue to assert  themselves in celebrating a struggle for southern independence (Gallagher, 12-13).

The Emancipation Cause, related to the Union Cause, stood as the most important goal of the northern war effort which also gives it a noble mission worth taking as the cause is seen to be more glorious than merely keeping the Union intact.  Glory, and to an extent, Cold Mountain and Sommersby would fall into this tradition.  As stated above, Glory tells of the story of the formation of a military unit which was mainly composed of African-Americans.

The significance of this movie is that it made the general public (surprisingly) aware that there indeed existed such units in the civil war.  The general impression was that white men were the only Union soldiers.  This movie intends to rectify that wrong impression.  As stated earlier, the 54th was made up of blacks who came from various walks of life and this is reflected in some of the characters there such as Thomas Searles (Andre Braugher), an educated free black, which shows in his manner of dress and of speech that he is sophisticated.  There is Trip (Denzel Washington), a runaway slave with a rebellious streak John Rawlins (Morgan Freeman), a gravedigger who would later become the Sergeant-Major of the regiment and Jupiter Sharts (Jhimi Kennedy), another free black man but unlike Thomas, is illiterate and stutters in the film, he is seen to be a skilled shot with a musket (Zwick).  The diversity of the blacks in the unit underscores the impact the Emancipation Proclamation had upon them. This is also true in Higginsons account when he said

They did not get their freedom by enlisting they had it already. They enlisted to serve the government, trusting in its honor. Now the nation turns upon them and says Your part of the contract is fulfilled we have had your services. If you can show that you had previously been free for a certain length of time, we will fulfill the other side of the contract. If not, we repudiate it Help yourselves, if you can (214).

The film also showed the difficulties and risks involved in forming such a unit.  In one scene, Colonel Shaw (Matthew Broderick) addressed the men about the decree enacted by the Confederacy where any black serving in the Union would be returned to slavery or executed and the same held true for any white officer like himself who would lead such men into combat.  Shaw was expecting a lot of them to be intimidated by this decree and would volunteer out but surprisingly, all of them remained the next day, a sign that they were fully committed to the cause of emancipation and everything the Union stands for and were willing to put their lives on the line as an expression of their freedom (Zwick).  The film leans more on the Won Cause, or as stated earlier, Emancipation which is still related to the Won Cause.  Though Gallagher made a distinction between four different traditions, the tradition of emancipation is intertwined with that of the Union (Won) Cause, because it also upholds the freedom of the slaves along with its desire to preserve and restore the Union. Higginsons above-mentioned account underscores this cause as well.  In the film, it did not focus much on the Confederate side and they are depicted as a faceless entity since the center of attention are the African-Americans.

It is the authors opinion that Glory does not present a skewed view of history.  The film remains very true to the actual events that took place despite the exercise of artistic license in the portrayal of some characters such as Major Forbes (Cary Elwes) who was not the actual second-in-command of the 54th but Lieutenant Colonel Norwood Penrose Hallowell.  It was his younger brother, Edward who would go on and command the regiment following Shaws death.  The story is based mainly on the letters and accounts left by Shaw.  As a discipline, history regards accuracy (of facts) as a virtue and when such events are depicted on film, it must adhere to this virtue.  Failure to do so would not do justice to the historical event and to those who participated in it, especially those who are still living even though filmmakers claim, they care more about entertainment than education, hence the liberal use of artistic license.

In Glory, despite the emancipation of slaves, tensions were still there as whites, even northerners towards the blacks.  The film did not show the  enemy  side very much except for the battle scenes and instead, the conflict was within the Union ranks.  Such as the case when the men were not issued proper gear, especially shoes.  This was underscored when Trip left camp to find shoes and was mistaken for a deserter.  Another was the pay where they received a lesser sum compared to their white counterparts.  There is even the taunting between black and white union soldiers and even within the 54th when Trip continually insults Thomas because of his refined background, calling him a  chimp in a suit (Zwick).    This was also evident in Higginsons account in the issue of bounties (207-208).

In conclusion, the value is very high in depicting the civil war on film.  Like other historical films, this is intended to be a useful supplement to printed readings which makes students of history understand the material better.  Best of all, films also capture the emotions of the events taking place which captivates audiences far better than any reading material that is too sterile and devoid of these emotions.  As stated before, nothing is lost and what is gained is a better understanding on these events and makes it easy to digest and understand primary sources.