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Colonel Robert Gould Shaw was the leader of the all-black 54th Massachusetts Regiment. He was bon in Boston on October 10, 1837. He attended Harvard for two and a half years from the fall of 1856 to March 1859. In 1861, Shaw joined the Seventh New York National Guard. After the Seventh disbanded, Shaw joined the newly organizing Second Massachusetts Infantry where he received an officers commission. As Second Lieutenant he fought against the Confederacy at Cedar Mountain and Antietam. After Antietam, Second Lieutenant Shaw was promoted to Colonel and put in charge of the newly formed 54th Massachusetts Regiment. In command of the regiment he trained the soldiers for the greusome war. He also pushed the Massachusetts governor and President Lincoln to allow the black regiment to fight. On July 16, 1863, his troops saw first-hand the reality of war at James Island. Two days later in the attack on Fort Wagner Colonel Robert Gould Shaw was killed by Confederate gunfire. He was buried with his troops in a mass grave in front of the Confederate stronghold.
An except from Colonel Shaw's diary
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