Denzel Washington plays a fictional version of him in "Glory." Aside from the fictional characters, the only thing really wrong in that movie is that the attack direction in the picture is north to south, whereas it was south to north. that was because the area where the battle was fought has been washed into the sea, along with Col. Robert Gould Shaw and his men who were tossed by traitors into a mass grave there.
Col. Shaw is distantly related to the man who played him, Matthew Broderick.
Yes, Denzel won the well-deserved Oscar for Supporting Actor for that movie, but he didn’t play the part of Sergeant Carney. All of the characters in the movie were portrayed as poor and uneducated slaves or former slaves (hence the whipping scene of Denzel’s character), when in fact, almost all of the soldiers in the 54th were freedmen.
That’s one of the reasons why Colonel Shaw fought for “equal pay” for his men.
When the soundtrack for “Glory” was played at the Grammys (it won), the camera panned to Matthew Broderick, who had tears streaming down his face.
That’s what I said…all the enlisted men were fictional characters. Washington was based on Carney grabbing the flag and charging over the defenses.
As you say, the 54th, which included not one but TWO of Frederick Douglass’s sons, were mostly closer to the late and talented Andre Braugher in upbringing, but as tough as Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman in combat.
The movie’s writers wanted the Civil War equivalent of the cliche WW2 movie: the upper-crust kid who gets his edges knocked off (Braugher), the tough old sergeant with a heart of gold (Morgan Freeman), the angry guy who becomes part of the team in the battle (Denzel Washington), the religious chaplain type who is also the kid from Arkansas who’s too young to die (whoever played Jupiter Sharts), the drummer boy (a new trope for the Civil War), the major in over his head (Cary Elwes), and the wisecracking operator from Brooklyn who loves his Dodgers (well, they didn’t have that).
Movie audiences are used to those squads that come from all over and get formed into a company.
The bit about the equal pay issue was a protest that came from Shaw and his officers (Holliwell was the XO), who brought it to the men, and they agreed. They did not do the facts because it created the “White Savior” trope. It’s more dramatic by having Denzel lead it and the officers agree. They ultimately got full pay.
The regiment turns up in one of my wargames in the Battle for Florida, at Olustee, where it covered the retreat of one of the stupider Union offensives.
The 54th is now not only a re-enactor unit, it’s also the ceremonial detachment of the Massachusetts State National Guard. When hordes of re-enactors in blue descended on Washington DC for the 150th anniversary of the 1865 Victory Parade, the 54th led the parade, to apologize for all black regiments being left out of the original affair. Weird to see Civil War uniforms marching down modern Pennsylvania Avenue.
Recruitment was so high for the 54th, they created the 55th, which gets less attention. Eventually, both regiments became “US Colored Troops.”
Denzel Washington plays a fictional version of him in "Glory." Aside from the fictional characters, the only thing really wrong in that movie is that the attack direction in the picture is north to south, whereas it was south to north. that was because the area where the battle was fought has been washed into the sea, along with Col. Robert Gould Shaw and his men who were tossed by traitors into a mass grave there.
Col. Shaw is distantly related to the man who played him, Matthew Broderick.
Yes, Denzel won the well-deserved Oscar for Supporting Actor for that movie, but he didn’t play the part of Sergeant Carney. All of the characters in the movie were portrayed as poor and uneducated slaves or former slaves (hence the whipping scene of Denzel’s character), when in fact, almost all of the soldiers in the 54th were freedmen.
That’s one of the reasons why Colonel Shaw fought for “equal pay” for his men.
When the soundtrack for “Glory” was played at the Grammys (it won), the camera panned to Matthew Broderick, who had tears streaming down his face.
That’s what I said…all the enlisted men were fictional characters. Washington was based on Carney grabbing the flag and charging over the defenses.
As you say, the 54th, which included not one but TWO of Frederick Douglass’s sons, were mostly closer to the late and talented Andre Braugher in upbringing, but as tough as Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman in combat.
The movie’s writers wanted the Civil War equivalent of the cliche WW2 movie: the upper-crust kid who gets his edges knocked off (Braugher), the tough old sergeant with a heart of gold (Morgan Freeman), the angry guy who becomes part of the team in the battle (Denzel Washington), the religious chaplain type who is also the kid from Arkansas who’s too young to die (whoever played Jupiter Sharts), the drummer boy (a new trope for the Civil War), the major in over his head (Cary Elwes), and the wisecracking operator from Brooklyn who loves his Dodgers (well, they didn’t have that).
Movie audiences are used to those squads that come from all over and get formed into a company.
The bit about the equal pay issue was a protest that came from Shaw and his officers (Holliwell was the XO), who brought it to the men, and they agreed. They did not do the facts because it created the “White Savior” trope. It’s more dramatic by having Denzel lead it and the officers agree. They ultimately got full pay.
The regiment turns up in one of my wargames in the Battle for Florida, at Olustee, where it covered the retreat of one of the stupider Union offensives.
The 54th is now not only a re-enactor unit, it’s also the ceremonial detachment of the Massachusetts State National Guard. When hordes of re-enactors in blue descended on Washington DC for the 150th anniversary of the 1865 Victory Parade, the 54th led the parade, to apologize for all black regiments being left out of the original affair. Weird to see Civil War uniforms marching down modern Pennsylvania Avenue.
Recruitment was so high for the 54th, they created the 55th, which gets less attention. Eventually, both regiments became “US Colored Troops.”
They gruntcrunched the traitorous b*******.