Customer Reviews

American Experience: The Massachusetts 54th Colored Infantry

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I have reviewed a number of materials, mainly film documentaries, about the heroic all black ranks (and white-officered) 54th Massachusetts Regiment who proved their valor in front of Fort Wagner down in South Carolina in 1863 (and did hard fight service thereafter until they marched into heart of Confederacy Charleston in 1965 singing, fittingly, John Brown's Body). Every time I do such a review I like to preface my remarks with this comment which places the now "discovered" regiment in proper historical perspective, and says as much about official history as anything. As a student in the 1960s I passed the now famous Saint Gaudens relief sculpture of the Colonel Robert Gould Shaw-led 54th every day (then in bad condition by the way) and yet never knew about that regiment, its history and its importance in the struggle to end slavery until later, much later when I emerged myself in the history of black struggles. Moreover, no history course, and I was a fanatic about history even then, mentioned the tremendous efforts, probably decisive efforts, that arming black soldiers to fight in their own emancipation struggle. So much for history being written by the victors, at least on this issue.

Fortunately, now young budding historians and blacks looking to their roots have several sources to choice from on this regiment. The commercial film Glory, starring Denzel Washington set a certain dramatic tension, especially around racism, the struggle for equal pay, the question of black officers, and the capacity of blacks to fight "like white men." I think this PBS effort, as a documentary, however covers the bases better as a historical inquiry into the subject. Here is why. The various issues just mentioned are laid out, including the incipient racism faced by blacks in Boston even before Governor Andrews authorized the creation of the regiment. Moreover, as an added benefit the producers have brought in not only the normal "talking heads" scholars that one expects of a PBS effort but also descendants of some of the surviving 54th soldiers to tell grandpa's story (or what he told them). Of course the plethora of photographs and other visuals keep this one hour production moving right along, as does the always calm narration by Morgan Freeman as he lays out the story line.

Note: Much is made in this documentary of the question, as it was at the time of the Civil War, of whether blacks, so seemingly servile and simple, could be trained to fight, arms in hand. Of course 200,000 strong black arms and their infusion at the decisive point when Union efforts were flagging put paid to that notion. That certainly was the importance of Fort Wagner as a test of black valor, although that effort was a defeat. The South never forgave or forgot that. But that notion of blacks was wrong as they later found out. If the cause is right, or even if the cause is wrong, there will be men and women ready to fight, and fight valiantly, under their chosen banner. Those who do not understand this have poor military sense. The real question is whether we have enough fighters on the "side of the angels" when the cause is righteous.

This documentary helped me understand that the Civil War wasn't only about the abolition of slavery but to keep the South from becoming their own state. Why they didn't allow Black soldiers to serve in the military earlier is beyond me. It makes since that they would have a strong reason to want to fight and to win.

This disc looks at the experiences of the real troop that was portrayed in "Glory," the first all-Black military unit during the Civil War.
Though the work is informative, it is also upsetting because of how some things did not change. Here, Black troops were gathered out of necessity, not altruism or equality. The same is true of Blacks who served in World War I. Here, Black troops were promised the same wages as whites, but once they were actually in battle, they were offered much less. This is similar to how during World War II, though the military was technically integrated, blacks were only given lowly positions. In the 1850s, as in much of the 1900s, no black could become an officer. This idea that the American military is some type of great equalizer has not been true historically.
Only men were official members of the military, but the disc tries to be inclusive of women. Female descendants of veterans were interviewed. They talked about how women and children suffered back at home without their husbands and fathers earning fair wages. They focused on a Caucasian female abolitionist who taught newly freed children. I appreciated hearing about her, but it would have been nice to hear more from/about an actual African-American woman of the time.
This film never mentions Crispus Attucks, though he was a black patriot from Massachusetts that came before these soldiers. The fact that later Japanese-American soldiers in World War II fought under the same dynamic circumstances as these military men did not come up either.
Morgan Freeman does a great job in narrating. He can speak on penguins, but his talent in detailing African-American history remains strong. This disc had no cheesy reenactments as many a current documentary do. This is odd given that so many Americans love reenacting this war. One interviewee is a modern state legislator. I couldn't go into detail about what people who had my job 100 years ago did. I imagine neither modern politicians nor soldiers could do that either. Thus, I am not sure how this interviewee got his information. I wonder if he had a Ph.D. in history or something. He had these catfishlike or lynxlike whiskers in his beard. I am surprised that his constituents haven't raised their eyebrows about this characteristic.
If you liked "Tuskegee Airmen," "A Soldier's Story," or others of their ilk, then you should enjoy this documentary.