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Blue-Eyed Child of Fortune: The Civil War Letters of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw
 
 
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Blue-Eyed Child of Fortune: The Civil War Letters of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw (Paperback)

~ Robert Gould Shaw (Author), Russell Duncan (Editor), William S. McFeely (Foreword) "The election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 was more than Southern white leaders could tolerate..." (more)
Key Phrases: old jog trot camp life, coloured troops, black committee, New York, Staten Island, Harper's Ferry (more...)
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
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Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

These letters will surprise readers who know Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts Infantry only through the movie Glory or the bronze memorial in Boston Commons. Most relate Shaw's wartime experiences in Virginia before he reluctantly agreed to lead the 54th; they are interesting yet unremarkable as Civil War letters. His letters after he took command reveal him as less ardent in his abolitionism and less certain of his black charges than movie and myth would have it, but they do suggest how war and social purpose drove a Boston blueblood to martyrdom on the ramparts of Fort Wagner. An excellent introduction and copious notes add to the importance of this book. Although less insightful than T.W. Higginson's classic Army Life in a Black Regiment (1870), Shaw's letters are essential for academic and large public libraries.
- Randall M. Miller, St. Joseph's Univ., Philadelphia
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Splendid . . . Important . . . Superb . . . Deserves a place on every Civil War bookshelf . . . Shaw emerges more vividly in this book than he did in the film Glory."--New York Times Book Review


"A fine and conscientious work."--Boston Globe


"An affecting collection."--Washington Times


"Glory resurrected Robert Gould Shaw as a dramatic figure. This book highlights Shaw as the man he really was. The written word far surpasses the screen image in quality."--Richmond Times-Dispatch


"Russell Duncan's outstanding edition of Shaw's letters is a model for this sort of work. . . . Sustained excellence."--Civil War Book Review


"In the film Glory, Robert Gould Shaw was portrayed as a rather stuffy but dedicated and idealistic young officer who led his regiment of African-American soldiers to a magnificent death in an attempt to take the Confederate Fort Wagner off the coast of South Carolina. The real Shaw, as evidenced by this collection of letters written to his parents, siblings, friends, and fiancee, was a much more interesting personality. . . . His letters are a revealing and often moving account of a young man's growth in a time of war."--Magill Book Reviews


"In Russell Duncan's new edition of the colonel's letters, we meet Robert Gould Shaw at last as a person, not as a symbol. . . . Readers of Shaw's letters will find a young man, not always deep or profound, but with a quality of character forged in conflict. . . . Of course, most readers will want to turn to the letters recounting his experiences as commander of the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts, and they will not be disappointed in the story of how colonel and soldiers taught one another how to be men as well as soldiers. . . . There is something heroic in struggling against one's limitations to achieve greatness. Editor Duncan should be congratulated for reminding us of this truth through bringing us closer to Shaw."--Journal of American History


"Duncan shows the human side of war as it is rarely seen. . . . an engaging portrait.”--Orlando Sentinel
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 480 pages
  • Publisher: University of Georgia Press (November 18, 1999)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0820321745
  • ISBN-13: 978-0820321745
  • Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #281,391 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Robert Gould Shaw
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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The election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 was more than Southern white leaders could tolerate. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
old jog trot camp life, coloured troops, black committee, metallic coffins, black regiment, affectionate son, loving son, white regiments, lull before the storm
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New York, Staten Island, Harper's Ferry, United States, John Brown, West Point, Governor Andrew, Hilton Head, Beacon Hill, Bull Run, North Carolina, South Carolina, John Murray Forbes, Camp Andrew, Fort Sumter, Battle Cry, Brave Black Regiment, General Banks, New Bedford, Record of Mass, Rhode Island, Charles Russell Lowell, George William Curtis, Port Royal, Atlantic Monthly
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28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The "real" Robert Gould Shaw is in these pages, April 1, 2006
By Sally Burnell (Kent, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
If, like me, you have seen the film "Glory", where Matthew Broderick plays Col. Robert Gould Shaw, white commander of the black 54th Massachusetts Regiment during the Civil War, you will see only a brief a glimpse of who Shaw was in his short life. Broderick does a masterful job of capturing some of Shaw's personality, but if you want to get inside this young man's head and find out who he really was, I highly recommend reading the book, "Blue Eyed Child of Fortune", ed. by Russell Duncan.

This collection of Shaw's letters shows a far more complex and conflicted young man than Broderick was given a chance to play. While his parents burned with the abolitionist spirit of Boston's intellectual elite, Shaw struggled with his own prejudices and his own self doubts throughout his short life. Never an exemplary student, he dropped out of Harvard to work in his uncle's New York firm, but rapidly found the work boring and unsuited to him. Struggling to find his place in the world, the Civil War came along and gave him a sense of purpose and direction.

Enlisting first in the 7th New York Guards, he served until his enlistment was up, and then joined the 2nd Massachusetts, gaining position as an officer. He "saw the elephant" at Winchester, Antietam and Cedar Mountain, was slightly wounded in two of those engagements, and found out first hand about the horrors of war. During winter camp in 1862-63, his father visited with word that Shaw had been tapped by Massachusetts Governor John Albion Andrew to command a new black regiment. At first, Shaw refused this offer on the basis that he felt a strong bond with the men he had fought and bled with, but then changed his mind and accepted the position of Colonel of the 54th Massachusetts.

Returning home to Boston to take command of his new regiment, he was deeply conflicted over whether these men would pan out to be good soldiers, but as time wore on and they proved their worth, Shaw's respect for his men grew, as did their respect for their commanding officer. After three months training, they left for duty in South Carolina after a grand parade down Boston streets. Shaw chafed for some action for his men, and the first that they saw was the tragic raid and burning of Darien, Georgia under the command of Kansas jayhawker Col. James Montgomery. Shaw was outraged at this action and very nearly refused his orders from his commanding officer, but reluctantly had to obey and ask his men to do what he felt was utterly immoral and against the codes of war. He would write letters of protest to his father and to others.

Eventually, in his quest for real action for his men, they were assigned a diversionary action on James Island to allow Union troops to land on nearby Morris Island for a planned assault on Fort Wagner a few days later. Sustaining light casualties in a skirmish, Shaw was impressed that his men were indeed up to snuff as soldiers, and so, a few days later, after a long exhausting march in a storm to Morris Island during which they got no rest, they were assigned to the lead attack column on Fort Wagner on the evening of July 18, 1863.

Sadly, Union intelligence on Ft. Wagner was badly flawed. It was originally thought that the fort held a complement of only 300 men and that after days of relentless shelling by the Union navies, that the fort would be softened up enough to withstand a frontal Union assault. However, most of Wagner's nearly 1500 men were in a massive bombproof riding out the shelling, and so, when the Union assault began with the 54th leading the attack column, they took the heaviest casualties, including the young Col. Shaw, who foresaw his own demise while speaking to Lt. Col. Edward "Ned" Hallowell, his second-in-command, while on a steamer on the way to their assignment: "If I could only live a few weeks longer with my wife, and be at home a little while, I might die happy, but it cannot be. I do not believe I will live through our next fight."

Rather unfortunately, Shaw was right. He was killed upon reaching the parapets of Wagner, a bullet through his heart killing him instantly. His body was stripped and thrown into a common grave with his men, and his father asked, when the Union finally took the fort a few months later when it was abandoned by the Confederates, that his body be left there with his men. Shaw's burial spot now lies somewhere under the Atlantic Ocean, the island having eroded significantly in the past 140 years since Shaw's demise and burial there.

This book will give you a great insight into a very conflicted, complicated and yet reluctantly heroic young man who was just coming into his own at the time of his tragic death. I am sure that he would have shunned the limelight had he survived the war to live to old age and would have been content to live life with his beloved Annie, to whom he was married a mere two months before his death. Annie would never remarry and lived the rest of her life as his widow, dying in 1907. The war would doubtless have made Shaw and given him the potential to focus his life and go on to great things had he lived to do so. Having lived so much of his young life with such rebellion against his mother's domineering apron strings and not quite sure what he wanted out of life, the war gave Shaw a brief opportunity to find out what it was he was made of. In so doing, he achieved the one thing he never dreamed of, immortality.

Read this book if you are eager to know the "real" Shaw. Letting him speak for himself is the best way to know this fascinating man who died so tragically young at the peak of his life. Follow it up with "Where Death and Glory Meet", Russell Duncan's excellent biography of Shaw. By the time you finish these two books, you will feel as if you know Shaw quite well. If you want to know a few of his men, read "A Brave Black Regiment" by Capt. Luis Emilio, a regimental history of the 54th, "On the Altar of Freedom" by Cpl. James Henry Gooding, a black soldier in the 54th, and "A Voice of Thunder", the letters of Sgt. George E. Stephens, another black soldier in the 54th. I just hope that more letters and diaries from this regiment surface and are published someday. Doubtless there are more hiding in attics and other unknown places.

This book comes highly recommended for good Civil War reading of a primary source, along with the other books mentioned that are by Shaw's soldiers. Together, they beat any historian's account of this historic regiment. Read them all if you are interested in Civil War or black history.
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26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Insight Into Shaw's Mind, December 22, 1999
The movie Glory is one of my all-time favourite movies, and I've wanted to buy this book for some time but have always put off doing so. When I finally took the plunge I found myself unable to put it down. The amount of research that must have gone into this work is astounding and I commend the author on his effort! Reading these letters (and the introduction) give the reader a profound insight into the Civil War, the 54th Massachusetts and the mind of Robert Gould Shaw. He is a much different person than was portrayed in the movie and in this book we can see his apprehension and uncertainty about the role which seemed his destiny. I recommend this book to anyone who loves the movie or is a Civil War buff. It is a great read and a wonderful education.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Bringing War to Life, March 2, 2000
By Mark D. Winter (Charleston, WV) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Blue-Eyed Child of Fortune: The Civil War Letters of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw (Hardcover)
Robert Gould Shaw's letters home are a very realistic look of the Civil War battles by a unique individual with many perspectives. The brutality of battle along with the emotional turmoil from such a young officer bring the war to life. The authors have given us a true picture of a brave officer and the war. As you read the letters of Shaw you want to pull the blankets closer on the cold winter nights he spent in the field. You can share the suffering along with Shaw at the loss of friends. The courage and love of family and devotion of country are evident throughout his premature adult life. God bless the 54th and may Robert Gould Shaw and all that served with him and under him never be forgotten.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Blued-Eyed Treasure
After viewing the movie Glory for many years I came across this book and purchased it immediately. Robert Gould Shaw grew up in an influencial home which had amazing political and... Read more
Published 21 months ago by CW Sharpshooter

5.0 out of 5 stars best buy
it's must have book I love this book
Published on October 20, 2000 by DeAnna Guilbeault

4.0 out of 5 stars A hero by default
Russell Duncan's compendium of letters both exalts and puzzles.The job of editing the letters and setting them in the context of war, family ties, friendships, etc. Read more
Published on June 21, 2000 by joan a. shelton

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