Class Summary 1.7.12

Last Friday and Today we spent the classes learning about Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts Regiment and their valor at the attack of Fort Wagner. The confederate fort protected the entrance to the Charleston Harbor and the only way to reach it was by a sixty-yard wide stretch of beach that provided a wide open field of fire for the confederates. This regiment was the first, fully African-American regiment to fight in battle. Shaw led his troops up the sides of the fort and continued with hand to hand combat in their attempt to take the fort. While ultimately the 54th Regiment failed to take the fort, they did improve the perception of African-American soldiers and their heroism encouraged other blacks to fight .