Glory is a 1989 drama war film based on the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry as told from the point of view of its commanding officer, Robert Gould Shaw during the American Civil War. The 54th was one of the first formal units of the U.S. Army to be made up entirely of African-American men.
The movie begins with newly promoted Captain Robert Gould Shaw (Matthew Broderick) at the Battle of Antietam, on September 17, 1862. His troops are nearly destroyed and he is trapped between gunfire and cannon fire. Grazed by shrapnel, he falls near a dead soldier and passes out. He is awakened by a black grave digger named John Rawlins (Morgan Freeman). Despite what happened at Antietam, Shaw is appointed commander of the first all black regiment, the 54th Massachusetts. Hesitant, he agrees, with his childhood friend, Cabot Forbes (Cary Elwes), as the executive officer. Their first volunteer is another one of Shaw's friends, an educated, literate, free black man named Thomas Searles (Andre Braugher).
They soon have hundreds of men joining the regiment, including John Rawlins, a proud escaped slave named Trip (Denzel Washington), and a young, free black man named Jupiter Sharts (Jihmi Kennedy). Once at camp, Thomas, Rawlins, Trip, and Sharts all share one tent along with a mute drummer boy. Shaw soon learns of a Confederate proclamation that any black caught bearing arms against the Confederacy will immediately be returned to a state of slavery. Any black captured wearing a Federal uniform will summarily be hanged. Shaw expected over half the men to run, but when day broke not one left.
Shaw then appoints a tough Irish-American sergeant, Mulcahy (John Finn), to properly train the men for the battles ahead. Shaw also becomes much more strict; when the guns arrive, he makes Sharts, who already has the best shooting skills among the enlisted men, shoot while he fires toward the sky right behind Sharts's head to prove the point that loading, aiming and firing by yourself is much easier than loading, aiming and firing in battle. Though disgusted, Forbes carries out Shaw's request to train the men properly.
Meanwhile, Thomas finds life in camp difficult as he is the weakest and slowest of the men, and is constantly harassed by Trip for being educated like a white man. Trip himself has difficulty adjusting to camp life, always at odds with the other soldiers, especially Rawlins. One night he leaves camp to get some shoes, as his old shoes are worn out and the quartermaster has refused to issue proper supplies to the black regiment. Trip is caught and presumed a deserter by the officers. Shaw has him flogged in front of the entire regiment, proceeding even after seeing that his back is severely scarred from floggings as a slave. Shaw, after learning the truth from Rawlins, finally forces the quartermaster to give the men new socks and shoes.
Soon, the men are assembled to receive long-awaited pay. However, upon learning that they will receive a $10 monthly wage rather than the $13 paid to white soldiers because they are a black regiment, the men, at Trip's provocation, tear up their wage sheets. In a show of solidarity with his soldiers, Shaw follows suit. However, spirits rise as the men receive uniforms. Jupiter is especially happy, long having desired a "blue suit". Before leaving Massachusetts, the regiment, dressed in new uniforms, file in review through the streets of Boston, passing Frederick Douglass and Governor Andrew in the reviewing stand.
During the subsequent trip south by steamer, Shaw appoints Rawlins Sergeant Major, making him the highest ranking enlisted man in the regiment. Shaw soon learns that there is another all black regiment called the "contraband"; more rabble than soldiers; looting and attacking civilians whenever the opportunity arises. After looting the town of Darien, Georgia, Colonel James Montgomery (Cliff De Young), a higher-ranking officer in charge of the contraband regiment, orders Shaw to provide assistance in burning the houses. Shaw initially resists the order but, to save himself from court-martial (which would leave his men to Montgomery's command), reluctantly capitulates. Likewise, the troops, although disgusted with their fellows' craven behavior, carry out their orders dutifully, well aware their commander has no choice in the matter.
Shaw and his men soon become frustrated that they have been assigned to manual labor and not allowed to fight in any battles; the troops grow weary of the tedious work and chafe at the taunting of white soldiers bound for the battlefield. After Shaw approaches the area commander with a threat to expose illegal activities undertaken by his command, his request that the regiment be allowed to fight is finally granted. In the Battle of Sol Legare Island, the troops push back a Confederate attack. Thomas saves Trip from a Confederate soldier and suffers a bullet wound; however, he refuses to leave the regiment.
Shortly thereafter, Shaw volunteers the 54th Massachusetts to be the lead regiment in the frontal assault on Fort Wagner. On the night before the attack, the men sing at the camp fire to raise their spirits for the imminent battle. The next day, the 54th Massachusetts is honored by white soldiers and officers on the march toward Fort Wagner. They then charge the fort under heavy enemy fire, and take shelter in the sand dunes. At nightfall, Shaw leads the men in a charge across the remaining beach. With the Rebels on the top of the fort firing down on them, Shaw turns to see the American flag down. He gets up and attempts to rally the men forward up the hill but is quickly shot and killed. Trip, formerly reluctant to bear the colors of a nation that regards him as a second-class citizen, gets up, lifts the flag, and rallies the men. He is shot, but holds up the flag, even while dying. The remaining men, led by Forbes and Rawlins, charge the Rebels, slowly making their way to the top and through the entrance of the fort, only to meet the waiting Confederate guns. The scene ends in the smoke from a hail of cannon fire.
The film concludes with the Confederates still holding the fort, while slain men of the 54th Massachusetts, including Shaw and Trip, are buried by the Confederates in a mass grave (with their shoes removed). The 54th lost half its men that day but earned glory, sparking the creation of many more black regiments. By the end of the war, there were some 187,000 African-American men in uniform, a fact which President Abraham Lincoln considered instrumental in securing victory in the war. Fort Wagner was never taken during the war, though the CSA forces eventually abandoned it.
