About Robert Gould Shaw
Robert Gould Shaw (October 10, 1837 – July 18, 1863) was an American officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Born into an abolitionist family from the Boston upper class, he accepted command of the first all-black regiment (the 54th Massachusetts) in the Northeast. Advocating the promised equal treatment for his troops, he encouraged the men to refuse their pay until it was equal to that of white troops' wage. He led his regiment at the Second Battle of Fort Wagner in July 1863. They attacked a beachhead near Charleston, South Carolina, and Shaw was shot and killed while leading his men to the parapet of the Confederate-held fort. Although the regiment was overwhelmed by firing from the defenses and driven back, suffering many casualties, Shaw's leadership and the regiment became legendary, and helped lead to more than one hundred thousand more African Americans to enlist for the Union. The story of Shaw and his regiment were dramatized in the 1989 Oscar-winning film Glory. In June 2017, it was discovered in a family attic of Mary Minturn Wood and brother Robert Bowne Minturn, descendants of Shaw's sister Susanna. Shaw's sword had been stolen from the first gravesite but was recovered in 1865 from a house in Virginia and returned to his parents. A cenotaph at the Mount Auburn Cemetery In 1864, American sculptor Edmonia Lewis created a bust of Shaw.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.