Col. Shaw, prior to assault on Ft. Wagner

The correspondent of the New Bedford Mercury, writing from the 54th Regiment at Morris Island, speaks of the young Colonel’s manner just before the attack on Wagner:  ” .. we lay flat on the  ground … his manner was more unbending than I had ever noticed before in the presence of his men … he sat on the ground, talking to men very familiarly and kindly … told them how the eyes of thousands would look upon the night’s work … Now boys, I want you to be men!  .., his lips were compressed, now and then was a visible a slight twitching of the corners of the mouth, like one bent accomplishing or dying.   He showed a well -trained mind, an ability of governing men not possessed by many older or more experienced men… In him the Regiment has lost one of its best and most devoted friends …” (Liberator, Sept 11, 1863, pg 3)

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