This 1989 film is about the first military unit of the Union Army, during the American Civil War, to consist entirely of African-American (Black) men (except for its officers). It is as told from the point of view of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw. He was the white commanding officer who led the company. Today, this regiment is known especially for its heroic actions to capture Fort Wagner, the location where formidable Confederate defenses of Charleston Harbor were built on Morris Island.

During the U.S. Civil War, Captain Robert Shaw is injured at the Battle of Antietam. He is sent home to Boston on medical leave. There he accepts a promotion to Colonel commanding the 54th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, one of the first all-black regiments in the Union Army. He asks his friend, Cabot Forbes, to serve as his second in command, with the rank of major. Their first volunteer is friend, Thomas Searles, a free African-American. Other recruits will include John Rawlins, Jupiter Sharts, Silas Tripp, and a mute drummer boy.

In response to the Emancipation Proclamation and the Union Army, the Confederacy issues an order that all black who support the Union will be turned into slaves. Black soldiers found in a Union uniform will be executed as well as their white officers. Shaw in fact and in the film puts together a proud and successful unit. This unit is the equal of its white counterparts, at least. Because of it and men like Shaw, more soldiers join the war.

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