The Gallant Charge

The Gallant Charge of the 54th Massachusetts (Colored) Regiment
In United States’ history, there has never been a battle as influential and graphic as the Civil War (1861-1865). It was a revolution in several aspects, especially in media, becoming responsible for the first great surge of artistic representations during events of its time. Several of these depictions included certain aspects of the war such as the literal battlefield, fugitives and death--all of which is portrayed in The Gallant Charge of the 54th Massachusetts (Colored) Regiment. And while some works, like the lithograph, functioned as commemoration for the war, others were meant to disillusion the home front of its supposed glory through the display of the dark reality that
In the portrait, the figure of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw is deeply exaggerated as he is shown to be fatally wounded and even collapsing on the battlefield on top of another deeply exaggerated portion of the image which is the immensely tall sandbagged defense of the Confederates. The illustration of the colonel was quite strategic in that he was placed in the most noticeable place within the image. Through the way he is shown to die as well as in the position that he did, portrays him as a “brave soul” or “hero” who died a “glorious death”. The depiction of this kind of death served to work as a “powerful symbol of the nobility of the abolitionist cause” (Wilson 326). The immense inequality of blacks was still present as shown through how Colonel Shaw, a prominent white figure, was placed on an illustrative pedestal in an image that was meant to be commemorating the valor of the war. Blacks were always meant to be in a place of inferiority; victims of white
Even the collection of phrases chosen for the advertisement such as “Now or never”, “Last Opportunity” and “Doomed” emphasize the Northerner’s desperation for additions to their troops. The blacks saw the situation as the whites now being called to accept them. Very strategic in their use of language, Northerners made sure to censor any negative or derogatory phrases or words. They made an effort to encourage and reach blacks. Since blacks were excluded from being part of an actual societal community, they were eager for any opportunity that would allow them to finally be included, as evident in the inclusions of diction such as “our” and “us” within the several broadsides. Although such vocabulary implied unity and a genuine alliance blacks were extremely deprived of, it only served to disguise the more superficial aspect of these advertisements. It appealed to the blacks’ long-held hopes for equality, which in turn stimulated the tremendous growth in the Union army. While it was a very big step toward abolitionism and more so integration, these were not the primary goals of what the advertisements or even artistic representations of the war set out to achieve. The concept of fully integrating blacks and whites into one society, even as equals, was still considered a pre-conceived notion very much ahead of its time. The main focus of having blacks in the army hardly had