Blue-Eyed Child of Fortune: The Civil War Letters of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw

481 Pages·1999·26.38 MB·english

by  Robert Gould Shaw & Russell Duncan (Editor)

B lue-Eyed Child of Fortune

B
lue-Eyed Child
Ffortune
of
THE CIVIL WAR LETTERS OF
Colonel Robert Gould Shaw
EDITED BY RUSSELL DUNCAN
The University of Georgia Press Athens & London
The University of Georgia Press paperback edition, 1999
© 1992 by The University of Georgia Press
Athens, Georgia 30602
All rights reserved

Designed by Richard Hendel
Set in Galliard by Tseng Information Systems, Inc.
Printed and bound by Maple-Vail

The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and
durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book
Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.

Printed in the United States of America

10 09 08 07 P 6 5 4 3

The Library of Congress has cataloged the cloth
edition of this book as follows:

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Shaw, Robert Gould, 1837–1863.
Blue-eyed child of fortune : the Civil War letters of Colonel Robert
Gould Shaw / edited by Russell Duncan
xxiii, 421 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 391-404) and index.
ISBN 0-8203-1459-5 (alk. paper)
1. Shaw, Robert Gould, 1837–1863 — Correspondence. 2. United States —
Army — Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, 54th (1863–1865) — History.
3. Soldiers — United States — Correspondence. 4. Soldiers —
Massachusetts — Correspondence. 5. United States — History — Civil
War, 1861–1865 — Personal narratives. 6. Massachusetts — History —
Civil War, 1861–1865 — Personal narratives. 7. United States —
History — Civil War, 1861–1865 — Participation, African American.
8. Massachusetts — History — Civil War, 1861–1865 — Participation,
African American. I. Duncan, Russell. II. Title.

E513.5 54th .S53 1992
973.7'81'092 — dc20 91-46644

ISBN-13: 978-0-8203-2174-5 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-8203-2174-5 (pbk. : alk. paper)

British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data available

Frontispiece: Robert Gould Shaw, May 1863. Boston Athenaeum.

ISBN for this digital edition: 978-0-8203-4277-1
For Bonnie
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"... everything softened and made unreal by distance, poor
little Robert Shaw erected into a great symbol of deeper
things than he ever realized himself."
—William James to Henry James, Jr.
June 5,1897
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CONTENTS
Foreword by William S. McFeely / xi
Preface / xv
Editorial Method / xxi
Abbreviations in Notes / xxv
INTRODUCTION
Robert Gould Shaw: A Biographical Essay / i
CHAPTER ONE
"Goodbye the Drum Is Beating" / 69
CHAPTER TWO
"The Road through the Woods" /100
CHAPTER THREE
"John Brown's Prison" / in
CHAPTER FOUR
"A Regular Old Jog Trot Camp Life" /130
CHAPTER FIVE
"Ladies with Petticoats About" /154
CHAPTER SIX
"What War Really Is" 1176
CHAPTER SEVEN
"A Lull before the Storm" /199
CHAPTER EIGHT
"Metallic Coffins" / 227
CHAPTER NINE
"Even More than Mother" I 251
CHAPTER TEN
"I as a Nigger Colonel" / 282.