Officer, Soldier · Union

Robert Gould Shaw

1837 – 1863

Colonel of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry, killed on the parapet of Battery Wagner and buried in the common trench with his men.

The position of the burial trench on Morris Island is not established here, and no coordinate is published for it. The northern end of the island has changed considerably since 1863.

Charleston

Shaw commanded the leading regiment of Strong's brigade in the assault on Battery Wagner on the evening of 18 July 1863, and was killed on the parapet. The regiment lost about 270 of the roughly 600 men it took into the assault. The Confederate garrison buried him in a common burial pit with his soldiers; when his family was offered the removal of his body to an officers' cemetery, his father directed that he be left in the place of honor with his men.

Service

1. Colonelcommissioned54th Massachusetts Infantry, infantry · Union armyuntil 18 July 1863Battery WagnerGillmore 1865 NPS, Robert Gould Shaw

Each rank is the rank held at the time described. A later promotion is shown only in its own dated entry.

Places

• Died at Battery Wagner

  18 July 1863 · confirmed

  EvidenceKilled on the parapet leading the 54th Massachusetts in the assault of 18 July 1863.

  Gillmore 1865 NPS, Robert Gould Shaw

Burial

1. First burialThe burial trench on Morris Island present grave

   Buried about 1863 · moderate confidence

   The Confederate garrison buried Shaw in a common pit with the soldiers of his regiment. His family was offered the removal of his body to an officers' cemetery and his father declined, directing that he be left in the place of honor with his men. No later reinterment is recorded, and the position of the trench on Morris Island is not established here.

   Locationnot established

   NPS, Robert Gould Shaw

A burial date is not a death date, and a cenotaph is not a grave. Where a coordinate locates the cemetery and not the plot, the entry says so.

Photographs

What is established, and on whose authority

• verifiedColonel, 54th Massachusetts Infantry.NPS, Robert Gould Shaw Gillmore 1865
• verifiedBorn in Boston, Massachusetts, 10 October 1837.NPS, Robert Gould Shaw
• verifiedCommanded the leading regiment of Brigadier General Strong's brigade in the assault on Battery Wagner, 18 July 1863, and was killed on the parapet.Gillmore 1865 NPS, Robert Gould Shaw
• verifiedThe 54th Massachusetts lost about 270 of roughly 600 men engaged in the assault.Gillmore 1865
• verifiedBuried by the Confederates in a common burial pit on Morris Island; his father directed that he be left there with his men rather than removed to an officers' cemetery.NPS, Robert Gould Shaw
• verifiedThe portrait plate catalogued here as “robert-gould-shaw” is of this person.Library of Congress

Identity: verified. Last checked 31 August 2026.

Corrections to this record are welcome through the publisher.