On July 18th, 1863 Shaw brought together 600 of his men to raid fort Wagner. As soon as night came Shaw led his troops over fort Wagner's wall. Shaw had miscalculated and there was 1,700 confederate troops waiting for them. Shaw was gunned down instantly along with 281 of his soldiers who were all killed, wounded, or captured. To disrespect the 54th regiment the confederates threw all of the bodies in a trench. “we have buried [Shaw] with his Neighbors.(I wont use the word for school purposes)” The Southerners expected that this would be such an insult that white officers would no longer be willing to fight with black troops. In fact, the opposite was true: Shaw’s parents replied that there could be “no holier place” to be buried than “surrounded by brave and devoted soldiers.” The 54th regiment lost the battle but severely wounded the fort. The Confederates soon abandoned the fort.
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