From the Academy-Award winning film, Glory - This is the moment the Massachusetts 54th Colored Infantry had been waiting for... to see real action against their enemies. After spending months training, the 54th saw themselves subjected to manual labor and performing immoral tasks against civilians, Col. Robert Gould Shaw forced the hand of his commanding general who finally issued orders for the men of the 54th to see action.

The Battle of James Island. The 54th relieve a regiment of white Union soldiers... The Rebels send their cavalry in an attempt to mop up the retreating Unions soldiers, but instead are met with a hail of bullets from the 54th who arrived in time to relieve their comrades. All that training paid off...

The Confederate cavalry turn back after getting decimated, and the Rebel infantry advances. This is the moment the men of the 54th have been waiting for and the anticipation is palpable. As the 54th see the Rebel infantry advance and fire, the tension mounts as some men of the 54th fall. After trading a round of volleys, the two sides rush at each other for hand-to-hand combat with fixed bayonets.

In a prior scene during basic training, Col. Shaw asked Jupiter Sharts whether he had ever killed a man. When Jupiter replied no, Col., Shaw had him fire and reload while firing his pistol. Col. Shaw repeatedly shouted "faster!" and Jupiter nervously tried to reload his musket while the pistol was fired. Racked by the noise of the pistol and the stress of Col. Shaw's command, Jupiter fumbles with his musket and eventually freezes due to the pressure and intensity. Col. Shaw then instructs Maj. Forbes to train them properly explaining that a well trained man can get off three well-aimed shots in under one minute. This training served useful when a Rebel soldiers ran towards Jupiter who barely had enough time to reload and fire at his enemy, killing him.

According to Civil War historians, such close-quarter hand-to-hand fighting like this scene depicts was rare and did not occur in this Battle, but it sure makes for a tense scene.

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