Monday, October 6, 2014

Colonel Robert Gould Shaw to Sarah Blake Sturgis Shaw, July 6, 1863


St. Helena Island, July 6.

We don't know with any certainty what is going on in the North, but can't believe Lee will get far into Pennsylvania. No matter if the Rebels get to New York, I shall never lose my faith in our ultimate success. We are not yet ready for peace, and want a good deal of purging still. I wrote to General Strong this afternoon, and expressed my wish to be in his brigade. I want to get my men alongside of white troops, and into a good fight, if there is to be one. Working independently, the colored troops come only under the eyes of their own officers; and to have their worth properly acknowledged, they should be with other troops in action. It is an incentive to them to do their best. There is some rumor tonight of our being ordered to James Island, and put under General Terry's command. I should be satisfied with that.

SOURCE: Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Editor, Harvard Memorial Biographies, Volume 2, p. 205

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