jumpingjacktrash:

tilthat:

TIL After Col. Shaw died in battle, Confederates buried him in a mass grave as an insult for leading black soldiers. Union troops tried to recover his body, but his father sent a letter saying “We would not have his body removed from where it lies surrounded by his brave and devoted soldiers.”

via reddit.com

from the article:

“On learning that black soldiers would receive less pay than white ones,
he joined in with his unit on their boycott until this inequality was
rectified. The enlisted men of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry (and its
sister unit, the 55th Massachusetts) refused pay until Congress granted them full back pay at the white pay rate in August 1863.^[11]“

there’s also this amazing artwork:

i love the detail and individuality of the soldiers’ faces. this isn’t just some crowd scene, these were real people to the artist, which is how a memorial should be.