In a mean-spirited show of contempt, the Confederates dumped Shaw’s body and the bodies of the dead of the Fifty-Fourth into an unmarked grave and sent a telegram to the Union generals saying, “We have buried Shaw with his niggers.” They’d hoped this would make other White officers think twice about leading Black troops. It didn’t. The 180,000 Black troops under their White commanders would go on to help the Union win the
