Colonel Robert G. Shaw Quotes in Glory (1989)

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Colonel Robert G. Shaw Quotes:

  • Trip: I ain't fightin' this war for you, sir.

    Colonel Robert G. Shaw: I see.

    Trip: I mean, what's the point? Ain't nobody gonna win. It's just gonna go on and on.

    Colonel Robert G. Shaw: Can't go on forever.

    Trip: Yeah, but ain't nobody gonna win, sir.

    Colonel Robert G. Shaw: Somebody's gonna win.

    Trip: Who? I mean, you get to go on back to Boston, big house and all that. What about us? What do we get?

    Colonel Robert G. Shaw: Well, you won't get anything if we lose.

  • Colonel Robert G. Shaw: If you men will take no pay, then none of us will.

  • Colonel Robert G. Shaw: Sgt. Mulcahy!

    Sgt. Mulcahy: Sir!

    Colonel Robert G. Shaw: I have no doubt you a fair man, Mulcahy. I wonder if you are treating the men a little hard.

    [Sgt. Mulcahy pauses]

    Colonel Robert G. Shaw: You may speak freely.

    Sgt. Mulcahy: The boy is a friend of yours, is he?

    Colonel Robert G. Shaw: Yes, we grew up together

    Sgt. Mulcahy: Let him grow up some more.

  • Colonel Robert G. Shaw: [points at the flag-bearer] If this man should fall, who will lift the flag and carry on?

    [Thomas steps forward]

    Cpl. Thomas Searles: I will.

    Colonel Robert G. Shaw: I'll see you in the fort, Thomas.

  • Major Forbes: [as Col. Shaw is writing, Maj. Forbes approaches him with a letter from President Lincoln] They've done it.

    Colonel Robert G. Shaw: [Shaw reads the letter] Assemble the men.

    [54th is in formation in the pouring rain in the Camp Readville common area]

    Colonel Robert G. Shaw: In accordance with President Lincoln's wishes, you men are advised that the Confederate Congress has issued a proclamation. It reads: 'Any negro taken in arms against the Confederacy will immediately be returned to a state of slavery. Any negro taken in Federal uniform will be summarily put to death. Any white officer taken in command of negro troops shall be deemed as inciting servile insurrection and shall likewise be put to death.' Full discharges will be granted in the morning to all those who apply. Dismissed.

    Colonel Robert G. Shaw: [turning to Forbes after dismissal of troops] If you're not here in the morning, I'll understand.

    Trip: [turns to Sharts] Still want that blue suit, nigger?

  • Colonel Robert G. Shaw: So what do you want to do?

    Trip: Don't know, sir.

    Colonel Robert G. Shaw: It stinks, I suppose.

    Trip: Yeah, It stinks bad. And we all covered up in it too. Ain't nobody clean. Be nice to get clean, though.

    Colonel Robert G. Shaw: How do we do that?

    Trip: We ante up and kick in, sir. But I still don't want to carry your flag.

  • Major Forbes: Why do you treat the men this way, Robert?

    Colonel Robert G. Shaw: How should I treat them?

    Major Forbes: ...Like men?

  • [watching Searles practice with his bayonet]

    Sgt. Mulcahy: Oh, what do we have here? Bonnie Prince Charley and his toy bayonet! You're not reading your books now. Stab me.

    Cpl. Thomas Searles: What?

    Sgt. Mulcahy: Stab-me.

    [Searles comes at him gingerly and Mulcahy slaps it away]

    Sgt. Mulcahy: I said STAB, not TICKLE! Come on, you prissy little schoolgirl! You're the worst soldier in this whole company, now HIT ME!

    [Searles comes at him again, Mulcahy disarms him and slams the rifle butt into his stomach, then his face. Searles falls to the ground, writing in pain and sobbing]

    Sgt. Mulcahy: No shame, son, get up... I SAID GET UP!

    Trip: Nigger forgot to duck, that's all!

    Colonel Robert G. Shaw: Sergeant, deal with that man!

  • Colonel Robert G. Shaw: [writing to his mother, telling her that he's seen his first negroes amongst those fleeing the south] We fight for men and women whose poetry is not yet written but which will presently be as enviable and as renowned as any.

  • Colonel Robert G. Shaw: There's more to fighting than rest, sir. There's character, there's strength of heart. You should have seen us in action two days ago. We were a sight to see! We'll be ready, sir. When do you want us?

  • [first lines]

    Title Card: Robert Gould Shaw, the son of wealthy Boston abolitionists, was 23 years old when he enlisted to fight in the War Between the States. He wrote home regularly, telling his parents of life in the gathering Army of the Potomac. / These letters are collected in the Houghton Library of Harvard University.

    Colonel Robert G. Shaw: Dear Mother, I hope you are keeping well and not worrying much about me. You mustn't think that any of us are going to be killed. They are collecting such a force here, that an attack would be insane. The Massachusetts men passed though here this morning; how grand it is to meet the men from all the States, east and west, ready to fight for their country, as the old fellows did in the Revolution. But this time we must make it a whole country for all who live here, so that all can speak.

  • Colonel Robert G. Shaw: Never, question my authority in front of others

    Major Forbes: Well I is sorry, mas'sa. You be the boss-man now and all us chill'ins must learn your ways.

  • [Col. Shaw approaches Rawlins after having Trip horse-whipped for deserting]

    Colonel Robert G. Shaw: Mr. Rawlins... this morning, I... it would be a great help to me if I could talk to you from time to time about the men. That's all.

    [turns to leave]

    John Rawlins: Shoes, sir.

    Colonel Robert G. Shaw: [Shaw turns around]

    John Rawlins: The men need shoes, Colonel.

    Colonel Robert G. Shaw: Yes, I've been after the quartermaster for some time.

    John Rawlins: No, sir. Now. That boy ran off to find him some shoes, Colonel. He wants to fight. Same as the rest of us. More, even.

  • [Shaw enters the quartermaster's office while some of his soldiers guard the door]

    Kendric, quatermaster: Morning, Colonel. Change your mind about that bottle?

    Colonel Robert G. Shaw: I want 600 pairs of shoes and 1200 pairs of socks... and anything else you've been holding out on us, you piece of rat filth!

    Kendric, quatermaster: I don't have any.

    Colonel Robert G. Shaw: Not for niggers you don't!

    Kendric, quatermaster: Not for anybody.

    Colonel Robert G. Shaw: I see. I'll just look around to see if you haven't misplaced them!

    [He begins to smash up the place]

    Kendric, quatermaster: HEY!

    Colonel Robert G. Shaw: You son of a bitch!

    [smashes the place even more]

    Kendric, quatermaster: Goddamn it, you can't...!

    Colonel Robert G. Shaw: Can't I? I'm a colonel, you nasty little cuss! You think you can keep 700 Union soldiers without proper shoes because you think it's *funny*? Now, where would that power come from?

  • Colonel Robert G. Shaw: Good morning gentlemen, I am Colonel Robert Gould Shaw. I am your commanding officer. It is a great pleasure to see you all here today. It is my hope that the same courage, spirit, and honor, which has brought us together, will one day restore this Union. May God bless us all.

  • John Rawlins: [has been appointed Sergeant Major] I ain't sure I'm wantin' this, Colonel.

    Colonel Robert G. Shaw: I know exactly how you feel.

  • Colonel Robert G. Shaw: Glory hallelujah.

  • Rawlins: The town is clean sir. Ain't no rebs here, just some women.

    Col. Montgomery: You hear that! Let's clear er out!

    [His men begin looting the town]

    Colonel Robert G. Shaw: What are you doing?

    Col. Montgomery: Liberating this town in the name of the Republic.

  • [Handing the journalist his letters home]

    Colonel Robert G. Shaw: Got some letters here, personal things. Also, if I should fall, remember what you see here.

  • Colonel Robert G. Shaw: Dear Mother, They learn, learn quickly, faster than white troops it seems to me. They are almost grave and sedate under instruction and they restrain themselves. But the moment they are dismissed from drill every tongue is relaxed and every ivory tooth is visible and you would not know from the sound of it that this is an army camp. They must have learned this from long hours of meaningless, inhuman work oo set them free so quickly. It gives them great energy. And there is no doubt we will leave this state as fine a regiment as any that as marched. As ever, your son, Robert.

  • Col. Montgomery: [ordering the burning of Darien, Georgia] Prepare your men to light torches!

    Colonel Robert G. Shaw: I will not!

    Col. Montgomery: That is an order!

    Colonel Robert G. Shaw: An immoral order, and by the Articles of War, I am not bound to follow it!

    Col. Montgomery: Then, you can explain that at your court-martial... after your men are placed under my command!

  • Colonel Robert G. Shaw: Before this war began, many of my regiment had never seen a Negro. Now the roads are choked with the dispossessed. We fight for men and women whose poetry is not yet written but which will presently be as enviable and as renowned as any.

Browse more character quotes from Glory (1989)

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