Robert Shaw was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1837. A strong opponent of slavery he enlisted in the Union Army on the outbreak of the American Civil War.

In April, 1863, Shaw assumed command of the 54th Massachusetts, the first African American regiment to take part in the fighting.

Robert Shaw was killed in July, 1863, while leading a charge on Fort Wagner in South Carolina. Shaw and his regiment are memorialized in a low-relief sculpture by Saint-Gaudens on Boston Common.

A film about Shaw, Glory, was released in 1990.