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purpose of erecting a monument to the memory of Col. Robert G. Shaw and those who died with him.
Thanking you for the interest you have always manifested in the cause which is so dear to us, and for the trouble you have taken to do honor to those who so nobly died in its support, I have the honor to be, General, very respectfully, Your obedient servant,
E. N. Hallowell, Colonel Commanding Regiment.
headquarters U. S. Forces, District of Beaufort, Oct. 17, 1864.
my dear Colonel,—I have received your letter of the 7th, forwarding $1,545, as a contribution from the enlisted men of your regiment to the monument soon to be erected in memory of their former colonel, Robert Gould Shaw, and those who fell with him in the assault on Fort Wagner.
Please inform the donors that their generous contribution with that contributed by the freedmen in this Department makes the fund now about $3,000. It is safely invested in Massachusetts interest-bearing bonds.
The glorious work which our armies in the field and patriots at home are now doing means that the day is not far distant when a granite shaft shall stand unmolested on South Carolina soil, to mark the spot where brave men died, not, as recent developments have shown, alone as soldiers, but as martyrs in the cause of Freedom.
When for a month under my command, your brave regiment guarded so vigilantly and so soldierly six hundred Rebel officers near the spot where their colonel and comrades were massacred, it required but little faith to believe that the scales of justice were turning toward the right, and that it was time to commence the monument.
I am, Colonel, with great respect, yours sincerely, 