"Dear Father, I need your help. Despite my many requests, it has become clear that we are to be used only for manual labor. Morale is low. The men's humor darkened by idleness and despair. Why keep drilling if they are never to be given the opportunity to prove themselves? I have written to Governor Andrew as well as to the general staff in Washington. But I feel that only a letter directly from you to Lincoln himself can have the desired effect. I can think of no other course. I am sure you both pray, as I do, that all this has not been in vain."

"If you men will take no pay, then none of us will! [holds up his own paycheck and tears it in half]"

"It is my job to get these men ready. And I will. They have risked their lives to be here, they have given up their freedom. I owe them as much as they have given. I owe them my freedom...my life if necessary."

"Dear Mother, the men learn very 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 to set their minds 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."

"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!"

"[first lines, in a letter] Dear Mother, I hope you are keeping well and not worrying too much about me. You mustn't think that any of us are going to be killed, for they are collecting such a force here that an attack would be insane. The Massachusetts men passed through here this morning. How grand it is to meet the men from all the states, east and west, ready to fight fro 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. Before this war began, many of my regiment had never seen a negro, and 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. Last night, we heard of yet another defeat, but we are not disheartened. I am honored to be part of such a splendid company. They have made me captain, of which I am enormously proud. You would think it strange to see me giving orders to a hundred men, most of whom are older than I am. Thank you for sending my volume of Emerson. His words come home to me like truth. "A deep man," he says, "believes that the evil eye can wither, that the heart's blessing can heal, and that love can overcome all odds." My dearest love to Father. Your son, Robert."

"The 54th Massachusetts Brigade lost over half its number in the assault on Ft. Wagner. The supporting white brigades also suffered heavily before withdrawing.The fort was never taken.As word of their bravery spread, Congress at last authorized the raising of black troops throughout the Union. Over 180,000 volunteered.President Lincoln credited these men of color with helping turn the tide of the war."

"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."

"John C. Reilly - Sgt. Storm"

"Nick Nolte - Lt. Col. Tall"

"Elias Koteas - Cpt. Staros"

"Woody Harrelson - Sgt. Keck"

"John Cusack - Capt. Gaff"

"George Clooney - Capt. Bosche"

"Ben Chaplin - Pvt. Bell"

"Jim Caviezel - Pvt. Witt"

"Adrien Brody - Cpl. Fife"

"Every man fights his own war."

"Are you righteous? Kind? Does your confidence lie in this? Are you loved by all? Know that I was, too. Do you imagine your sufferings will be less because you loved goodness? Truth?"

"Look at this jungle. Look at the vines, the way they twine around the trees, swallowing everything. Nature's cruel, Staros."

"How many men do you think it's worth? How many lives? One? Two? Three? Twenty? Lives will be lost in your company, Captain. If you don't have the stomach for it, now is the time to let me know."

"You are not taking your men into the jungle, to avoid a goddamn fight! Now, I want you to attack, I want you to attack right now with every man at your disposal!"

"You attack hard and center! Go straight up that goddamn hill!"

"[voice over] Shut up in a tomb. Can't lift the lid. Playing a role I never conceived."

"You're Greek, captain, aren't you? Did you ever read Homer? We read Homer at the Point. In Greek."

"[voice over] The closer you are to Caesar, the greater the fear."

"[voice over] I'm dying. Slow as a tree."

"[last lines, voice over] Where is it that we were together? Who were you that I lived with? Walked with? The brother. The friend. Darkness and light. Strife and love. Are they the workings of one mind? The features of the same face? Oh, my soul. Let me be in you now. Look out through my eyes. Look out at the things you made. All things shining."

"One man looks at a dying bird and thinks there's nothing but unanswered pain. That death's got the final word, it's laughing at him. Another man sees that same bird, feels the glory, feels something smiling through it."

"[voice over] This great evil. Where does it come from? How'd it steal into the world? What seed, what root did it grow from? Who's doin' this? Who's killin' us? Robbing us of life and light. Mockin' us with the sight of what we might've known. Does our ruin benefit the earth? Does it help the grass to grow, the sun to shine? Is this darkness in you, too? Have you passed through this night?"

"[first lines, voice over] What's this war in the heart of nature? Why does nature vie with itself? The land contend with the sea? Is there an avenging power in nature? Not one power, but two?"

"Love. Where does it come from? Who lit this flame in us? No war can put it out, conquer it. I was a prisoner. You set me free."

"Why should I be afraid to die? I belong to you. If I go first, I'll wait for you there, on the other side of the dark waters. Be with me now."

"Everything's a lie. Everything you hear, everything you see. So much to spew out. They just keep coming, one after another. You're in a box. A moving box. They want you dead, or in their lie... There's only one thing a man can do - find something that's his, and make an island for himself. If I never meet you in this life, let me feel the lack; a glance from your eyes, and my life will be yours."

"Property. The whole fucking thing's about property."

"What difference do you think you can make, one single man in all this madness? If you die, it's gonna be for nothing. There's not some other world out there where everything's gonna be okay. There's just this world. Just this rock."

"I might be the best friend you ever had, you don't even know it."

"Where's your spark now?"

"Wars don't ennoble men, it turns them into dogs, poisons the soul."

"Maybe all men got one big soul everybody's a part of, all faces are the same man."

"[voice over] We were a family. How'd it break up and come apart, so that now we're turned against each other? Each standing in the other's light. How'd we lose that good that was given us? Let it slip away. Scattered it, careless. What's keepin' us from reaching out, touching the glory?"

"I remember my mother when she was dyin', looked all shrunk up and gray. I asked her if she was afraid. She just shook her head. I was afraid to touch the death I seen in her. I couldn't find nothin' beautiful or uplifting about her goin' back to God. I heard of people talk about immortality, but I ain't seen it. I wondered how it'd be like when I died, what it'd be like to know this breath now was the last one you was ever gonna draw. I just hope I can meet it the same way she did, with the same... calm. 'Cause that's where it's hidden - the immortality I hadn't seen."

"We're living in a world that's blowing itself to pieces as fast as everybody can arrange it."

"Nona Gaye - Karen"

"Marina Sirtis - Shereen"

"Brendan Fraser - Rick"

"Tony Danza - Fred"

"Keith David - Lt. Dixon"

"Shaun Toub - Farhad"

"Michael Peña - Daniel"