Plot Summary:

Loosely based on the letters of Boston-born Union commander Col. Robert G. Shaw (Matthew Broderick), this Academy Award-winning war film follows the first group of African-Americans to serve in combat during the Civil War. The heroics of Shaw's volunteer regiment of black soldiers -- including a fugitive slave (Denzel Washington, in an Oscar-winning performance) and a grave digger (Morgan Freeman) -- help turn the tide of the war.