"And who are you? So full of hate that you have to fight everybody, because you've been whipped and chased by hounds. Well that might not be living, but it sure as hell ain't dying. And dying's been what these white boys have been doing for going on three years now, dying by the thousands, dying for you, fool. And all this time I keep askin' myself, when, O Lord, when gonna be our time? Gonna come a time when we all gonna hafta ante up and kick in like men,LIKE MEN! You watch who you callin' nigger! If there's any niggers around here, it's YOU, just a smart-mouthed, stupid-ass, swamp-runnin' nigger! And if you not careful, that's all you ever gonna be!"
—Rawlins
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: [Beat] ...Well, you won't get anything if we lose.
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.
Sgt. Mulcahy: [mocking Searles' manner of walking] Oh look at this, Bonnie Prince Charlie! Are you a gentleman? Are you a member of Congress or something? Or are you the bloody Prince of Africa?
[Searles looks at the sergeant indignantly] Sgt. Mulcahy: Don't look at me, look straight ahead! I'll eat your ass up, boyo! Major Forbes: [observing the drill with Shaw] You know, the Irish are not noted for their fondness for the coloured.
[Shaw enters the quartermaster's office while some of his soldiers guard the door] Kendric, quartermaster: 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, quartermaster: I don't have any. Colonel Robert G. Shaw: Not for niggers you don't. Kendric, quartermaster: Not for anybody. Colonel Robert G. Shaw: I see. pity. I'll just look around to see if you haven't misplaced them...
[He begins to smash up the place] Kendric, quartermaster: HEY! Colonel Robert G. Shaw: Son of a bitch!
[smashes the place even more] Kendric, quartermaster: 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?
"I ain't much about no prayin', now. I ain't never had no family, and... killed off my mama. Well, I just... Y'all's the onliest family I got. I love the 54th. Ain't even much a matter what happens tomorrow, 'cause we men, ain't we?"
