Fort Wagner or Battery Wagner was a beachhead fortification on Morris Island, South Carolina, that covered the southern approach to Charleston Harbor. It was the site of two American Civil War battles in the campaign known as Operations Against the Defenses of Charleston in 1863, in which United States forces took heavy casualties while trying to seize the fort.
Named for deceased Lt. Col. Thomas M. Wagner, Fort Wagner measured 250 yards (230 m) by 100 yards (91 m), and spanned an area between the Atlantic on the east and an impassable swamp on the west. Its walls, composed of sand and earth, rose 30 feet (9.1 m) above the level beach and were supported by palmetto logs and sandbags. The fort's arsenal included fourteen cannons, the largest a 10-inch (250 mm) Columbiad that fired a 128-pound shell. It was a large structure capable of sheltering nearly 1,000 of the fort's 1,700-man garrison and provided substantial protection against naval shelling. The fort's land face was protected by a water-filled trench, 10 feet (3.0 m) wide and 5 feet (1.5 m) deep, surrounded by buried land mines and sharpened palmetto stakes. [1] The fort itself was supported by defenses throughout Morris Island. [2]
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The First Battle of Fort Wagner, occurred on July 11, 1863. Only 12 Confederate soldiers were killed, as opposed to 339 losses for the U.S. side. [1]
The Second Battle of Fort Wagner (pictured in Glory (1989 film)), a week later, is better known. It was the Union attack on July 18, 1863, led by the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, one of the first major American military units made up of black soldiers. Colonel Robert Gould Shaw led the 54th Massachusetts on foot while they charged, and was killed in the assault. [1]
Although a tactical defeat, the publicity of the battle of Fort Wagner led to further action for black U.S. troops in the Civil War, and it spurred additional recruitment that gave the Union Army a further numerical advantage in troops over the South. [1]
Union forces besieged the fort after the unsuccessful assault. By August 25, Union entrenchments were close enough to attempt an assault on the Advanced Rifle Pits, 240 yards in front of the Battery, but the attempt was defeated. A second attempt, by the 24th Massachusetts Infantry, on August 26 was successful. After enduring almost 60 days of heavy U.S. shelling, the Confederates abandoned it on the night of September 6–7, 1863, withdrawing all operable cannons and the garrison. [1] [3]
The main reason the fort was abandoned was a concern about the loss of the garrison due to artillery fire and the threat of imminent assault. On September 6, the garrison commander, Colonel Keitt, wrote to his superiors, "The garrison must be taken away immediately after dark, or it will be destroyed or captured. It is idle to deny that the heavy Parrott shells have breached the walls and are knocking away the bomb-proofs. Pray have boats immediately after dark at Cummings Point to take away the men. I say deliberately that this must be done or the garrison will be sacrificed. I am sending the wounded and sick now to Cummings Point, and will continue to do so, if possible, until all are gone. I have a number of them now there. I have not in the garrison 400 effective men, including artillery. The engineers agree in opinion with me, or, rather, shape my opinion. I shall say no more." A council of war in Charleston on the 4th had already reached the same conclusion, and the evacuation was carried out as planned. [4]
Within twenty years of the Civil War, the remnants of the fort had been washed away by erosion on Morris Island. A group of three ex-servicemen traveled to the fort in May 1885 and reported that the entire fort and approaches to it had washed away into the ocean. [5]
The fall of Battery Wagner would have considerable strategic significance. With its loss and that of Fort Gregg, Morris Island too fell to the United States. Although Charleston remained in the hands of the rebels its port was effectively closed. At the end of the year Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles could report that "the commerce of Charleston has ceased." [6] The impact also showed directly in rebel customs receipts, which fell drastically from 1863 to 1864. [7] The labors and sacrifices of the United States forces during the storms and siege had in the end shut down a vital lifeline to the rebellion.
The best-known regiment that fought for the Union in the battle of Fort Wagner was the 54th Massachusetts, which was one of the first African-American regiments in the war. The 54th was controversial in the North, where many people supported the abolition of slavery but still treated African Americans as lesser or inferior to whites. Though some claimed blacks could not fight as well as whites, the actions of the 54th Massachusetts demonstrated once again the fallacy in that argument, as this was not the first time blacks ever fought in war or even for the United States.
William Carney, an African American and a sergeant with the 54th, is considered the first black recipient of the Medal of Honor for his actions at Fort Wagner in recovering and returning the unit's American flag to Union lines. [1] After the battle, the Confederates buried the regiment's commanding officer, Colonel Shaw, in an unmarked mass grave with the African-American soldiers of his regiment as an insult to him. Instead, his family considered it an honor that Shaw was buried with his men.
Morris Island is smaller than 1,000 acres and is subject to extensive erosion by storm and sea. Much of the site of Fort Wagner has been eroded away, including the place where the Union soldiers were buried. However, by the time that happened, the soldiers' remains were no longer there because soon after the end of the Civil War, the Army disinterred and reburied all the remains, including presumably those of Shaw, at the Beaufort National Cemetery in Beaufort, South Carolina, where their gravestones were marked as "unknown". [8] The number missing presumed dead at Battery Wagner was 391, among the 10 regiments involved. 54th with the most at 146. 100 NY with 119, 48th NY with 112. The number of unknowns at Beaufort on their Civil monument 1870s is 174 unknowns. These unknowns collected from three Southern states. Sites include East Florida, Millen and Lawton Georgia and Hilton Head. Two Confederate POW sites included. Given the missing at Morris island is more than double the total unknowns at Beaufort National Cemetery, it appears many bodies were not removed and were lost to the shifting sea.
Although the Atlantic Ocean consumed Fort Wagner in the late 1800s and the original site is now offshore, the Civil War Trust (a division of the American Battlefield Trust) and its partners have acquired and preserved 118 acres (0.48 km2) of historic Morris Island, which had gun emplacements and other military installations during the war. [9]
The 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that saw extensive service in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The unit was the second African-American regiment, following the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry Regiment, organized in the Northern states during the Civil War. Authorized by the Emancipation Proclamation, the regiment consisted of African-American enlisted men commanded by white officers.
Morris Island is an 840-acre (3.4 km²) uninhabited island in Charleston Harbor in South Carolina, accessible only by boat. The island lies in the outer reaches of the harbor and was thus a strategic location in the American Civil War. The island is part of the cities of Charleston and Folly Beach, in Charleston County.
Robert Gould Shaw was an American officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Born into a Boston upper class abolitionist family, he accepted command of the first all-black regiment in the Northeast. Supporting the promised equal treatment for his troops, he encouraged the men to refuse their pay until it was equal to that of white troops' wage.
Edward "Ned" Needles Hallowell was an officer in the Union Army in the duration of the American Civil War, commanding the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry following the death of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw at the Second Battle of Fort Wagner in 1863.
Glory is a 1989 American historical war drama film directed by Edward Zwick about the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, one of the Union Army's earliest African-American regiments in the American Civil War. It stars Matthew Broderick as Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, the regiment's commanding officer, and Denzel Washington, Cary Elwes, and Morgan Freeman as fictional members of the 54th. The screenplay by Kevin Jarre was based on the books Lay This Laurel (1973) by Lincoln Kirstein and One Gallant Rush (1965) by Peter Burchard and the personal letters of Shaw. The film depicts the soldiers of the 54th from the formation of their regiment to their heroic actions at the Second Battle of Fort Wagner.
The First Battle of Fort Wagner was fought on July 10 and 11, 1863, on Morris Island in Charleston harbor during the American Civil War. An attempt by the Union Army to capture Fort Wagner was repulsed. The more famous Second Battle of Fort Wagner, which involved an assault by the 54th Massachusetts, would be fought on July 18.
The Second Battle of Fort Wagner, also known as the Second Assault on Morris Island or the Battle of Fort Wagner, Morris Island, was fought on July 18, 1863, during the American Civil War. Union Army troops commanded by Brig. Gen. Quincy Gillmore launched an unsuccessful assault on the Confederate fortress of Fort Wagner, which protected Morris Island, south of Charleston Harbor. The battle came one week after the First Battle of Fort Wagner. Although a Confederate victory, the valor of the Black Union soldiers in the battle was hailed, which had long-term strategic benefits in encouraging more African-Americans to enlist allowing the Union to employ a manpower resource that the Confederacy could not emulate for the remainder of the war.
The Battle of Secessionville was fought on June 16, 1862, during the American Civil War. Confederate forces defeated the Union's only attempt to capture Charleston, South Carolina, by land. It's noted for the court martial of the Union Brig. Gen. Henry Benham for trying to take James Island, which was against the orders given.
The Second Battle of Fort Sumter was fought on September 8, 1863, in Charleston Harbor. Confederate General P. G. T. Beauregard, who had commanded the defenses of Charleston and captured Fort Sumter in the first battle of the war, was in overall command of the defenders. In the battle, Union forces under Major General Quincy Gillmore attempted to retake the fort at the mouth of the harbor. Union gunners pummeled the fort from their batteries on Morris Island. After a severe bombing of the fort, Beauregard, suspecting an attack, replaced the artillerymen and all but one of the fort's guns with 320 infantrymen, who repulsed the naval landing party. Gillmore had reduced Fort Sumter to a pile of rubble, but the Confederate flag still waved over the ruins.
South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union in December 1860, and was one of the founding member states of the Confederacy in February 1861. The bombardment of the beleaguered U.S. garrison at Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor on April 12, 1861, is generally recognized as the first military engagement of the war. The retaking of Charleston in February 1865, and raising the flag again at Fort Sumter, was used for the Union symbol of victory.
Charleston, South Carolina, was a hotbed of secession at the start of the American Civil War and an important Atlantic Ocean port city for the fledgling Confederate States of America. The first shots against the Federal government were those fired there by cadets of the Citadel to stop a ship from resupplying the Federally held Fort Sumter. Three months later, the bombardment of Fort Sumter triggered a massive call for Federal troops to put down the rebellion. Although the city and its surrounding fortifications were repeatedly targeted by the Union Army and Navy, Charleston did not fall to Federal forces until the last months of the war. Charleston was devastated.
The Second Battle of Charleston Harbor, also known as the siege of Charleston Harbor, siege of Fort Wagner, or Battle of Morris Island, took place during the American Civil War in the late summer of 1863 between a combined U.S. Army/Navy force and the Confederate defenses of Charleston, South Carolina.
The 2nd South Carolina Volunteer Infantry Regiment (Colored) was an African-American infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was among the scores of units raised starting in the middle of the war to augment Federal troop strength by tapping into the large Southern population of former slaves. The regiment, accompanied by Harriet Tubman, participated in the Raid at Combahee Ferry in which roughly 800 slaves were freed. It gained notoriety among certain quarters for its actions during the controversial looting and burning of the pro-Confederate town of Darien, Georgia. This operation was part of the Union strategy to damage the Confederate states' ability to supply food and materials towards their war effort.
The Battle of Grimball's Landing took place in James Island, South Carolina, on July 16, 1863, during the American Civil War. It was a part of the campaign known as Operations Against the Defenses of Charleston.
Siege artillery is heavy artillery primarily used in military attacks on fortified positions. At the time of the American Civil War, the U.S. Army classified its artillery into three types, depending on the gun's weight and intended use. Field artillery were light pieces that often traveled with the armies. Siege and garrison artillery were heavy pieces that could be used either in attacking or defending fortified places. Seacoast artillery were the heaviest pieces and were intended to be used in permanent fortifications along the seaboard. They were primarily designed to fire on attacking warships. The distinctions are somewhat arbitrary, as field, siege and garrison, and seacoast artillery were all used in various attacks and defenses of fortifications. This article will focus on the use of heavy artillery in the attack of fortified places during the American Civil War.
First Sergeant Robert John Simmons was a Bermudian who served in the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment during the American Civil War. He died in August 1863, as a result of wounds received in an attack on Fort Wagner, near Charleston, South Carolina.
The 1st New York Engineer Regiment was an engineer regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was also known as Serrell's Engineers, New York Volunteer Corps of Engineers, or Engineer's and Artizans. The regiment served initially in the Lower Seaboard Theater, and later in the Richmond–Petersburg Campaign.
The 67th Ohio Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
The Memorial to Robert Gould Shaw and the Massachusetts Fifty-Fourth Regiment is a bronze relief sculpture by Augustus Saint-Gaudens opposite 24 Beacon Street, Boston. It depicts Colonel Robert Gould Shaw leading members of the 54th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry as it marched down Beacon Street on May 28, 1863 to depart the city to fight in the South. The sculpture was unveiled on May 31, 1897. This is the first civic monument to pay homage to the heroism of African American soldiers.
3rd Rhode Island Heavy Artillery Regiment was a heavy artillery regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
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