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CH. IV.]

1863.

ALARM IN CHARLESTON

367

that at five o'clock on the morning of ences of the success of our army, giving the 10th inst., I made an attack on the it as their opinion that, "with the capenemy's fortified position on the south ture of Charleston, the whole state end of Morris Island, and after an en- would soon be at the mercy of the foe, gagement, lasting three hours and a and the great cause of southern indequarter, captured all his strongholds on pendence would be put in fearful jeopthat part of the island, and pushed for- ardy."* The portion of Morris Island ward my infantry to within 600 yards not yet taken by Gillmore was well forof Fort Wagner. We now hold all the tified. Fort Wagner was a very strong island except about one mile on the work; as were also Battery Gregg at north end, which includes Fort Cummings's Point, Fort Moultrie, oppoWagner and a battery on Cum-site Fort Sumter, on the north side of mings's Point, mounting at the pre- the harbor, Fort Ripley, Fort Johnson, sent time fourteen or fifteen heavy Castle Pinckney, and numerous batterguns in the aggregate. ies at various points; the rebels, in On the morning of the 11th instant, fact, having in position and afloat, for at daybreak, an attempt was made the defence of Charleston, not less than to carry Fort Wagner by assault. The parapet was gained, but the supports recoiled under the fire to which they were exposed, and could not be got up. Our losses in both actions will not vary much from 150 in killed, wounded, and missing. We have taken eleven pieces of heavy ordnance and a large quantity of camp equipage. The enemy's loss in killed and wounded will not fall short of 200.

This attack, with the prospect which it held out for the future, caused much uneasiness and alarm in the city of Charleston. The mayor, on consulting with Beauregard, advised and earnestly requested all women and children, and other non-combatants, to leave the city as soon as possible; and the governor of the state issued a proclamation, calling for 3,000 negroes to work on the fortifications, urging the pressing need of increasing and strengthening the defences of Charleston. The newspapers of the city dilated upon the consequ

376 guns.

After the failure of the assault on Fort Wagner, above noted, Gillmore pushed forward operations with a vigorous hand. While congratulating his troops on their success thus far, he said, frankly and fairly, "our labors are not over. They are just begun; and while the spires of the rebel city still loom up in the dim distance, the hardships and privations must be endured before our hopes and expectations can find full fruition in victory." He now set to

The Charleston Mercury remarked, truthfully enough: "It appears to us to be useless to attempt to disguise from ourselves the situation. The Yankees having gotten possession of the southern half of Morris Island, there is but one way to save the city of Charleston, and that is by the steady and unflinching be now a fight by engineering and cannon merely, the advantage is with the enemy. With their iron-clads

use of the bayonet. If the fight on Morris Island is to

on the water and their men in occupation of the land, it is likely to be a mere question of time. The fall of Fort Wagner ends in the fall of Charleston. Fort Sumter, like Fort Wagner, will then be assailable by

both land and sea, and the fate of Fort Pulaski will be that of Sumter."

1863.

work actively to bring his heavy guns "This movement of the troops was ob into position, not only for an attack upon Wagner, but upon all the rebel works, and also to throw shells into the city of Charleston. The siege works were urged forward, and the enemy were annoyed in every way possible with sharpshooters and shells. In similar wise, the rebels threw shells, night and day, which exploded over the men at work in the trenches; and the guns of Gregg and Sumter were busily plied against the Ironsides and the monitors, which, by their steady firing, kept Fort Wagner silent.

On the 18th of July, Gillmore having placed a number of heavy guns and mortars in position, within 800 yards of Fort Wagner, determined on making another attack. The bombardment, which was to have opened at daylight, was delayed by a heavy thunderstorm during the night of the 17th, and it was not till about midday that the batteries, in concert with the fleet, opened a tremendous fire on the fort. This continued through the afternoon into the evening, the fort making little reply during the whole time, and, whatever damage may have been sustained, showing no sign of surrender. The casualties, during these six hours, were few and unimportant on either side.

As the evening set in, and the impression gained ground that the works had been evacuated, another attempt to occupy them was determined upon. Two brigades, under Gen. Strong and Col. Putnam, were formed upon the beach, with the regiments disposed in column, the colored or negro regiment (54th Massachusetts) being in advance

served by the rebels in Sumter, and fire
was at once opened upon them, happily
without doing injury, as the shells went
over the heads of the men. Strong's
brigade, under this fire, moved along
the beach, at slow time, for
about three-quarters of a mile,
when the men were ordered to lie down.
In this position they remained half an
hour, Sumter, meanwhile, being joined
in the cannonade by the rebels in Bat-
tery Bee, but without effect upon our
troops. It was now quite dark, and
the order was given for both brigades
to advance, General Strong's leading
and Colonel Putnam's within support-
ing distance. The troops went forward
at quick time and in deep silence, until,
when within 200 yards of the work
the negro troops gave a fierce yell and
rushed up the glacis, closely followed
by the other regiments of the brigade.
The enemy met them with grape, canis-
ter, hand grenades, etc., and forced them
back with severe loss. Other troops
followed, but did not obtain any better
success. Three companies of a New
Hampshire regiment, led by Strong, in
person, actually gained the ditch, and,
wading through the water, found shelter
against the embankment. Here was
the critical point of the assault, and the
second brigade, which should have been
up and ready to support their comrades
of the first, were unaccountably and un-
fortunately delayed. Strong then gave
the order to fall back, and lie down on
the glacis, which was obeyed without
confusion. It was while waiting here, ex-
posed to the heavy fire, that Strong was
severely wounded. Finding that the

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CI. IV.]

ASSAULT ON FORT WAGNER.

supports did not come, Strong ordered his brigade to retire, which was done steadily and quietly. Soon afterward the other brigade came up, and, as far as possible, atoned for their past tardiness by their present deeds of valor. Rushing impetuously up the glacis, undeterred by the fury of the enemy, whose fire was unintermitted, several of the regiments succeeded in crossing the ditch, scaling the parapet, and descendinto the fort. Here a hand-to-hand conflict ensued; but though our men fought desperately, the enemy succeeded after a time, by aid of reinforcements, in repulsing our attack. About midnight, the order was given to retire, and the troops fell back to the rifle-pits outside of their own works. The loss on this occasion was very severe, numbering in killed, wounded and missing 1,530. The rebel loss was stated by them at about 150 killed and wounded.

1863.

An exchange of wounded prisoners was, a few days after the engagement, agreed upon, after a conference of Gen. Vodges, Col. Hall and Dr. Cravens, under a flag of truce, with Gen. Haywood and other rebel officers. On the afternoon of the 23d of July, the rebel wounded were placed on board a hospital boat, and the next day entered Charleston harbor. She was met by the steamer Alice, which had recently run the blockade, and brought the rebels a cargo of machinery and supplies. The number of wounded brought was 105, leaving 140 behind, as unable to be moved with safety. It was particularly observed that none of the wounded negro prisoners were among those

VOL. IV.-47.

369

returned. On being inquired for, Col. Anderson, the officer in charge, answered, rather brusquely, that their return was a matter of future consideration with his government. Thirty-eight of the rebel wounded were delivered up, the exchange being made on parole without regard to numbers. Gen. Gillmore, in a note to Beauregard, August 5th, speaking of this keeping back the negro wounded, said, that he could not but regard the whole transaction as a palpable breach of faith on Beauregard's part, and a flagrant violation of his pledges as an officer.

Gillmore next made extensive preparations to plant new batteries, armed with the heaviest guns used in the service, so as to bombard not only Forts Wagner and Sumter, but also the city of Charleston. In the reduction of Fort Pulaski (see p. 151), the heaviest gun employed was the rifle 42-pounder. Now, 200 and 300-pounder Parrott rifle guns were brought into use; and some three weeks were spent in erecting the batteries whence they were to discharge their terrible missiles. The nearest of these batteries were located a little short of two miles from Fort Sumter, about a quarter of a mile from Fort Wagner, and a mile from Battery Gregg. On the night of August 13th, our works were advanced within 420 yards of Wagner, without any suspicion on the part of the rebels. Soon after daylight, a fire was opened from Wagner, Gregg and Sumter, which continued for two hours, and was answered with great vigor from our batteries. On the 15th, Fort Sumter was brought under fire for the first time by our batteries, and the

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