Fort Wagner

On July 10 and 11, 1863, Union forces clashed with Confederate defenders at Fort Wagner on Morris Island, within Charleston harbor, in an engagement that came to be known as the First Battle of Fort Wagner. The Union Army's push to seize the fort ended in failure, as the assault was driven back. A week later, on July 18, the better-known Second Battle of Fort Wagner unfolded, notable for the charge made by the 54th Massachusetts.

Background

Command of the Department of the South changed hands in early June 1863, as Maj. Gen. David Hunter gave way to Union Brig. Gen. Quincy A. Gillmore. Gillmore came to the post with engineering credentials from the Army and a victory already behind him, having taken Fort Pulaski in April 1862. Once in charge, he turned his attention to seizing Morris Island along with sections of James Island, ground that controlled the southern entryways into Charleston Harbor. His reasoning was straightforward: positioning Union artillery on that terrain would allow it to support an assault on Fort Sumter, whose cannon fire kept the U.S. Navy from pushing into the harbor.

Battle

Fighting broke out on July 10 when Union artillery stationed on Folly Island, occupied since the previous April, opened up alongside naval guns from four ironclads under Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren. Their combined fire struck the Confederate positions guarding the southern reaches of Morris Island, clearing the way for Brig. Gen. George C. Strong and his brigade to cross Lighthouse Inlet and come ashore at the island's southern tip. From there his men pushed forward roughly three miles, seizing a series of batteries along the way until they stood within striking distance of Fort Wagner, also called Battery Wagner, a formidable, well-armed stronghold spanning nearly the full width of Morris Island's northern end and facing Fort Sumter.

Strong later described the action in his own words, recounting how his two columns pressed ahead under a steady rain of shell, grape, and canister. They converged first on the fortifications nearest the island's southern point, then swept along the high ground and coastline to the east, taking in succession eight single-gun batteries positioned along the ridge, along with two more batteries holding three 10-inch seacoast mortars between them.

The following morning, July 11, Strong's men tried to press their advantage, launching an assault through dense fog in hopes of taking Fort Wagner outright. The 7th Connecticut Infantry managed to break through a line of rifle pits, but the defenders, some 1,770 troops commanded by Confederate Col. Robert F. Graham, drove them back. Punishing artillery fire pouring from the fort kept the rest of the Union force from reinforcing the assault.

Aftermath

In the fighting, Union losses reached 339, including 49 dead, 123 injured, and 167 unaccounted for, while the Confederates suffered only 12 casualties. This clash, known as the First Battle of Fort Wagner, set the stage for further action: on July 16 troops assaulted James Island, and two days later, on July 18, the 54th Massachusetts Infantry made its now-famous charge during the Second Battle of Fort Wagner, an effort that likewise ended in failure.