First Battle of Fort Wagner

First Battle of Fort Wagner Part of the American Civil War Date July 10, 1863 (1863-07-10) – July 11, 1863 (1863-07-11) Location Charleston, South Carolina Result Confederate victory Belligerents United States (Union) CSA (Confederacy) Commanders and leaders Quincy A. Gillmore John A. Dahlgren George C. Strong P.G.T. Beauregard Robert F. Graham Units involved 2nd Division, X Corps (Department of the South) Fort Wagner garrison Strength 1 brigade 1,770 Casualties and losses 339 total (49 killed; 123 wounded; 167 captured/missing) [1] 12[2]

Lower Seaboard Theater Fort Sumter USS St. Lawrence Head of Passes Santa Rosa Island Port Royal Fort Pulaski Forts Jackson and St. Philip New Orleans 1st Pocotaligo Secessionville Simmon's Bluff Tampa Baton Rouge 1st Donaldsonville St. Johns Bluff 2nd Pocotaligo Georgia Landing 1st Fort McAllister Fort Bisland Irish Bend Vermillion Bayou 1st Charleston Harbor Wassaw Sound 1st Fort Wagner Grimball's Landing 2nd Fort Wagner 2nd Charleston Harbor 2nd Fort Sumter Plains Store Port Hudson LaFourche Crossing 2nd Donaldsonville Kock's Plantation Stirling's Plantation USS New Ironsides Fort Brooke Gainesville Olustee USS Housatonic Vernon Grimball's Causeway Natural Bridge

Operations Against the Defenses of Charleston 1st Charleston Harbor 1st Fort Wagner Grimball's Landing 2nd Fort Wagner 2nd Charleston Harbor Fort Sumter

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.

Background

In early June 1863, Union Brig. Gen. Quincy A. Gillmore replaced Maj. Gen. David Hunter as commander of the Department of the South. Gillmore, an Army engineer, had successfully captured Fort Pulaski in April 1862. He began preparations for capturing Morris Island and parts of James Island, which dominated the southern approaches to Charleston Harbor. If Union artillery could be placed in those locations, they could assist in the bombardment of Fort Sumter, whose guns prevented the U.S. Navy from entering the harbor.^[3]

Opposing forces

Union

Confederate

Battle

On July 10, Union artillery on Folly Island (which had been occupied in April 1863) and naval gunfire from Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren's four ironclad warships bombarded the Confederate defenses protecting the southern end of Morris Island. This provided cover for the landing of Brig. Gen. George C. Strong's brigade, which crossed Lighthouse Inlet and landed at the southern tip of the island. Strong's troops advanced, capturing several batteries, moving about three miles to within range of Fort Wagner. Also known as Battery Wagner, it was a heavily gunned redoubt that covered nearly the entire width of the northern end of Morris Island, facing Sumter. Strong's report described the advance:

The two columns now moved forward, under a lively discharge of shell, grape, and canister, converging toward the works nearest the southern extremity of the island, and thence along its commanding ridge and eastern coast, capturing successively the eight batteries, of one heavy gun each, occupying the commanding points of that ridge, besides two batteries, mounting, together, three 10-inch seacoast mortars.^[4]

On July 11, Strong's brigade attacked at dawn, advancing through a thick fog, attempting to seize Fort Wagner. Although the men of the 7th Connecticut Infantry overran a line of rifle pits, they were repulsed by the 1,770-man force under Confederate Col. Robert F. Graham. Heavy artillery fire from Fort Wagner prevented other units from joining the attack.^[2]

Aftermath

Union casualties were 339 (49 killed, 123 wounded, 167 missing), Confederate 12.^[5] The First Battle of Fort Wagner was followed on July 16 by assaults on James Island and on July 18 by the famous, but also unsuccessful, charge of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry on July 18 in the Second Battle of Fort Wagner.

Notes

References

• National Park Service battle description
• Dyer, Frederick H. A Compendium of the War of Rebellion: Compiled and Arranged From Official Records of the Federal and Confederate Armies, Reports of the Adjutant Generals of the Several States, The Army Registers and Other Reliable Documents and Sources. Dayton, OH: Morningside Books, 1978. ISBN 978-0-89029-046-0. First published 1908 by Dyer Publishing.
• Eicher, David J. The Longest Night: A Military History of the Civil War. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001. ISBN 0-684-84944-5.
• Kennedy, Frances H., ed. The Civil War Battlefield Guide. 2nd ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1998. ISBN 0-395-74012-6.

Further reading

• Burton, E. Milby. The Siege of Charleston 1861–1865. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1970. ISBN 0-87249-345-8.
• Reed, Rowena. Combined Operations in the Civil War. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1978. ISBN 0-87021-122-6.
• Wise, Stephen R. Gate of Hell: Campaign for Charleston Harbor, 1863. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1994. ISBN 0-87249-985-5.

Coordinates: 32°43′48″N 79°52′16″W / 32.730°N 79.871°W / 32.730; -79.871

South Carolina in the American Civil War
Pre-War	Secession Star of the West Montgomery Convention
1861	Battle of Fort Sumter Battle of Port Royal
1862	First Battle of Pocotaligo Battle of Secessionville Battle of Simmon's Bluff Second Battle of Pocotaligo
1863	First Battle of Charleston Harbor First Battle of Fort Wagner Battle of Grimball's Landing Second Battle of Fort Wagner Second Battle of Charleston Harbor Second Battle of Fort Sumter Atttack on USS New Ironsides
1864	Sinking of USS Housatonic by Hunley Battle of Honey Hill Battle of Tulifinny Capture of Columbia
1865	Battle of Rivers' Bridge Grimball's Causeway/Surrender of Charleston
Units	Confederate organizations from the State of South Carolina Federal organizations from the State of South Carolina
Reconstruction	Reconstruction