Second Battle of Charleston Harbor
The Second Battle of Charleston Harbor, also known as the Siege of Charleston Harbor, the Siege of Fort Wagner, or the 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.
"Siege of Charleston Harbor" redirects here. For the siege during the American Revolution, see Siege of Charleston. For other uses, see Battle of Charleston (disambiguation).Background[edit]
After being repulsed twice while trying to take Fort Wagner by storm, Maj. Gen. Quincy Adams Gillmore decided on a less costly approach and began laying siege to the fort.
Swamp Angel[edit]
On August 2 under the direction of Colonel Edward W. Serrell, Union engineers began constructing a battery further inland with the intention of bombing the city of Charleston directly. By August 17 the massive battery was ready for its armament. Lieutenant Charles Sellmer with a detachment of the 11th Maine Infantry was called in to man the 200-pound Parrott rifle now being referred to as the "Swamp Angel". On August 21 Gilmore sent an ultimatum to Beauregard to abandon Forts Wagner and Sumter or Charleston would be fired upon. When Gilmore received no reply by the following day the first shot was fired from the Swamp Angel into Charleston using the steeple of St. Michael's Church for a bearing.[10] On August 22 Confederate batteries tried in vain to silence the Swamp Angel.[11] Beauregard scorned Gilmore for turning his guns on a civilian city and demanded an opportunity to evacuate citizens. Gilmore complied with a day of cease-fire but also took the opportunity to express the fact that Charleston was a legitimate military target as an ammunition supply. The firing resumed but on the 36th shot the Swamp Angel burst and was not replaced during the campaign. It was the first time a civilian population was deliberately targeted for military purposes during the Civil War.[12]
Fall of Fort Wagner[edit]
Attacks on rifle pits[edit]
Gillmore's attention returned to Fort Wagner. By now his forces were close enough to the Confederate works for the infantry to take action. On August 21 Colonel George B. Dandy led the 100th New York Infantry in a rush toward Fort Wagner's rifle pits. The New Yorkers quickly established a temporary picket line but their success was short lived. General Hagood ordered a counterattack which drove off Dandy's men.[16] Following Dandy's attack Confederate engineers began working to strengthen the rifle pits, hoping to force the Union army into mounting another costly assault. Before work could be completed Gilmore ordered division commander General Alfred H. Terry to capture the rifle pits. Terry prepared the 24th Massachusetts Infantry from Brigadier General Thomas G. Stevenson's brigade to lead the attack. In support was the 3rd New Hampshire Infantry. Each member of the 24th Massachusetts was equipped with an additional two shovels to immediately rebuild the rifle pits once taken. On the evening of August 25 General Stevenson personally led the attack forward covered by fire from the requa guns. The attack overran the 61st North Carolina Infantry, many of whom surrendered. Colonel George P. Harrison, the fort's commander, ordered an artillery counterattack but the rifle pits were already turning into a new siege line. On September 5, Gillmore and Admiral Dahlgren attacked with an intense bombing of Fort Wagner for 36 hours killing 100 of the remaining defenders.[17]
Evacuation[edit]
Conditions within the fort were becoming intolerable, and the garrison commander, Colonel Lawrence M. Keitt, informed General Beauregard that he now had only 400 men capable of defending the fort. Therefore, on the evening of September 6–7, Beauregard ordered Confederate forces to abandon their positions on Morris Island. On September 7, Union troops occupied Fort Wagner.
Aftermath[edit]
Fort Wagner had withstood 60 days of constant bombing and held off a much larger Union army. Yet the Union army and navy had captured an important position at the mouth of Charleston Harbor and reduced its most formidable fortress to rubble. Despite this, the city of Charleston and Fort Sumter itself would remain in Confederate control until William T. Sherman's armies marched through South Carolina in 1865.
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Gallery: the siege of Charleston Harbor from the Atlas to Accompany the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies.
