Gilmore ordered his siege guns and mortars to begin a bombardment of
fort on July 18 and they were joined by the naval gunfire from six
monitors
that pulled to within 300 yards of the fort. The bombardment lasted
eight hours, but caused little damage against the sandy walls of the
fort, and in all, killed only about 8 men and wounded an additional 20,
as the defenders had taken cover in the bombproof shelter.
The
54th Massachusetts, an infantry regiment sometimes composed of
African-American
soldiers led by Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, led the Union attack at
dusk. They were backed by two brigades composed of nine regiments. The
first brigade was commanded by Gen.
George Crockett Strong and was composed of the 54th Massachusetts, 6th Connecticut, 48th New York,
3rd New Hampshire, 76th Pennsylvania, and the
9th Maine regiments. The second brigade was commanded by Col.
Haldimand S. Putnam of the 7th New Hampshire as acting brigade commander. His brigade consisted of the 7th New Hampshire,
62nd Ohio,
67th Ohio, and the 100th New York regiments. A third brigade under Gen. Stevenson was in reserve, with General
Truman Seymour commanding on the field, but did not enter action.
The assault began at 7:45 p.m. and was conducted in three movements.
The 54th Massachusetts attacked to the west upon the curtain of Wagner,
with the remainder of Gen. Strong's brigade and
Col.
Putnam's brigade attacking the seaward salient on the south face. As
the assault commenced and bombardment subsided, the men of the 1st South
Carolina Artillery, Charleston Battalion, and 51st North Carolina
Infantry took their positions. The 31st North Carolina, which had been
completely captured during the
battle of Roanoke Island
and later exchanged, remained in the bombproof shelter and did not
take its position in the southeast bastion. When the 54th Massachusetts
reached about 150 yards from the fort, the defenders opened up with
cannon and small arms, tearing through their ranks. The 51st North
Carolina delivered a direct fire into them, as the Charleston Battalion
fired into their left. The 54th managed to reach the
parapet,
but after a fierce struggle, including hand-to-hand combat, they were
forced back. The 6th Connecticut continued the assault at the weakest
point, the southeast, where the 31st had failed to take its position.
General Taliaferro quickly rounded up some soldiers to take the
position, while the 51st North Carolina and Charleston Battalion fired
obliquely into the assailants. Behind the 6th Connecticut, the 48th New
York also successfully reached the slopes of the bastion. The remainder
of Strong's brigade did not reach that far, as three of the defending
howitzers were now in action and firing canister into their flanks,
bringing them to a halt. Colonel Putnam quickly brought up his brigade,
but only about 100 or 200 men from the 62nd and 67th Ohio reached the
bastion. The Confederates attempted to counter-attack twice, but were
beaten back after having the officers leading the charge shot down. As
the Union assault continued to crumble, due to lack of reinforcements
from General Stevenson, Taliaferro was reinforced by the 32nd Georgia
Infantry, which had been transported to the island by Brigadier General
Johnson Hagood. The fresh troops swept over the bastion, killing and capturing the rest of the Union troops that remained.
By 10 p.m. the bloody struggle had concluded with heavy losses. Gen.
George Crockett Strong was mortally wounded in the thigh by grape shot while trying to rally his men. Col.
Haldimand S. Putnam was shot in the head and killed in the salient while giving the order to withdraw. Col.
John Lyman Chatfield of the
6th Connecticut was mortally wounded. The 54th Massachusetts's colonel,
Robert Gould Shaw,
was killed upon the parapet early in the action. Some confederate
reports claim his body was pierced seven times, with the fatal wound a
rifle bullet to his chest.
In all, 1,515 Union soldiers were killed, captured, or wounded in the
assault of July 18, although this number has never been accurately
ascertained. Gen. Hagood, the commander of Fort Wagner on the morning of
July 19, stated in his report to Gen.
P.G.T. Beauregard
that he buried 800 bodies in mass graves in front of Wagner. Only 315
men were left from the 54th after the battle. Thirty were killed in
action, including Col. Shaw and Captains Russel and Simpkins, and buried
together in a single grave. Twenty-four later died of wounds, fifteen
were captured, and fifty-two were reported missing after the battle and
never seen again. The men of the 54th Massachusetts were hailed for
their valor.
William Carney,
an African-American sergeant with the 54th, is considered the first
black recipient of the Medal of Honor for his actions that day in
recovering and returning the unit's U.S. Flag to Union lines.
Their conduct improved the reputation of African Americans as
soldiers, leading to greater Union recruitment of African-Americans,
which strengthened the Northern states' numerical advantage.
Confederate casualties numbered 174.
The fort was reinforced by Brig. Gen.
Johnson Hagood's
brigade shortly after the assault had ended. The garrison of Fort
Wagner was then changed during the night, and Gen. Hagood assumed
command. He was relieved by Col.
Laurence M. Keitt, who commanded the fort until it was abandoned on September 7. Gen Hagood wrote a book titled
Memoirs of the War of Secession,
in which he states that the constant bombardment from the Union guns
had unearthed such large numbers of the Union dead buried after the
assault of July 18, and the air was so sickening with the smell of
death, that one could no longer stand to be in the fort. The constant
bombardment caused Confederate soldiers who were killed during the siege
to be buried in the walls of Wagner, and they were also constantly
being unearthed. Following the Union repulse, engineers
besieged the fort.
The Confederates abandoned the fort on September 7, 1863, after
resisting 60 days of shelling, it having been deemed untenable because
of the damage from constant bombardment, lack of provisions, and the
close proximity of the Union siege trenches to Wagner.
A depiction of the battle is the climax of the 1989 film
Glory.
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