Second Battle of Charleston Harbor
Encyclopedia
The Second Battle of Charleston Harbor, also known as the Siege of Charleston Harbor, Siege of Fort Wagner, or Battle of Morris Island, took place during the American Civil War
in the late summer of 1863 between a combined Union Army
/Navy
force and the Confederate
defenses of Charleston, South Carolina
.
by storm, Maj. Gen.
Quincy Adams Gillmore
decided on a less costly approach and began laying siege
to the fort. In the ensuing days, Union forces besieged the Confederate works on Morris Island
with an array of military novelties. Union gunners made use of a new piece of artillery known as the Requa gun—25 rifle barrels mounted on a field carriage. While sapper
s dug zig-zag trenches toward Fort Wagner a second novelty was used—the calcium floodlight. Bright lights were flashed upon the defenders blinding them enough to decrease accurate return fire while the Union gunners fired safely behind the lights.
The Confederate defenders also had advantages. The ground the Union sappers were digging through was shallow sand with a muddy base. The trenching efforts also began to accidentally uncover Union dead from the previous assaults on Fort Wagner. Despite this, by mid-August Gillmore had his siege guns within range of Fort Sumter
. On August 17, he opened fire and during the first day of the bombardment nearly 1,000 shells were fired. By August 23, the masonry had been turned to rubble and Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard removed as many of the fort's guns as possible. Gillmore wired the War Department
that "Fort Sumter is a shapeless and harmless mass of ruin".
Gillmore's attention returned to Fort Wagner. Despite the marshy conditions on Morris Island, Union forces had constructed powerful batteries to combat Fort Wagner. One such battery officially known as the Marsh Battery, was dubbed the "Swamp Angel". This 200-pound Parrott rifle
hurled 35 shots into the city of Charleston itself, but on the 36th shot the gun exploded. On September 5, Gillmore and Dahlgren attacked with an intense bombing of Fort Wagner for 36 hours killing 100 of the remaining defenders. Gillmore's soldiers seized the rifle pits just outside the fort walls. 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.
in 1865.
First Military District – Brig. Gen. Roswell S. Ripley
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
in the late summer of 1863 between a combined Union Army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
/Navy
Union Navy
The Union Navy is the label applied to the United States Navy during the American Civil War, to contrast it from its direct opponent, the Confederate States Navy...
force and the Confederate
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...
defenses of Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
.
Siege
After being repulsed twice trying to take Fort WagnerFort Wagner
Fort Wagner was a beachhead fortification on Morris Island, South Carolina, that covered the southern approach to Charleston harbor...
by storm, Maj. Gen.
Major general (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, major general is a two-star general-officer rank, with the pay grade of O-8. Major general ranks above brigadier general and below lieutenant general...
Quincy Adams Gillmore
Quincy Adams Gillmore
Quincy Adams Gillmore was an American civil engineer, author, and a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was noted for his actions in the Union victory at Fort Pulaski, where his modern rifled artillery readily pounded the fort's exterior stone walls, an action that...
decided on a less costly approach and began laying siege
Siege
A siege is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by attrition or assault. The term derives from sedere, Latin for "to sit". Generally speaking, siege warfare is a form of constant, low intensity conflict characterized by one party holding a strong, static...
to the fort. In the ensuing days, Union forces besieged the Confederate works on Morris Island
Morris Island
Morris Island is an 840 acre uninhabited island in Charleston Harbor in South Carolina, accessible only by boat. The island lies in the outer reaches of the harbor and was thus a strategic location in the American Civil War.-History:...
with an array of military novelties. Union gunners made use of a new piece of artillery known as the Requa gun—25 rifle barrels mounted on a field carriage. While sapper
Sapper
A sapper, pioneer or combat engineer is a combatant soldier who performs a wide variety of combat engineering duties, typically including, but not limited to, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, demolitions, field defences, general construction and building, as well as road and airfield...
s dug zig-zag trenches toward Fort Wagner a second novelty was used—the calcium floodlight. Bright lights were flashed upon the defenders blinding them enough to decrease accurate return fire while the Union gunners fired safely behind the lights.
The Confederate defenders also had advantages. The ground the Union sappers were digging through was shallow sand with a muddy base. The trenching efforts also began to accidentally uncover Union dead from the previous assaults on Fort Wagner. Despite this, by mid-August Gillmore had his siege guns within range of Fort Sumter
Fort Sumter
Fort Sumter is a Third System masonry coastal fortification located in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. The fort is best known as the site upon which the shots initiating the American Civil War were fired, at the Battle of Fort Sumter.- Construction :...
. On August 17, he opened fire and during the first day of the bombardment nearly 1,000 shells were fired. By August 23, the masonry had been turned to rubble and Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard removed as many of the fort's guns as possible. Gillmore wired the War Department
United States Department of War
The United States Department of War, also called the War Department , was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army...
that "Fort Sumter is a shapeless and harmless mass of ruin".
Parrott rifle
The Parrott rifle was a type of muzzle loading rifled artillery weapon used extensively in the American Civil War.-Parrott Rifle:The gun was invented by Robert Parker Parrott, a West Point graduate. He resigned from the service in 1836 and became the superintendent of the West Point Foundry in Cold...
hurled 35 shots into the city of Charleston itself, but on the 36th shot the gun exploded. On September 5, Gillmore and Dahlgren attacked with an intense bombing of Fort Wagner for 36 hours killing 100 of the remaining defenders. Gillmore's soldiers seized the rifle pits just outside the fort walls. Conditions within the fort were becoming intolerable, and the garrison commander, Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
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
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 CarolinaCarolinas Campaign
The Carolinas Campaign was the final campaign in the Western Theater of the American Civil War. In January 1865, Union Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman advanced north from Savannah, Georgia, through the Carolinas, with the intention of linking up with Union forces in Virginia. The defeat of ...
in 1865.
Opposing Forces
Union
Dept. of the South – Maj. Gen. Quincy A. Gillmore- Morris Island – Brig. Gen.Brigadier general (United States)A brigadier general in the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, is a one-star general officer, with the pay grade of O-7. Brigadier general ranks above a colonel and below major general. Brigadier general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral in the other uniformed...
Alfred H. Terry- 1st Brigade – Col. Henry R. Guss
- 2nd Brigade – Col. Joshua B. HowellJoshua B. HowellJoshua B. Howell was a Union Army officer during the American Civil War. He served in Southeast Virginia and the Carolinas. He was mortally wounded late in the war following a horse riding accident.-Early life:...
- 3rd Brigade – Brig. Gen. Thomas G. StevensonThomas G. StevensonThomas G. Stevenson was a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was killed in action during the battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse.-Biography:...
- 4th Brigade – Col. James Montgomery
- 5th Brigade – Col. William W. H. Davis
- North End of Folly Island – Brig. Gen. Israel VogdesIsrael VogdesIsrael Vogdes was a career soldier and military educator from Pennsylvania who served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Biography:...
- 1st Brigade – Brig. Gen. Robert S. FosterRobert Sanford FosterRobert Sanford Foster was a Union general during the American Civil War. He played a prominent role in the siege of Petersburg and the Appomattox Campaign.-Biography:...
- 2nd Brigade – Col. Samuel M. Alford
- 3rd "African" Brigade – Brig. Gen. Edward A. WildEdward A. WildEdward Augustus Wild was an American homeopathic doctor and a brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Early life and career:...
- 1st Brigade – Brig. Gen. Robert S. Foster
- South End of Folly Island – Brig. Gen. George H. Gordon
- 1st Brigade – Brig. Gen. Alexander SchimmelfennigAlexander SchimmelfennigAlexander Schimmelfennig was a German soldier and political revolutionary, and then an American Civil War general in the Union Army.-Early life and career:...
- 2nd Brigade – Brig. Gen. Adelbert AmesAdelbert AmesAdelbert Ames was an American sailor, soldier, and politician. He served with distinction as a Union Army general during the American Civil War. As a Radical Republican and a Carpetbagger, he was military governor, Senator and civilian governor in Reconstruction-era Mississippi...
- 1st Brigade – Brig. Gen. Alexander Schimmelfennig
Confederate
Dept. of South Carolina, Georgia & Florida – General P.G.T. BeauregardFirst Military District – Brig. Gen. Roswell S. Ripley
Roswell S. Ripley
Roswell Sabine Ripley was an officer in the United States Army during the Mexican-American War and, despite being Northern-born, a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the Civil War...
- 1st Sub-division – Brig. Gen. William B. TaliaferroWilliam B. TaliaferroWilliam Booth Taliaferro , was a United States Army officer, a lawyer, legislator, and Confederate general in the American Civil War.-Early life:...
- 2nd Sub-division – Brig. Gen. Thomas L. Clingman
- 3rd Sub-division (incomplete)
- Morris Island – Brig. Gen. Alfred Colquitt
- 4th Sub-division (incomplete)
- Fort Sumter – Col. Alfred Rhett
- 5th Sub-division – Brig. Gen. W. G. DeSaussure
- Evans' Brigade – Brig. Gen. Nathan G. Evans
- Anderson's Brigade – Brig. Gen. George T. AndersonGeorge T. AndersonGeorge Thomas Anderson was a general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Nicknamed "Tige," Anderson was noted as one of Robert E...
- Wise's Brigade – Brig. Gen. Henry A. WiseHenry A. WiseHenry Alexander Wise was an American politician and governor of Virginia, as well as a general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.-Early life:...
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 0-87021-1226.
- Wise, Stephen R. Gate of Hell: Campaign for Charleston Harbor, 1863. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1994. ISBN 0-87249-985-5.