Battle of Fort Wagner, Morris Island

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The Union charging towards Fort Wagner.

Date	July 18, 1863
Location	Morris Island, South Carolina
Result	Confederate victory

Belligerents

United States (Union)

CSA (Confederacy)

Commanders

Quincy A. Gilmore

P.G.T. Beauregard

Strength

5,000

1,800

Casualties and losses

1,515

174

v • d • e

Lower Seaboard Theater

Fort Sumter – Santa Rosa Island – Fort Pulaski – Forts Jackson and St. Philip – New Orleans – Secessionville – Simmon's Bluff – Tampa – Baton Rouge – 1st Donaldsonville – St. John's Bluff – Georgia Landing – 1st Fort McAllister – Fort Bisland – Irish Bend – Vermillion Bayou – 1st Charleston Harbor – 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 – Fort Brooke – Gainesville – Olustee – Natural Bridge

The Second Battle of Fort Wagner, also known as the Battle of Fort Wagner, Morris Island, was fought on July 18, 1863, during the American Civil War. Union Army troops commanded by Brig. Gen. Quincy Gillmore, launched an assault on the Confederate-held fortress of Fort Wagner, which protected Morris Island, south of Charleston Harbor. The battle followed one a week earlier, the First Battle of Fort Wagner.

The 54th Massachusetts, an infantry regiment composed of African-American soldiers, led the Union attack at dusk on July 18. They were backed up by several other regiments in Gillmore's brigade, consisting of white troops from Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Ohio, and New York. Members of the brigade scaled the parapet but after brutal hand-to-hand combat were driven out with heavy casualties. The 54th's colonel, Robert Gould Shaw, was killed. The 54th was hailed for its valor. Their conduct improved the reputation of African Americans as soldiers, leading to greater Union recruitment, which strengthened the Northern states' numerical advantage.

In all, 1,515 Union soldiers were killed, captured, or wounded. Only 315 men were left from the 54th after the battle. One hundred members of the 54th were reported missing after the battle and were never seen again. Confederate casualties numbered 174.

Following the Union repulse, engineers besieged the fort. Confederates abandoned the fort on September 7, 1863, after resisting 60 days of shelling.

A depiction of the battle takes place in the movie Glory.