Battle of James Island
| Battle of Secessionville | |||||||
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| Part of the American Civil War | |||||||
 Secessionville Battlefield |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 United States (Union) |
 CSA (Confederacy)
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Henry Benham |
Nathan G. Evans Thomas G. Lamar |
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| Units involved | |||||||
| North District, Department of the South | 2nd Military District of South Carolina Tower Battery/Fort Lamar Garrison |
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| Strength | |||||||
| 6,600 | 2,000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 685 | 204 | ||||||
The Battle of Secessionville (or the First Battle of James Island) was fought on June 16, 1862, during the American Civil War. Confederate forces defeated the Union's only attempt to capture Charleston, South Carolina, by land.
In early June 1862, Union Maj. Gen. David Hunter transported the Union divisions of Brig. Gens. Horatio G. Wright and Isaac I. Stevens, under the immediate direction of Brig. Gen. Henry Benham, to James Island, where they entrenched at Grimball's Landing near the southern flank of the Confederate defenses. Benham landed 6,500 men from the 3rd New Hampshire, 8th Michigan Infantry , 7th Connecticut Infantry, 28th Massachusetts, and 79th New York "Highlanders" on the southeastern end of James Island, and marched toward Charleston. Confederate Brig. Gen. Nathan "Shanks" Evans, who had been given command of the 3,000 Confederate defenders of James Island on June 14, barely had time to assess his new command. At about 4:30 a.m. on June 16 the Northern troops attacked the Confederate fort at Secessionville where Colonel Thomas G. Lamar commanded about 500 men who had a number of very heavy artillery guns and a good field of fire. After an intense battle, the fort's defenders, augmented during the fight by approximately 1,000 men from nearby Confederate units, prevailed.
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