Siege of Charleston Harbor

Second Battle of Charleston Harbor (Siege of Charleston Harbor)
Part of the American Civil War
Photo taken of eastern barracks and bake-oven during the bombardment of Fort Sumter on Sept. 8, 1863.
Date July 18, 1863 (1863-07-18)–September 7, 1863 (1863-09-07) Location Charleston, South Carolina 32°45′09″N 79°52′30″W / 32.7524°N 79.8749°W / 32.7524; -79.8749Coordinates: 32°45′09″N 79°52′30″W / 32.7524°N 79.8749°W / 32.7524; -79.8749 Result Inconclusive
Belligerents
United States (Union)	CSA (Confederacy)
Commanders and leaders
Quincy Gillmore John A. Dahlgren	P.G.T. Beauregard Roswell S. Ripley
Units involved
X Corps (Department of the South) South Atlantic Blockading Squadron	Fort Wagner garrison Fort Sumter garrison Department of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida
Casualties and losses
358	655

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.

After being repulsed twice 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.

In the days immediately following the second battle of Fort Wagner, 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 sappers 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. Disease and bad water plagued soldiers on both sides.

The Union army maintained a constant rotation of soldiers to man the forward trenches of the "grand guard". During the evening of August 16 a Confederate artillery shell burst through the bombproof serving as the headquarters for Colonel Joshua B. Howell, commanding officer of the grand guard that evening. A shell fragment struck Colonel Howell wounding him severely in the head. Despite Howell's quick recovery the incident prompted the Union commander to exclusively use veteran troops in the forward trenches. Confederates also kept a constant rotation of soldiers through Fort Wagner and Battery Gregg. During the night rowboats would bring fresh troops from the mainland to replace the garrison. Even though they had won a substantial victory at Fort Wagner the Confederates fully expected the campaign to continue. Having a large garrison to draw from Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard was prepared to continue the campaign. Immediately in command of Confederate forces surrounding Charleston was former career army officer and South Carolina businessman Roswell S. Ripley. Ripley's forces were spread throughout fortifications surrounding Charleston Harbor and included a division of local South Carolina militia. Gilmore and Admiral John A. Dahlgren requested reinforcements from General-in-Chief Henry Halleck. Halleck was reluctant but nevertheless a division from the Army of the Potomac was transferred to the south under George H. Gordon. General John G. Foster, Union commander of the Department of North Carolina, enthusiastically sent a division of reinforcements telling Gilmore "Charleston is too important to be lost when so nearly won".

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Wikipedia