Assault on the Battery Wagner
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
The Battery Wagner held a strategic position in the American civil war, keeping Union ships out of range of Charleston, South Carolina.
On July 18, 1863 General Quincy Gilmore began his assault on this island, which blocked off the southern approaches to Charleston Harbor. After a heavy naval and land bombardment, an assault force led by the 54th. Massachusetts, an experimental black regiment of free men from the North went in with fixed bayonets to storm the fort.
Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross, maintained a field hospital within the range of enemy guns.
After heavy fighting, union troops were ordered to retreat, and left the battery in the hands of the confederates. The Battery was later taken by siege, after withstanding almost constant bombardment for 58 days.
