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destroyed or captured. It is idle to deny that the heavy
Parrott shells have breached the walls and are knocking away the bomb-proofs. Pray have boats immediately after dark at Cummings Point to take away the men. I say deliberately that this must be done or the garrison will be sacrificed. I am sending the wounded and sick now to Cummings Point, and will continue to do so, if possible, until all are gone. I have a number of them now there. I have not in the garrison 400 effective men, including artillery. The engineers agree in opinion with me, or, rather, shape my opinion. I shall say no more." A council of war in Charleston on the 4th had already reached the same conclusion, and the evacuation was carried out as planned.
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351:, where their gravestones were marked as "unknown". The number missing presumed dead at Battery Wagner was 391, among the 10 regiments involved. 54th with the most at 146. 100 NY with 119, 48th NY with 112. The number of unknowns at Beaufort on their Civil War Monument 1870s is 174 unknowns. These unknowns collected from three Southern states. Sites include East Florida, Millen and Lawton, Georgia and Hilton Head, South Carolina. Two Confederate POW sites are included. Given the missing at Morris Island is more than double the total unknowns at Beaufort National Cemetery, it appears many bodies were not removed and were lost to the shifting sea and sands.
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Welles could report that "the commerce of
Charleston has ceased." The impact also showed directly in rebel customs receipts, which fell drastically from 1863 to 1864. The labors and sacrifices of the United States forces during the storms and siege had in the end shut down a vital lifeline to the rebellion.
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for his actions at Fort Wagner in recovering and returning the unit's
American flag to Union lines. After the battle, the Confederates buried the regiment's commanding officer, Colonel Shaw, in an unmarked mass grave with the African-American soldiers of his regiment as an insult to him. Instead, his
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The fall of
Battery Wagner would have considerable strategic significance. With its loss and that of Fort Gregg, Morris Island too fell to the United States. Although Charleston remained in the hands of the rebels its port was effectively closed. At the end of the year, Secretary of the Navy Gideon
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Union forces besieged the fort after the unsuccessful assault. By August 25, Union entrenchments were close enough to attempt an assault on the
Advanced Rifle Pits, 240 yards in front of the Battery, but the attempt was defeated. A second attempt, by the 24th Massachusetts Infantry, on August 26 was
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Morris Island is smaller than 1,000 acres and is subject to extensive erosion by storm and sea. Much of the site of Fort Wagner has been eroded away, including the place where the Union soldiers were buried. However, by the time that happened, the soldiers' remains were no longer there because soon
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The best-known regiment that fought for the Union in the battle of Fort Wagner was the 54th
Massachusetts, which was one of the first African-American regiments in the war. The 54th was controversial in the North, where many people supported the abolition of slavery but still treated African
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The main reason the fort was abandoned was a concern about the loss of the garrison due to artillery fire and the threat of imminent assault. On
September 6, the garrison commander, Colonel Keitt, wrote to his superiors, "The garrison must be taken away immediately after dark, or it will be
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Americans as lesser or inferior to whites. Though some claimed blacks could not fight as well as whites, the actions of the 54th
Massachusetts demonstrated once again the fallacy in that argument, as this was not the first time blacks ever fought in war or even for the United States.
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Fort Wagner measured 250 yards (230 m) by 100 yards (91 m), and spanned an area between the
Atlantic on the east and an impassable swamp on the west. Its walls, composed of sand and earth, rose 30 feet (9.1 m) above the level beach and were supported by
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Within twenty years of the Civil War, the remnants of the fort had been washed away by erosion on Morris Island. A group of three ex-servicemen traveled to the fort in May 1885 and reported that the entire fort and approaches to it had washed away into the ocean.
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that fired a 128-pound shell. It was a large structure capable of sheltering nearly 1,000 of the fort's 1,700-man garrison and provided substantial protection against naval shelling. The fort's land face was protected by a water-filled
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successful. After enduring almost 60 days of heavy U.S. shelling, the
Confederates abandoned it on the night of September 6–7, 1863, withdrawing all operable cannons and the garrison.
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Although a tactical defeat, the publicity of the battle of Fort Wagner led to further action for black U.S. troops in the Civil War, and it spurred additional recruitment that gave the
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after the end of the Civil War, the Army disinterred and reburied all the remains, including presumably those of Shaw, at the
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logs and sandbags. The fort's arsenal included fourteen cannons, the largest a 10-inch (250 mm)
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Twiggs, T. D. D., Hon. Lieut. Col. (CSA, retired, deceased), "The Defense of Battery Wagner",
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in 1863, in which United States forces took heavy casualties while trying to seize the fort.
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led the 54th Massachusetts on foot while they charged, and was killed in the assault.
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Correspondence relating to fortification of Morris Island and operations of engineers
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Fort Sumter National Monument marker of the Map of Charleston Harbor defenses
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Assault on Battery Wagner: Maps, Histories, Photos, and Preservation News
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North & South – The Official Magazine of the Civil War Society
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family considered it an honor that Shaw was buried with his men.
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Battlefields of the Western Theater of the American Civil War
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a further numerical advantage in troops over the South.
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Buildings and structures in Charleston, South Carolina
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