USA > Massachusetts > History of the Fifty-fourth regiment of Masachusetts volunteer infantry, 1863-1865 > Part 7
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Vincent's Creek
FORT WAGNER CHARGE OF 54 TH MASS JULY 18, 1863.
FORT
Arrows milicate attaching column. show broken formation when pas. sing dejte and the obligue at. tack on the curtail
WAGNER
The SA's had advance ed 1000 yards in the (45.
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BOMB PROOF
this point. The assault. ung column tras formedat
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Ity Port
point marked
First Parallel
Shown on plan Surge Operations
LOW WATER
-
sauti when Id reached.
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THE GREATER ASSAULT ON WAGNER.
front. This terrible fire which the regiment had just faced, probably caused the greatest number of casualties sustained by the Fifty-fourth in the assault; for nearer the work the men were somewhat sheltered by the high parapet. . Every flash showed the ground dotted with men of the regiment, killed or wounded. Great holes, made by the huge shells of the navy or the land batteries, were pitfalls into which the men stumbled or fell.
Colonel Shaw led the regiment to the left toward the curtain of the work, thus passing the southeast bastion, and leaving it to the right hand. From that salient no musketry fire came; and some Fifty-fourth men first entered it, not following the main body by reason of the darkness. As the survivors drew near the work, they encountered the flanking fire delivered from guns in the southwest salient, and the howitzers outside the fort, which swept the trench, where further severe losses were sus- tained. Nothing but the ditch now separated the stormers and the foe. Down into this they went, through the two or three feet of water therein, and mounted the slope beyond in the teeth of the enemy, some of whom, stand- ing on the crest, fired down on them with depressed pieces. Both flags were planted on the parapet, the national flag carried there and gallantly maintained by the brave Sergt. William H. Carney of Company C.
In the pathway from the defile to the fort many brave men had fallen. Lieutenant-Colonel Hallowell was se- verely wounded in the groin, Captain Willard in the leg, Adjutant James in the ankle and side, Lieutenant Homans in the shoulder. Lieutenants Smith and Pratt were also wounded. Colonel Shaw had led his regiment from first to last. Gaining the rampart, he stood there for a mo-
6
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FIFTY-FOURTH MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
ment with uplifted sword, shouting, "Forward, Fifty- fourth!" and then fell dead, shot through the heart, be- sides other wounds.
Not a shot had been fired by the regiment up to this time. As the crest was gained, the crack of revolver- shots was heard, for the officers fired into the surging mass of upturned faces confronting them, lit up redly but a moment by the powder-flashes. Musket-butts and bayonets were freely used on the parapet, where the stormers were gallantly met. The garrison fought with muskets, handspikes, and gun-rammers, the officers strik- ing with their swords, so close were the combatants. Numbers, however, soon told against the Fifty-fourth, for it was tens against hundreds. Outlined against the sky, they were a fair mark for the foc. Men fell every mo- ment during the brief struggle. Some of the wounded crawled down the slope to shelter; others fell headlong into the ditch below.
It was seen from the volume of musketry fire, even before the walls were gained, that the garrison was stronger than had been supposed, and brave in defending the work. The first rush had failed, for those of the Fifty-fourth who reached the parapet were too few in num- bers to overcome the garrison, and the supports were not at hand to take full advantage of their first fierce attack.
Repulsed from' the crest after the short hand-to-hand struggle, the assailants fell back upon the exterior slope of the rampart. There the men were encouraged to re- main by their officers, for by sweeping the top of the parapet with musketry, and firing at those trying to serve the guns, they would greatly aid an advancing force. For a time this was done, but at the cost of more lives. The
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THE GREATER ASSAULT ON WAGNER.
enemy's fire became more effective as the numbers of the Fifty-fourth diminished. Hand grenades or lighted shells were rolled down the slope, or thrown over into the ditch.
All this time the remaining officers and men of the Fifty-fourth were firing at the hostile figures about the guns, or that they saw spring upon the parapet, fire, and jump away. One brave fellow, with his broken arm lying across his breast, was piling cartridges upon it for Lieu- tenant Emerson, who, like other officers, was using a musket he had picked up. Another soldier, tired of the enforced combat, climbed the slope to his fate; for in a moment his dead body rolled down again. A particularly severe fire came from the southwest bastion. There a Confederate was observed, who, stripped to the waist, with daring exposure for some time dealt out fatal shots ; but at last three eager marksmen fired together, and he fell back into the fort, to appear no more. Capt. J. W. M. Appleton distinguished himself before the curtain. He crawled into an embrasure, and with his pistol prevented the artillery-men from serving the gun. Private George Wilson of Company A had been shot through both shoulders, but refused to go back until he had his captain's permission. While occupied with this faithful soldier, who came to him as he lay in the cm- brasure, Captain Appleton's attention was distracted, and the gun was fired.
In the fighting upon the slopes of Wagner, Captains Russel and Simpkins were killed or mortally wounded. Captain Pope there received a severe wound in the shoulder.
All these events had taken place in a short period of
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time. The charge of the Fifty-fourth had been made and repulsed before the arrival of any other troops. Those who had clung to the bloody slopes or were lying in the ditch, hearing fighting going on at their right, realized at last that the expected succor would not reach them where they were. To retire through the enveloping fire was as dangerous and deadly as to advance. Some that night preferred capture to the attempt at escaping; but the larger portion managed to fall back, singly or in squads, beyond the musketry fire of the garrison.
Captain Emilio, the junior of that rank, succeeded to the command of the Fifty-fourth on the field by casualties. After retiring from Wagner to a point where men were encountered singly or in small squads, he determined to rally as many as possible. With the assistance of Lieu- tenants Grace and Dexter, a large portion of the Fifty- fourth survivors were collected and formed in line, together with a considerable number of white soldiers of various regiments. While thus engaged, the national flag of the Fifty-fourth was brought to Captain Emilio; but as it was useless as a rallying-point in the darkness, it was sent to the rear for safety. Sergeant Carney had bravely brought this flag from Wagner's parapet, at the cost of two grievous wounds. The State color was torn from the staff, the silk was found by the enemy in the moat, while the staff remained with us.
Finding a line of rifle trench unoccupied and no indi- cation that dispositions were being made for holding it, believing that the enemy would attempt a sortie, which was indeed contemplated but not attempted, Captain Emilio there stationed his men, disposed to defend the line. Other men were collected as they appeared. Lieu-
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THE GREATER ASSAULT ON WAGNER.
tenant Tucker, slightly wounded, who was among the last to leave the sand hills near the fort, joined this force.
Desultory firing was still going on, and after a time, being informed that some troops were in the open ground, the force, numbering some two hundred, was formed by its commander, and advanced from the rifle trench. It is believed this was the only organized body of . rallied men ready and able to support Stevenson's brigade, which alone was prepared after the repulse of the others to resist attack. Presently the Twenty-fourth Mas- sachusetts was encountered; but upon reporting, it was found that support was not required. Marching back to the still deserted trench, that line was again occupied. By midnight firing entirely ceased. About 1 A. M., on the 19th, a mounted officer rode up, inquired what force held the trench, and asked for the commanding officer. Captain Emilio responded, and recognized General Steven- son, who thanked him for the support given the reserve brigade, and his dispositions for holding the line. He was also informed that a regiment would be sent to relieve his men, and shortly after, the Tenth Connecticut arrived for that purpose. When this was done, the white soldiers were formed into detachments by regiments, and sent to find their colors.
The Fifty-fourth men were then marched to the rear, and after proceeding a short distance down the beach, en- countered Lieutenants Jewett, Emerson, and Appleton, with some of the men. There the Fifty-fourth bivouacked for the night, under the shelter of the sand-bluffs.
Although the storming column and supports did not move forward with a elose formation and promptness in
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FIFTY-FOURTH MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
support of the Fifty-fourth, which might have won Wagner that night, their attacks when made were delivered with a gallantry and persistence that made their severe losses the more deplorable and fruitless, by reason of such faulty generalship.
When Strong's brigade advanced, it met the same devastating fire at the defile; but a considerable number of the survivors, mainly of the Sixth Connecticut and Forty- eighth New York, pushed on to the southeast bastion, feebly defended by the Thirty-first North Carolina, and entered, securing a portion of the salient. Farther they could not penetrate against superior numbers. General Strong accompanied his column, and, as always, exhib- ited the utmost bravery.
General Seymour, learning the failure of Strong's bri- gade to carry the work, ordered Colonel Putnam to ad- vance his regiments. That officer gallantly led forward his brigade, meeting the same severe fire as he neared the fort. With survivors of the Seventh New Hampshire, he entered the disputed salient, followed by portions of the Sixty-second and Sixty-seventh Ohio. His One Hundredth New York advanced to a point near the work, in the con- fusion and darkness poured a volley into our own men in the salient, and then retired. It must be understood, however, that all these regiments suffered severe losses; but losses that night do not necessarily indicate effective regimental action. The greatest number of men in the salient at any time hardly equalled a regiment, and were of different organizations. They were fighting in a place unknown to them, holding their ground and repelling attacks, but were incapable of aggressive action. Fight- ing over traverses and sand-bags, hemined in by a fire
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poured across their rear, as well as from the front and flanks, the struggle went on pitilessly for nearly two hours. Vainly were precious lives freely offered up, in heroic attempts to encourage a charge on the flanking guns. The enveloping darkness covered all; and the valiant, seeing how impotent were their efforts, felt like crying with Ajax, "Give us but light, O Jove! and in the light, if thou seest fit, destroy us !"
Every field-officer in the bastion was at last struck down except Major Lewis Butler, Sixty-seventh Ohio. Colonel Putnam had been shot through the head. When all hope of expected support was gone, Major Butler sent out the regimental colors, and gave orders to leave the bastion. There were, according to his account, about one hundred men each of the Sixty-second and Sixty-seventh Ohio, about fifty of the Forty-eighth New York, and some small detachments of other regiments, some with and some without officers. When this force had departed, and the enemy had been re-enforced by the arrival of the Thirty- second Georgia, the wounded, those who feared to en- counter the enclosing fire, and those who failed to hear or obey the order for abandonment, were soon surrounded and captured. General Stevenson's brigade had advanced toward the fort, but it was too late, and the men were withdrawn.
Upon the beach in front of the siege line, drunken soldiers of the regular artillery, with swords and pistol- shots, barred the passage of all to the rear. They would listen to no protestations that the regiments were driven back or broken up, and even brutally ordered wounded men to the front. After a time, their muddled senses came to them on seeing the host of arrivals, while the
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vigorous actions of a few determined officers who were prepared to enforce a free passage, made further opposi- tion perilous.
Thus ended the great assault on Fort Wagner. It was the second and last attempted. The Confederate loss was 181 killed and wounded, including Lieut .- Col. J. C. Simkins, Captains W. H. Ryan, W. T. Tatom, and P. H. Waring, and Lieut. G. W. Thompson, killed. Our loss was 1,515, including 111 officers, and embracing General Seymour wounded, General Strong mortally wounded, and Colonel Putnam (acting brigadier) killed. Of the ten regimental commanders, Colonel Shaw was killed, Col. J. L. Chatfield, Sixth Connecticut, mortally wounded, and five others wounded. Such severe casualties stamp the sanguinary character of the fighting, and mark the assault as one of the fiercest struggles of the war, con- sidering the numbers engaged. This is further evidenced by the fact that the losses exceeded those sustained by our forces in many much better-known actions during the Re- bellion, - notably Wilson's Creek, Pea Ridge, Cedar Moun- tain, Chantilly, Prairie Grove, PIcasant Hills, Sailor's Creek, Jonesborough, Bentonville, and High Bridge, in most of which a much larger Federal force was engaged.
The following is the official report of the part borne by the Fifty-fourth in the assault: -
HEADQUARTERS FIFTY-FOURTH MASS. VOLS., MORRIS ISLAND, S. C., Nov. 7, 1863.
BRIG .- GEN. T. SEYMOUR, Commanding U. S. Forces, Morris Island, S. C.
GENERAL, - In answer to your request that I furnish you with a report of the part taken by the Fifty-fourth Massachu- setts Volunteers in the late assault upon Fort Wagner, I have to state : -
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THE GREATER ASSAULT ON WAGNER.
During the afternoon of the 18th of July last, the Fifty- fourth Massachusetts Volunteers, Col. R. G. Shaw commanding, landed upon Morris Island and reported at about six o'clock P. M. to Brig .- Gen. G. C. Strong. Colonel Shaw's command present consisted of a lieutenant-colonel of the field, a sur- geon, adjutant, and quartermaster of the staff, eight captains and eleven subaltern officers of the line and six hundred en- listed men. General Strong presented himself to the regi- ment, and informed the men of the contemplated assault upon Fort Wagner, and asked if they would lead it. They answered in the affirmative. The regiment was then formed in column by wing, at a point upon the beach a short dis- tance in the advance of the Beacon house. Col. R. G. Shaw commanded the right wing, and Lieut .- Col. E. N. Hallowell the left.
In this formation, as the dusk of evening came on, the regi- ment advanced at quick time, leading the column. The enemy opened on us a brisk fire, our pace now gradually increasing till it became a run. Soon canister and musketry began to tell on us. With Colonel Shaw leading, the assault was commenced. Exposed to the direct fire of canister and musketry, and, as the ramparts were mounted, to a like fire on our flanks, the havoc made in our ranks was very great.
Upon leaving the ditch for the parapet, they obstinately con- tested with the bayonet our advance. Notwithstanding these difficulties, the men succeeded in driving the enemy from most of their guns, many following the enemy into the fort. It was here upon the crest of the parapet that Colonel Shaw fell ; here fell Captains Russel and Simpkins ; here were also most of the officers wounded. The colors of the regiment reached the crest, and were there fought for by the enemy ; the State flag there torn from its staff, but the staff remains with us. Hand gre- nades were now added to the missiles directed against the men.
The fight raged here for about an hour, when, compelled to
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abandon the fort, the men formed a line about seven hundred yards from the fort, under the command of Capt. Luis F. Emilio, - the ninth captain in the line; the other captains were either killed or wounded. The regiment then held the front until relieved by the Tenth Connecticut at about two o'clock A. M. of the 19th.
The assault was made upon the south face of the fort. So many of the officers behaved with marked coolness and bravery, I cannot mention any above the others. It is due, however, to the following-named enlisted men that they be recorded above their fellows for especial merit : -
Sergt. Robt. J. Simmons Co. B.
" William H. Carney " C.
Corp. Henry F. Peal " F.
Pvt. Geo. Wilson " A.
The following is the list of casualties :
Officers.
Col. R. G. Shaw . killed
Lieut .- Col. E. N. Hallowell wounded
Adjt. G. W. James
Capt. S. Willard .
" C. J. Russel missing, supposed to be killed
" W. H. Simpkins "
Geo. Pope wounded
" E. L. Jones
" J. W. M. Appleton
O. E. Smith
1st Lieut. R. H. L. Jewett . Wm. H. Homans
2d Lieut. C. E. Tucker
J. A. Pratt
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Enlisted Men.
Killed 9
Wounded 147
Missing . 100
Total
256
I have the honor to be, very respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
E. N. HALLOWELL,
Colonel Commanding Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Volunteers.
Lieutenant Howard, in falling back from the fort, with a few men he had gathered, retired directly down the beach, not encountering the larger part of the regiment. Lieut. T. L. Appleton retired first but a short distance, where, in the sand-hills, he found General Strong with some detachments which he was urging to advance. Lieutenant Appleton moved forward again a short dis- tance, but finding there was no concerted advance, went rearward. Sergeant Swails of Company F was with Cap- tains Simpkins and Russel under the left bastion. They climbed the parapet, and were at once fired upon. Cap-
tain Russel fell wounded, and Simpkins asked him if he would be carried off. When he declined, and asked to lie straightened out, Simpkins directed Swails to help him do this, and while kneeling over his friend's head, facing the enemy, was himself hit. Putting his hand to his breast, he fell across Russel, and never spoke or moved again. Swails, who relates this, says he was soon asked by Russel to change his position, that he (Swails) might not draw the Rebel fire on the wounded, and did so. Frank Myers, of Company K, whose arm was shat- tered, states that he stood under the uplifted arın of
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Colonel Shaw, while that officer was on the parapet, wav- ing his sword, and crying, "Forward, Fifty-fourth !" He saw the colonel suddenly fall, and was struck himself a moment after. Thomas Burgess, of Company I, makes a similar statement.
Capt. J. W. M. Appleton, at the curtain, hearing firing at last on the right, climbed with Captain Jones and Lieutenant Emerson into the southeast bastion, and joined in the desperate fighting there. Captain Appleton was finally badly wounded, and made his way out with great difficulty, to report the situation in the bastion. Cap- tain Jones was also severely wounded. He fell into the moat, where he remained until assisted rearward by George Remsley of Company C. Lieutenant Emerson in the bastion used the musket he had picked up before the curtain. To protect the wounded lying near he pulled out sand-bags. When a volunteer was wanted to report their situation to some general officer, he offered himself, say- ing, "I will go, but if I am killed, just tell them I did not run away!" As he was still able to fight, Captain Appleton, who was disabled, went instead. Lieutenant Homans was wounded near the fort, and thought himself mortally hurt, as he was spitting blood, but staggered along until he was met by Lieutenant Dexter, who as- sisted him to the rear.
Sergt. George E. Stephens of Company B, in a letter to the writer, says,-
" I remember distinctly that when our column had charged the fort, passed the half-filled moat, and mounted to the parapet, many of our men clambered over, and some entered by the large embrasure in which one of the big guns was mounted, the firing substantially ceased there by the beach, and the Rebel
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musketry fire steadily grew hotter on our left. An officer of our regiment called out, 'Spike that gun !' . . . Just at the very hottest moment of the struggle, a battalion or regiment charged up to the moat, halted, and did not attempt to cross it and join us, but from their position commenced to fire upon us. I was one of the men who shouted from where I stood, 'Don't fire on us ! We are the Fifty-fourth.' I have heard it was a Maine regiment. . . . Many of our men will join me in saying that in the early stages of the fight we had possession of the sea end of Battery Wagner. . . . When we reached the Gatling battery drawn up to repel a counter-attack, I remember you were the only commissioned officer present, and you placed us indiscriminately, - that is, without any regard to companies in line, - and proposed to renew the charge. The commanding officer, whom I do not know, ordered us to the flanking rifle-pits, and we then awaited the expected counter-charge the enemy did not make."
Lieutenant Smith, severely wounded, remained on the field until the next day, when he was brought in. Lieu- tenant Pratt, wounded in two places, concealed himself in the marsh. There he remained many hours, until at last, braving the fire of Rebel pickets, he escaped into our lines. First Sergeant Simmons of Company B was the finest-looking soldier in the Fifty-fourth, - a brave man and of good education. He was wounded and captured. Taken to Charleston, his bearing impressed even his cap- tors. After suffering amputation of the arm, he died there.
Contemporaneous testimony is complete as to the gal- lant part taken by the Fifty-fourth in the assault. Samuel W. Mason, correspondent of the New York "Herald," on Morris Island, wrote under date of July 19, 1863, of the regiment : -
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FIFTY-FOURTH MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
" I saw them fight at Wagner as none but splendid soldiers, splendidly officered, could fight, dashing through shot and shell, grape, canister, and shrapnel, and showers of bullets, and when they got close enough, fighting with clubbed muskets, and retreating when they did retreat, by command and with choice white troops for company."
Edward L. Pierce, the correspondent of the New York "Tribune," in a letter to Governor Andrew, dated July 22, 1863, wrote, -
"I asked General Strong if he had any testimony in relation to the regiment to be communicated to you. These are his pre- cise words, and I give them to you as I noted them at the time : ' The Fifty-fourth did well and nobly ; only the fall of Colonel Shaw prevented them from entering the fort. They moved np as gallantly as any troops could, and with their enthusiasm they deserved a better fate.'"
. To the correspondent of the New York "Evening Post " General Strong said that the Fifty-fourth "had no sleep for three nights, no food since morning, and had marched several miles. . .. Under cover of darkness they had stormed the fort, faced a stream of fire, faltered not till the ranks were broken by shot and shell; and in all these severe tests, which would have tried even veteran troops, they fully met my expectations, for many were killed, wounded, or captured on the walls of the fort."
The Confederate commander of Wagner has written, -
" One of the assaulting regiments was composed of negroes (the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts), and to it was assigned the honor of leading the white columns to the charge. It was a dearly purchased compliment. Their colonel (Shaw) was killed upon the parapet, and the regiment almost annihilated, although the Confederates in the darkness could not tell the color of their assailants."
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Official reports show, and the same Confederate officer has stated as his impression, that "the greater part of our loss was sustained at the beginning of the assault, and in front of the curtain, although we suffered some addi- tional loss from the troops who gained the bastion," which loss must necessarily have been inflicted by the Fifty-fourth, as it was the leading regiment, and attacked the curtain.
Further Confederate testimony is furnished in a letter of Lieut. Iredell Jones, who writes, -
" I visited the battery [Fort Wagner] yesterday. The dead and wounded were piled up in a ditch together sometimes fifty in a heap, and they were strewn all over the plain for a dis- tance of three fourths of a mile. They had two [only one, the Fifty-fourth?] negro regiments, and they were slaughtered in every direction. One pile of negroes numbered thirty. Numbers of both white and black were killed on top of our breastworks as well as inside. The negroes fought gallantly, and were headed by as brave a colonel as ever lived. He mounted the breastworks waving his sword, and at the head of his regiment, and he and a negro orderly sergeant fell dead over the inner crest of the works. The negroes were as fine-looking a set as I ever saw, - large, strong, muscular fellows."
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