The Sun.
London, England, 1863-08-10 00:00:00

THE ATTACK ON FORT WAGNER.

The following is an account of the attack on
Fort Wagner, supplied by the Charleston Mercury
of Monday, July the 20th :
" Saturday was a day which will Ile for ever me-
morable in the history of Charleston. About eight
o'clock the desultory cannonade with which the
experience of a week had made our community
familiar was again heard. For nearly three hours
the enemy's fire was maintained with the usual de-
liberation; but about 11 o'clock it was noticed that
the reports came in far more rapid succession. By
noon it became well understood that the foe was re-
solved to subject our position to an ordeal much
more severe than any which up to that time it had
encountered. At that hour, as we learn by accounts
from Morris Island, the converging fire of the
enemy had become truly fearful. Five Monitors,
the frigate Ironsides, seven wooden gunboats, with
the land batteries which the Yankees had thrown
up on the lower part of the island, kept up a con-
stant rain of shot and shell into our works. No
less than 65 heavy guns and eight mortars are
known to have been in play against us. At one
time, so rapid was the fire, that the reports ave-
raged 27 per minute. One of the I\lonitors lay
north-east of Battery Wagner, and two to the
south-east, while the others, with the Ironsides,
kept a position nearly opposite the sea face of the
battery. The wooden gunboats manceuvred at
some distance outside the line of turreted monsters,
relying chiefly upon their long-range rifled siege
guns. There were two Yankee batteries on Morris
Island—one, consisting of two guns and a mortar,
was located at Craig% Hill, within about 800 yards
of our battery ; the other was beyond Graham's
House, and had an armament of eight rifled shell
guns. It is estimated that during the day no
less than 9,000 shells were fired at the battery.
For eleven consecutive hours the bombardment
raged with more or less violence. About dusk
the fire, which during the afternoon had been
incessant (probably with the design of de-
moralising our men and unfitting them for the
expected night's work), began to slacken consi-
derably, and at dark ceased almost entirely. The
results thus far had been of a character to give us
encouragement and gratulation.
good cause for encoura
The damage to our battery was insignificant, and
of a kind easily and speedily reparable. The bomb-
proofs had afforded efficient protection to a large
portion of the garrison, and our casualties at seven
o'clock p.m. were but four killed and fourteen
wounded. Of the enemy's losses from our fire, if
any, we have, of course, no trustworthy account.
Fort Sumter, which bore a part in the action, sent
several shells into Craig-hill batteries, and also into
the camp of the enemy, about three and a quarter
miles distant, it is believed with good effect. At a
few minutes before eight o'clock our pickets gave
notice that the enemy in heavy force was moving to
the assault. The attack was not unexpected, and
our men, though much jaded by the fatigues and
exposure of the day, sprang to their places with zeal
and alacrity. The enemy advanced in two columns
of about three thousand men each, the whole under
command of Brigadier-General Strong. The
column which attacked our right was composed
partially of negro troops, who were put in the ad-
vance. On our left, the other column advanced
with spirit, under a severe fire from the Dahlgreen
guns and colambiads from Fort Sumter. As the
column advanced at the double quick, the guns of
Battery Wagner also opened. When the enemy
had reached a point about sixty yards distant our
infantry, posted behind the parapet, poured a
galling fire into the moving masses; the Yankees,
nevertheless, in considerable force, succeeded in
gaining the trench, and began to clamber up the
sides of the battery. At this moment Lieutenant
Waties, of Blake's battery, who was in charge of
two brass howitzers (belonging to a detachment of
artillery under Capt. De Pass, of White's battalion)
opened a raking fire which swept the trench, play-
ing terrific havoc in the ranks of the assailants.
The howitzers had been assigned to this position,
which they occupied so advantageously for us,
at the instance of Colonel Harris, of the engineers,
all the horses belonging to the section having
been put hors de combat during the day. Twice
the enemy was driven back at this part of
our works (the left) and the trench filled with the
enemy's dead attests the sexerity of the conflict
there. On the right, negro troops were met with
a terrible cross fire of mueketry. Her© were posted,
among other troops, the Charleston battalion, and
these gallant men behaved in a manner worthy the
fame their organisation had so dearly won at Seces-
sionville. The second assault was still more des-
perate than the first ; but it was met and repelled
in the same gallant style by the brave troops, Geor-
gians, North Carolinians, and sons of our own city,
who stood shoulder to shoulder in the fight. In the
centre of our lines a small body of the enemy suc-
ceeded in gaining a lodgment in a salient, the]guns
of which had been disabled. Here they maintained
their position for more than an hour. A gallant
but unsuccessful attempt was made to dislodge them
in which Capt. Ryan fell, and it was not until a
small force of Georgians had ascended the magazine
and thus gained a position to command the salient,
that the audacious Yankees surrendered. At the
time that this occurred the firing elsewhere had
ceased, and the Georgians accomplished their pur-
pose without firing a gun. The movement by
which this was effected was undertaken at the sug-
gestion of Col. Harris. The fight lasted from eight
until eleven p.m., and was of a desperate character
throughout. The enemy's losses were very heavy.
His killed and wounded must have been at least
1,500. The number of the dead left on the field and
buried by us yesterday exceeded 600. We captured
over 200 prisoners, including a few of the negro
troops. Our own losses were comparatively light.
It is estimated that our killed and wounded will not
exceed 1u0."
Subjoined are some " latest" particulars of the
attack on Morris Island, extracted from the same
paper :
" D aring the early portion of yesterday morning
all was comparatively quiet on Morris Island. About
eleven o'clock the land batteries opened on Fort
\Vaguer, and the Monitors nod the Ironsides
again approached and opened a severe fire. 'This
continued until two o'clock, when the bom-
bardment became furious, the reports being heard
in quite as rapid succession as on Saturday.
This furious cannonade lasted for about au hour and
a half, Fort Sumter and Battery Wagner replying
slowly. Also fire was opened from a new battery
on James island. Fort Sumter got the range of
the Ironsides, and a little before four o'clock she