The Portland daily press., 1863-07-30
The Assault ON Fort Wagner.

Ht correspondents VI buC AAiouhC
with Gen. Gilmore's force, says that the at
tempt to take Fort Wagner, on the 18th, was
made after dark, and Just as terrific thunder
storm had closed. Three brigades were as
signed for the task, only two of which pastici-
pated in the work. The. preparation for the
assault is thus described.
For eight hours the Monitor RS and the Iron
sides had kept upa continuous fire, and Fort
Wagner had not yet surrendered. For eight
hours fiity-four guns from the land batteries
had hurled their shot and shell within her
walls, and still she Haunted the red battle-iiag
in our face.
"Something must be done. and that, too,
quickly, for in few days We shall have the
whole army in Virginia upon u.s." said an Of
ficer high in command. ave must storm the
fort tonight and carry it at the point of the
bayonet."
The men were accordingly marshalled, and
moved as detailed in the following paragraph:
Not in widely extended battle line, with
cavalry and artillery at supporting distances,
but in solid regimenta column, on the hard
ocean beach, for half a mile before reaching
the fort, in plain sight OF the enemy, did these
three brigades move TO their appointed work.
just as the darkness began to close in upon
Strong rode to the front and ordered his bri-,
gade, consisting of the 54th Massachusetts,.
Col Shaw, (coored regimentl, the 9th Conn.,,
Col. Chatfield, the 4Sth New York, Col Bar,
ton, the Sd New Hampshire, Col. jackson, the
10th Pennsylvania and the 9th Maine Col.
Emery, TO advance to the assault. At the in
slant, tile line was seen slowly advancing in
the dusk toward the fort, and before double
quick had been ordered tremendous fire
fr<.u, ha harhsffp uu nj Fort Sumfpr from
the batteries on Cummings Point and from
all the guns on Fort Wagner, opened upon it.
The guns from Wagner swept the beach, and
those from Sumter and Cummings Point en-
fladed it on the lett.
In the midst of this terrible shower of shot
and shell they pushed their way, reached the
fort, portions of the 54th Mass, the 9th Conn.
aud the 4sth New York dashed through the
bitches, gained the parapet, and engaged in a
hand-to-hand fight with the enemy, and for
nearly half an hour held their ground, and did
not fall back until nearly every commissioned
officer was shot down. As on the morning of
the assault of the 18th inst, these brave men
were exposed to "a most CALLING fire of grape
and canister, from howitzers, raking the ditch
es from the bastions of the fort, from hand
grenades, and from almost every other modern
implement of warfare. The rebels fought
with the utmost desperation, and so did the
as there was an officer to command it.
When the brigade made the assault Gen.
Strong calamity rode at its head. When it
fell back, broken, torn and bleeding, Major
Plimpton of the Sd New Hampshire was the
highest commissioned officer TO command it.
Gen. Strong, Col. Shaw, Col. Chatfield, Col.
Barton, Col. Green, Col. jackson, all had
fallen; and the list send you will tell how
many other brave officers fell with them.
+ Stories are fyinr about that this rapiupnf
and that regiment broke and RIM; that but for
the frightened 54th Massachusetts (negroj we
would have carried the fort: that the 9th
Maine did not reflect much honor upon the
gallant State she represents, and a thousand
other reasons which | care not TO enumerate.
1t is absurd to say these men did not fight and
were not exposed to perhaps the most deadly
fire Of the war, when so many officers and SO
many Of the rank and file we're killed. IL
must be remembered, too, that this assault
was made in the night-a very dark night
even the light of the stars was obscured by the
blackness Of heavy thunder storm, and the
enemy could be distinguished from our own
men only by the light of burning shell and
the flash of the howitzer and the musket.
The 54th Massachusetts,, lnegro) whom cop
perhead officers would have called cowardly
If they had stormed and carried -, gates of
hell, went boldly into battle, for the second
time, commanded by their brave Colonel, but
came out of it led by no higher officer than
the boy, Lieut. Higginson.
The LIST Brigade, under the lead of Gen.
Strong, failed to take the fort. Ii was now
the turn Of Col. Putnam, commanding the I'd
Brigade, composed of the It'll n. H., the gid
Ohio. Col Steele, the 9th Ohio, Col. voorhees,,
and the Tooth N Y. Col. Danely to make the
attempt. But, alas +! the task was too much
for him. Through the same terrible fire he
led his men TO, over and into the fort, and for
half an hour held one-half of it, fighting every
moment of that time with the utmost desper-
alton, and, as with the first Brigade, it was
not until he himself was killed, and nearly all
his officers wounded, and no reinforcements
arriving. that his men fell back, and the rebel
shout and cheer Of victory was heard above
the roar of Sumter and the guns from Cum
mings Point.
In the second assault by Col. Putnam's brig
ade, Col. Taylor of Gen. Gilmore's staff stood
at the side Of Col. Putnam when he fell, and
with his voice and sword urged on the thinned
ranks TO the final charge. But ii was too late.
The Sd brigade, Gen. Stevenson's, was not on
hand 1t was madness for the I'd TO remain
longer under so deadly fire, and the thought
of surrendering in a body TO the enemy could
not for a moment be entertained. To fight
their way back to the entertainments was all
that could be done, and in this retreat many a
poor fellow fell, never to rise again.
Without doubt many of our men fell from
our own fire. The darkness was so intense,
the roar of artillery so loud, the flight of grape
and canister shot so rapid and destructive,
that it was absolutely impossible to preserve
order in the ranks of individual companies, TO
say nothing Of the regiments.
) More than half the time we were in the fort,
the fight was simply hand TO hand one, as
the wounds received by many clearly indicate.
Some have sword-thrusts, some are hacked on
few were knocked down with the butt end of
muskets, but recovered in time to get away
with swollen heads. There was terrible fight
ing to get into the fort and terrible fighting to
get out of il. The cowardIy stood no better
chance for their lives than the fearless. Even
If they surrendered, the shell of Sumter were
thickly falling around them in the darkness,
and as prisoners, they could not be safe, until
victory, decisive and unquestioned, rested with
one or the other belligerent.
In this night assault, and from its commence
ment to its close, Gen. Gilmore, his staff, and
his volunteer aides, consisting Of Col. Little
field, OF the 4th s. c., and Major Bannister and
Stryker of the Paymaster's Department, were
constantly under fire and doing all in their
power to sustain the courage of the troops and
urge on reinforcements. All that human pow
er could do TO carry this formidable earthwork
seems to have been done. No ono would have
imagined in the morning that so fierce can
nonade from both the navy and the batteries
on shore could fail TO destroy every bomb-proof
the rebels had erected. But the moment our
men touched the parapets of the fort 1900
strong streamed from their safe hiding place ,