The DeSmet leader. (DeSmet, Kingsbury Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-12-26
GILMORE'S CAMPAIGN.
RsCOLLsCTIONS OF TAe MIDSUMMER
SIEGE OF FORT WAGNER.
Cemulit ion of Sutu;er-iu Front ,C - az.
n"r-A Lcnc - rorp-h0"s Terrible
Eorbardinent--The superiority rT
E@rthWork. Established.


E@rthw"rk. Established.
.Nt,.m EInt sNrps., IN Chicago HarAht
or tnt l,ta of August, the work s-r,ns,
WaEner having advanced q thisi parallel
sJmo 40 rnrds from the fort on the 9Th Of
August, when the ire FROM ths Desiegsd,
from Gregg. Slmter and the James Island
ami especially from the sharp
IN Wagner, became 81 accurate and
unceasing rs u cause complete stopping OF
the advaace. tho preaching batteries opoaed
upon Fort sumter. the navy also c. opsr-
ating, and kept up for seven days continu-
Gus firing At the end OF this week of trin,
Fort Sumter was reduced to a mere crum-
bling ruin, and, in Gen. Gilmore's opinion,
IL 4, evident that at that time the fleet might
have entered tho harbor, and Charleston
would have probably fallen. Only one gun
was left in position in Sumter, AMI that
pointed up the harbor, and the fort could no
longer annoy the besiegers Of Wagner or in-
jure tho ironclads.
Meanwhile, ON the 18th OF August, after
ten days of enforcel inactivity. during
which the tides had in many cases sub
merged the trenches and washsi away the
Iarapets, active operations ware again
opened in tho trenche, by startiny tha full
sap forward from the third parallel. The
enemy were. at this point favored by ridge
some 600 feet in front Of Wa yner. which
was occupied 10y their sharp shooters ami
gave US great annoyance. and on the 2lst Of
August the fourth parallel was opened some
3oo feet from this ridge From this parallel
All attempt by mortar firing was made to
di,lodge tho enemy from the ridge, and on
this plan being unsuccessful, Gen. Terry was
ordered TO carry and hold it at the point Of
the bayonet This was done in brilliant
style on Aug 20 by the twenty fourth
Massachusetts, regiment and the fifth
parallel established, from the right of which.
by n series of short zig-1ass. the approaches
were pushed forward with the flying sap
We had now reached the system of passive
defenses in front Of Wagner. and these
proved to be zone OF torpedoes thickly
sowcd and so arrangedas to be exploded by
the step OF "a person upon them The tor
pcdoee wore mostly beer kegs with plungcrs
fitted 10 them and uclined boards resting on
the plulgers, the whole being buried. A
corporal Of my regiment was killed by tho
bur,ting of one of these machines and
thrown, stripped OF all his clothing, fully
twenty five yards. HIS body fell with his
arms resting on the board OF another tor
pedo giving rise TO the report OF his having
teen tied to it as decay. But the
torpe 10 z,ne aided AZ much as
IL hiudered our advance, for it
insured Us ngain,t sorties. and by
the morning OF Aug ~ our sappers were
within 800 feet of Fort Wagner. But hero
the converging fire from Wagner almost en-
velopoI the head OF our sap, while the bat
81, I
and accuracy every hour and swept the
space in front Of WagnaDy q hank fire
The moonlight was SO bright that night
work was diiii,slt as that by day. The gen
eral here conceived the plan Of ma sing all
tho light mortars in battery at the very
front, and also bad the ried guns of the
left preaching batteries trained upon the
fort: calcium lights were ussi also to dis
cover ths enomy ami conceal our own men,
and tho navy co-opers'ei with the New
ironsides during the daytime
By the 5th of Ssptesiber ali was ready
and final operations were actively begun.
Frf forty two hours seventeen mortars
irnr,v." thc,r evnloiinp shells iuto the rebst
" rss ovsr tht hCH I. o. OnT aSppars ant
sgosis. and ttdrteau h,nvy taT5tc rife
Lol;. 4ard"i lie soh1hw",' angie 9f ths bomb
proof, WNUu "a. N1W irars.tps kept Is con.
tart aUa,os.sol Il ,!4ots saipp'n; over o."
water and eAp.uiing IA or over the fJr:.
Wagner Mas slionced even To hor sharp
shooters, the whole garrison was forced for
shelter toths bomb-proof. AMI our sappers
now pushed forward, troubled only by
tho flank fire from James Island, till they
reached a point 30 near the rebel works that
these, too. had to cease their fro, and on
Sept u in silence they pushed past the south
face and crowned the crest Of the C ,unter-
scarp masking ali the guns OF the fort.
The spectacle during this two day. NOR
tar bombardment Was exciting In the ex.
treme. remember going forward to the
Coehorn battery during this time and watch
ing the fire on the fort II seemed like tos-
ing heavy bills into great sandhill which
the explosions succee ling the dropping Of
each ball converted into "A hell's mouth. The
air was thick and murky with smoke, the
gunners were grime1 and dripping with ex-
citement and work, and the shells, as they
left the mortars, described tho most beauti-
full curves. Beyoni the flag on the rebel
stronghold, no sign OF life APP cared in Wa
ner. In the last he urs of the sapping tho
men heedlessy exposed themselves aud even
crawlcd forward amid the torpoioes t.
examine the front OF tho fort. AMI yet
this heavy Lombardm Mt hardly dam
aged the work, an when ON the 7th of
S:pt, mber tho enemy evacuated aui
our forces took possession of Wagner aud
Gregg they loft u, a substantial work, which
we at once utilized Hy armiBg with heavy
batteries, with which we bombarded Sumter
from Oct 26 till Nov. 10 and demolished the
southoasterly face Of that fort as We had al.
ready destroyed the gorge wall.
Our military engineers learned much from
their experience against Fort Wagner.
And first as i think, they became impressed
with tho superiority o. earthwork, over
Trick and stone structures for military de-
fenses. and Of sand over earth. Strange as
at first 1t may appear-and from the COM
ments made it evidently surprised the eiu-
Gated engineer as much as the civiiian-the
drv, loose sand OF our Atlantic seashores
offers the greatest resistance to the fire OF
heavy preaching ordnance-that ia, so far rs
KNOWN: we except iron or steel armor OF
requisite thickness. The great bomb-proof
of Wagner was ON the night OF evacuation
rs safe as whom the breaching guns first
orened on IL, aud few hours work would
IL