The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-03-02
ASSAULT ON BATTERY WAGNER
continued from Eighth Page.)


--,rr under command of Gen. Seymour.
= consisted of three brigades from the
- and Thirteenth army corps. The col
,r moved forward in regimental
nj led by the Fifty-fourth
y,Sssschusetts, negro regiment,
handed by Col Robert g.
81 The federals were ordered to use
- bsvonet only. Not q shot was fired
~, either side as the column advanced
- was an oppressive silence. and the
,ys Of the setting sun danced and SHIN
~.r7d along the lines of bayonets. The
hisrlls were i'm a short distance
the fort when they gave
tser and rushed upon it. Immediately
.5saily fire crashed forth. The fort was
.rirh flame from bastion TO bastion. The
,.m rifles and the artillery poured in
.bering fire at short range. The federal
'.aops came calamity on, beating against
~ fort like the waves of the sea. There
Us a harvest of death and men fell like
w.. rain before the sickle. The enemy
. Shed calamity on. Hundreds crossed the
fi',,h at the base of the fort and many
Saped the parapet TO be transfixed with
t,yonets or hurled below by the defenders.
or-ing TO the failure of the federal COM
sander to allow for the proximity of the
,rsel near the fort the attacking force was
ON
Ind between the creek and the fort. This
suited in confusion and the crowded
masses offered splendid opportunity to the
nan in the fort, thus greatly augmenting
he loss The Fifty-fourth Massachusetts
mike and fled, breaking the columns of
he regiment behind it and the entire brig
ode rushed to the rear completely routed.
Ger. seymour then ordered Col. Putnam
to,dvance 10 the attack with his brigade,
Int he refused to do so, saying that he had
faen ordered to remain where he was by
Cen Gilmore. Afterwards, however, he
calamity led forward his brigade without
orders. They were received with terrible
IRE but crossed the ditch, entered the fort
Inv the southeast bastion and poured into
tfe parapet Another brigade was ordered
n advance but Gen. Seymour was shot
down after giving the order. He repeated
The order as he was being borne from the
field. but it was not obeyed. A number of
putnams men had found refuge under the
rarapet, where they defended themselves
while awaiting assistance. Seeing that no
aid was in prospect Putnam leaped upon
tb4 parapet followed by his officers, and
called upon his men to hold their position
to the last He was shot down. He was as
brave and gallant man, said the speaker,
as ever marched beneath the stars ana
stripes. His brigade was repulsed and a
terrible fire poured into it as it retreated.
The men intrenched in the bastion re-
fused TO surrender, however, and poured
a destructive fire upon the defenders of
the fort Volunteers were called upon to
dislodge them, and several gallant officers
lost their lives in leading the attack
Brigadier General johnson Hagood fortu-
nately arrived from Charleston with his
regiment at this time, and the men in the
bastion, seeing they were overpowered,
surrendered.
The loss in the battle. Judge Twiggs
said, was unprecedented in the history of
the war for the number engaged. The
whole area in front of the fort was strewn
with dead and dying. Gen. Beauregard
estimated the federal loss at 5000. There
were 500 buried in front of the fort the
next morning. The Confederate loss in
killed and wounded was 175.
Battery Wagner, Judge Twiggs said,
was never captured, but was abandoned
by the Confederates several months later,
on account of the near approach of Gil
more's engineering operations. He closed
with some reflections upon the results of
the war.
AS one of the survivors of that con-
fict" he said 81 still believe the cause to
be just. And yet the people of the North
call us rebels. l do not understand eX-
actly what they mean by that word rebel
Was Robert E. Rec rebel? If so George
Washington was a most iilustrious rebel.
unsuccessful revolution, it seems, is term
ed rebellion. Successful revolution is term
ed patriotism. There is no sting left in
the soldier heart of the South towards the
men who fought for the North. The God
OF battles directed the movements of the
war and made this union of states indis-
soluble. We have freely forgiven the
boys who Wore the blue, the more so as
time has them like ourselves now wear
els Of the gray"
AT the close Of the address a rising vote
OF thanks was rendered Judge Twiggs for
his eloquent effort. The address will be
printed with other addresses of the year
IN the annual publication of the Confeder-
ate Veterans Association