Fort Wagner Fort Wagner ( also called Battery Wagner ) was a beachhead fortification on Morris Island , South Carolina , that covered the southern approach to Charleston harbor . It was the site of two American Civil War battles in the campaign known as Operations Against the Defenses of Charleston in 1863 , and is considered one of the toughest beachhead defenses constructed by the Confederate States Army . Construction . Named for deceased Lt . Col . Thomas M . Wagner , Fort Wagner measured 250 by , and spanned an area between the Atlantic on the east and an impassable swamp on the west . Its walls , composed of sand and earth , rose above the level beach and were supported by palmetto logs and sandbags . The fort ' s arsenal included fourteen cannons , the largest a Columbiad that fired a 128 - pound shell . A large structure capable of sheltering nearly 1 , 000 of the fort ' s 1 , 700 - man garrison provided substantial protection against naval shelling . The fort ' s land face was protected by a water - filled trench , wide and deep , surrounded by buried land mines and sharpened palmetto stakes . History . The First Battle of Fort Wagner , occurred on July 11 , 1863 . Only 12 Confederate soldiers were killed , as opposed to the Union ' s 339 losses . The Second Battle of Fort Wagner , a week later , is better known . This was the Union attack on July 18 , 1863 , led by the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry , one of the first major American military units made up of black soldiers . Colonel Robert Gould Shaw led the 54th Massachusetts on foot while they charged , and was killed in the assault . Although a tactical defeat , the publicity of the battle of Fort Wagner lead to further action for black troops in the Civil War , and it spurred additional recruitment that gave the Union Army a further numerical advantage in troops over the South . The Union besieged the fort after the unsuccessful assault . By August 25 , Union entrenchments were close enough to attempt an assault on the Advanced Rifle Pits , 240 yards in front of the Battery , but this attempt was defeated . A 2nd attempt , by the 24th Mass . Inf . , on August 26 was successful . After enduring almost 60 days of heavy shelling , the Confederates abandoned it on the night of September 6 – 7 , 1863 . withdrawing all operable cannons and the garrison . The main reason the fort was abandoned was fresh water . The bodies of the Union troops ( 54th Massachusetts and many white troops ) were buried close to the fort and the decomposition of the bodies poisoned the fresh water well within the fort . Continuing bombardment and interception of food / water supplies by boat from Charleston made holding the fort difficult . When the fort was abandoned in September 1863 , the CSA forces left behind a large amount of gunpowder in the bomb proof . Two drunken Union soldiers were exploring the bomb proofs and set off the gunpowder , killing and injuring another 300 Union Soldiers stationed within the fort . Within twenty years of the Civil War , the remnants of the fort had been washed away from erosion on Morris Island . A group of three servicemen traveled to the fort in May 1885 and reported that the entire fort and approaches to it had washed into the ocean . 54th Massachusetts . The most famous regiment that fought for the Union in the battle of Fort Wagner was the 54th regiment , which was one of the first African - American regiments in the war . The 54th was controversial in the North , where many people supported the abolition of slavery , but still treated African - Americans as lesser or inferior to whites , and would do so well past World War II . Though some claimed blacks could not fight as well as whites , the actions of the 54th Massachusetts demonstrated once again the fallacy in that argument , as this was not the first time blacks ever fought in war or even for the United States . Many blacks had fought in the American Revolution on both sides and again in the War of 1812 , as well as in over 250 slave revolts in the United States alone . William Carney , an African - American and a sergeant with the 54th , is considered the first black recipient of the Medal of Honor for his actions at Fort Wagner in recovering and returning the unit ' s U . S . Flag to Union lines . After the battle , the Southern soldiers buried the regiment ' s commanding officer , Robert Gould Shaw , in a mass grave with the African - American soldiers of his regiment , viewing this as an insult to him . Instead , his family thanked the Southern soldiers for burying Shaw with his men . That site is no longer visible ; the land has eroded into Charleston harbor , and the remains of Colonel Shaw and his men have been washed out to sea by Atlantic hurricanes . Depictions in popular culture . This fort played a major part in the film " Glory " . One of the final scenes portrays Colonel Shaw and the men of the 54th Massachusetts storming the fort unsuccessfully .