Fort Wagner | July 18, 1863

American Battlefield Trust’s map of the Assault on Fort Wagner, South Carolina on July 18, 1863

After the July 11 assault on Fort Wagner failed, Union General Quincy A. Gillmore reinforced his beachhead on Morris Island. At dusk on July 18, Gillmore launched an attack spearheaded by the 54th Massachusetts Infantry, a black regiment. The unit’s colonel, Robert Gould Shaw, was killed. Members of the brigade scaled the parapet but after brutal hand-to-hand combat were driven out with heavy casualties. The Federals resorted to siege operations to reduce the fort. This was the fourth time in the war that black troops played a crucial combat role, proving to skeptics that they would fight bravely if only given the chance. 

Learn More: Assault on Fort Wagner