One of the best engineer officers in the service was General Quincy A. Gillmore, who had captured Fort Pulaski at Savannah the previous year. He was summoned to Washington, and helped the government to arrange the plan of attack upon Charleston. The most feasible course seemed to be for a military force to seize Morris Island and bombard Fort Sumter from that point, the fleet under Dahlgren giving help. There was hope that the monitors and ironclads would be able to force their way past the batteries and approach nigh enough to strike Charleston.
Accordingly, a sufficient detachment was gathered on Folly Island, which lies south of Morris Island, and batteries were erected among the woods. On the 10th of July, General Strong with 2,000 men attacked a force of South Carolina infantry at the southern part of Morris Island, and drove them to Fort Wagner at the opposite end. The Confederates were reinforced, and, in the attack on Fort Wagner, the Federals were repulsed and obliged to retreat, with heavy loss.
On the night of the 18th, in the midst of a violent thunderstorm, a determined assault was made upon Fort Wagner, one of the newly formed negro regiments being in the lead. The fighting was of the most furious character, but the Federals suffered a decisive defeat, in which their losses were five times as great as those of the defenders.
General Gillmore carried parallels against the fort, and the ironclads assisted in the bombardments; but, though it continued for weeks, the city of Charleston seemed to be as far from surrender as ever. A part of the time the weather was so intolerably hot that operations were suspended.
Gillmore, however, was so near Charleston that he was able to reach it with his heaviest guns, and he prepared to do so. His principal piece was a Parrott, which threw a 100-pound ball, and was christened the "Swamp Angel."
The first shot was fired at midnight, August 22d. As the screeching shell curved over and dropped into the sleeping city, with its frightful explosion, it caused consternation. The people sprang from their beds and rushed into the streets, many fleeing to the country. Beauregard sent an indignant remonstrance, telling Gillmore that all civilized nations, before bombarding a city, gave warning that the non-combatants might be removed. Gillmore explained his reason for his course, and agreed to wait until the following night before renewing the bombardment.
At that hour it was resumed, with the promise of grave results, but at the thirty-sixth discharge the Swamp Angel exploded, and thus terminated its own career. General Gillmore continued to push his parallels against Fort Wagner. Although the ironclads could not pass the obstructions to the inner harbor so as to help, Gillmore persevered, and finally rendered Forts Wagner and Gregg untenable. The evacuation occurred on the night of September 6th. As soon as the Federals took possession, they had to make all haste to repair the ramparts to protect themselves against the fire from Fort Moultrie and James Island, whose guns were immediately turned upon them.
By this time, Fort Sumter was in ruins, its artillery could not be served, and its garrison comprised only a detachment of infantry. Upon being summoned to surrender by Dahlgren, the commander invited the admiral to come and take the fort. The effort to do so was made by a military force and the ironclads on the 9th of September, but failed. No more important attempts followed. The result had shown that the defenses of Charleston were practically impregnable, and, though shells were occasionally sent into the forts and city, the latter was not captured until near the end of the war, and then it was brought about, as may be said, by the collapse of the Confederacy itself.
When the war began the Southerners were the superiors of the Northerners as regarded their cavalry. Horseback riding is more common in the South than in the North, but it did not take the Union volunteers long to acquire the art, and, as the war progressed, the cavalry arm was greatly increased and strengthened. One of the natural results of this was numerous raids by both sides, some of which assumed an importance that produced a marked effect on the military campaigns in progress, while in other cases, the daring excursions were simply an outlet to the adventurous spirit which is natural to Americans and which manifests itself upon every opportunity and occasion.
ONE OF GENERAL STUART'S RAIDS.