After the battle, in his general orders of congratulation, General Lee recommended that the troops "unite on Sunday next, in ascribing to the Lord of Hosts the glory due unto His name," and quoted the following letter from President Davis:
General Lee: I have received your dispatch, and reverently unite with you in giving praise to God for the success with which He has crowned our arms. In the name of the people I offer my thanks to you and the troops under your command for this addition to the unprecedented series of great victories, which your army has achieved. The universal rejoicing produced by this happy result, will be mingled with general regret for the good and brave who are numbered among the killed and wounded.
CHAPTER XIII.
OPERATIONS IN SOUTH CAROLINA—OPENING OF GILLMORE'S CAMPAIGN AGAINST FORT SUMTER—THE SURPRISE OF MORRIS ISLAND—FIRST ASSAULT ON BATTERY WAGNER—DEMONSTRATIONS ON JAMES ISLAND AND AGAINST THE RAILROAD—ACTION NEAR GRIMBALL'S LANDING.
The attempt of Admiral Du Pont and Major-General Hunter to reduce and capture the outer defenses of Charleston on April 7, 1863, having been signally repulsed, and the ironclad squadron badly crippled, both of those officers were relieved, and the energies and resources of the Federal government concentrated upon the capture of Morris island. Brig.-Gen. Q. A. Gillmore took command in place of General Hunter, and Rear-Admiral J. A. Dahlgren supplanted Du Pont. General Gillmore had confidently expressed his ability to reduce Fort Sumter from Morris island, and was an officer of recognized energy and skill. After the defeat of April 7th, it was well known in Washington that Admiral Du Pont had lost faith in the fighting qualities of his iron fleet, and General Hunter, in communicating with the government at Washington, had several times complained of "the inactivity of the admiral." The failure of the general himself to do more than organize raiding parties, which pillaged plantations, burned planters' residences, mills and barns, and were invariably driven back to the ubiquitous gunboat protection, must have impressed his superiors unfavorably. General Hunter complained of his removal from command as a reflection upon his military conduct, but Mr. Lincoln assured him that he was held in high esteem, that no reflection upon him was meant, and that other and controlling reasons had determined the appointment of Gillmore.
On quitting the Stono, after the repulse of the ironclads on April 7th, General Hunter had left a brigade, under Brigadier-General Vogdes, on Folly island, with light artillery and some cavalry. This brigade had orders to conceal its encampments among the sand-hills, and in the dense woods and behind the growth of the island, and so effectually carried out the directions, that the force on Folly island baffled the attempts made to locate it or determine its strength. The island was unassailable by the Confederate forces on James island, and there were no troops in the department to spare for an attack from Morris island, across Lighthouse inlet. General Vogdes was known to be on Folly island with some force, but what he was doing, or what he was there to do, was a matter of frequent discussion, and was certainly never determined until Gillmore developed his force on Stono inlet, when Morris island, Battery Wagner and Fort Sumter were seen to be his objectives.
The department commanded by General Beauregard had been stripped almost bare to reinforce other points. Against this depletion of his infantry, General Beauregard, the governor of the State, the mayor of Charleston, and numerous prominent citizens had remonstrated, but the reply of the secretary of war was both inevitable and unanswerable: "It cannot be helped, however much it is deplored."
Gillmore's force of all arms amounted to 10,950, supplied with field batteries and siege guns of the highest capacity, supported in the Stono and on its left flank by a flotilla of gunboats, and on the right by the admiral's armored fleet. For the immediate defense of the city, General Beauregard had in position, on the islands and in the forts and batteries, a total of 5,841 men: On Morris island 927, on James island 2,906, on Sullivan's island 1,158, and in the city 850.