July 18, the attack on Fort Wagner commenced at about 10 A.M., and a steady fire from our batteries and the ironclads was kept up until evening. The following is the account of the assault, written by J.A. Barrett, who was second lieutenant of Company H:—
"We lay on our arms all day, and just before dark were formed in column by companies, and advanced under a galling fire up the beach. It was a trying hour, our ranks thinning at every step. For much of the way the right of our column was obliged to wade in the water. On our left another column composed of the 54th Massachusetts colored regiment, under Colonel Shaw, also advanced on the fort. We waded the moat and scaled the parapet. Our loss was terrible, sometimes whole companies being mowed down at once. We jumped over the parapet into one bastion where there were two guns, but the firing was so hot that we were unable to turn them to any use. Darkness was upon us, and we could see nothing. The supporting columns coming up in our rear, poured in a heavy fire, mistaking us for the rebels. Our killed and wounded kept piling up. A rebel officer for some purpose came among our men, and was seized by a private of the 48th, who called to Colonel Barton that he had a prisoner. To which the colonel replied: 'Take him to the rear.' 'But he won't come,' said the private, who was nicknamed 'Plucky.' 'If he wont yield, then bayonet him,' was the order; when a wounded man dragged himself up, and, with all his remaining strength, plunged his bayonet into the side of the rebel officer, and, falling back, expired. A retreat was ordered, but was not altogether understood, and some fifty of our men remained and continued firing. I was severely wounded in the thigh, but roused myself, and directed the fire of these few men as best I could, collecting ammunition from the dead and wounded. When this gave out, I ordered all who could to go to the rear. This section of the fort was literally full of dead and wounded, piled up even with the parapet. I crossed over their bodies, slid down the slope and crossed the moat, which was full of our dead. A rebel sentry was pacing up and down the beach, but by keeping near the bank I was able to pass him. My scabbard was shot away, my pistol bent and useless, and, leaning on my sword, I hobbled down the beach to camp. The 48th went into this assault with five hundred men and sixteen officers, and three hundred men and fourteen officers were killed, wounded, or prisoners."
FORT WAGNER AT POINT OF ASSAULT.
While this brief account is valuable, as the statement of a cool, self-possessed, and brave officer, who participated in the assault, and was an eye-witness to what he states, no words can adequately describe the horrors of that night. Sufficient time had elapsed, since the occupation of the island by our troops, to allow of a complete and careful preparation for the assault, which the enemy had reason to expect. A large re-enforcement was added to the garrison, and the men were most carefully drilled in the minutest details, to provide against every possible emergency. The heavy bombardment which preceded the assault, while it seemed as if it would tear the fort from its foundation, had really no serious effect in weakening it; and as soon as it ceased, the men were withdrawn from the bomb-proofs, where they had been completely protected, and assigned to their positions, and, when our troops made the assault, were as ready to receive them as if not a cannon had been fired. On our part, there seemed to be a want of accurate information, and of carefully matured plan, which resulted in confusion of action; while on their part, there was the most intelligent and thorough preparation possible, and most perfect concert of action between all those assigned to special duties in the defence. The result was inevitable, and the carnage terrible. The responsibility of the assault was generally ascribed to General Seymour, and, as subsequent events clearly proved, it was a useless sacrifice of life. General Gilmore continued to plant batteries, by which we not only reached the forts in the vicinity, but, with the famous Swamp Angel guns, threw shot and shell a distance of five miles into the city of Charleston. These batteries, and the mine which he constructed, which destroyed one whole force of Wagner, compelled its evacuation on the night of September 6.
FORT WAGNER, SEA FRONT.