City: Charleston, SC

Category: Tours & Attractions

Description: Of all the forts and battlegrounds that dot the Lowcountry landscape and pay quiet tribute to the area’s military history, perhaps the most muted one is Battery Wagner on Morris Island. The story is a brief one in the long struggle of the Civil War, but it is a significant one that is especially poignant today. In 1989, the story of Battery Wagner was portrayed in the acclaimed film Glory, which starred Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington, and Morgan Freeman. Time and tides have long since removed all traces of Battery Wagner. Today, Morris Island is vacant and uninhabited. It is hoped that one day Morris Island will become a National Historic Landmark and interpreted for visitors as the battleground and graveyard it is. Although a monument at Battery Wagner is planned, the site remains remarkably overlooked by the public for now. But whatever its future may hold, the story of Morris Island will always include the story of Battery Wagner and the 54th Massachusetts Regiment. Because Charleston was the “cradle of Secession,” it was a primary target for the Union’s high command. On June 16, 1862, the Union forces’ first attempt to capture the city failed at the Battle of Secessionville on James Island. Union commanders decided to mount a two-pronged attack using both land and naval forces. There were two possible lines of approach to the city: through Sullivan’s Island, which was heavily defended, or through Morris Island, which was more lightly guarded. On Morris Island, the main defense was Battery Wagner, a quickly built fortification with thick sand walls and more than a dozen cannons. Choosing the Morris Island approach, Union forces landed on July 10, 1863, and opened fire the following day with little success. A week later, they tried again. Even after a 10-hour artillery bombardment, Battery Wagner stood firm. At dusk on July 18, the Union infantry advanced up the beach toward heavily defended Battery Wagner. Spearheading the attack was the 54th Massachusetts Regiment under the leadership of Col. Robert G. Shaw, the 25-year-old son of a wealthy Boston abolitionist. The regiment under Shaw’s command was made up entirely of free blacks from the North. It was one of the 167 black units that fought against the Confederacy in the Civil War. The bloody, hand-to-hand struggle at Battery Wagner saw 272 men from the 54th (more than 40 percent of the unit) fall dead, and 1,500 Union forces were lost, including Col. Shaw. The valor and courage displayed in the battle proved once and for all to Northern and Southern leaders that black soldiers could and would fight. The story of the 54th was widely publicized at the time, and as a result, the Union Army began to enlist blacks in growing numbers. By 1865, a total of 178,895 black soldiers had enlisted, which constituted 12 percent of the North’s fighting forces. The fight for Battery Wagner continued for 10 more weeks until the Confederates finally abandoned the work on September 6. The 54th continued to serve along the southeast coast for the remainder of the war. It was mustered out of service in Mount Pleasant on August 20, 1865.