Editing Fort Wagner (section)

==History==
{{Original research|section|date=January 2022}}
[[File:Fort Wagner.png|thumb|Model of Fort Wagner]]
[[File:FortWagnerA.jpg|thumb|Plan of Fort Wagner, with overlay showing armament]]
The [[First Battle of Fort Wagner]], occurred on July 11, 1863. Only 12 Confederate soldiers were killed, as opposed to 339 losses for the U.S. side.<ref name=54th/>

The [[Second Battle of Fort Wagner]], a week later, is better known. It was the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] attack on July 18, 1863, led by the [[54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry]], one of the first major American military units made up of black soldiers. Colonel [[Robert Gould Shaw]] led the 54th Massachusetts on foot while they charged, and was killed in the assault.<ref name=54th/>

Although a tactical defeat, the publicity of the battle of Fort Wagner led to further action for black U.S. troops in the Civil War, and it spurred additional recruitment that gave the [[Union Army]] a further numerical advantage in troops over the South.<ref name=54th/>

Union forces besieged the fort after the unsuccessful assault. By August 25, Union entrenchments were close enough to attempt an assault on the Advanced Rifle Pits, 240 yards in front of the Battery, but the attempt was defeated. A second attempt, by the 24th Massachusetts Infantry, on August 26 was successful. After enduring almost 60 days of heavy U.S. shelling, the Confederates abandoned it on the night of September 6–7, 1863, withdrawing all operable cannons and the garrison.<ref name=54th/><ref name="N&S">Twiggs, T. D. D., Hon. Lieut. Col. (CSA, retired, deceased), "The Defense of Battery Wagner", ''[[North & South – The Official Magazine of the Civil War Society]]'', Issue 4, p. 46.</ref> 

The main reason the fort was abandoned was a concern about the loss of the garrison due to artillery fire and the threat of imminent assault.  On September 6, the garrison commander, Colonel Keitt, wrote to his superiors, <blockquote>"The garrison must be taken away immediately after dark, or it will be destroyed or captured. It is idle to deny that the heavy Parrott shells have breached the walls and are knocking away the bomb-proofs. Pray have boats immediately after dark at Cummings Point to take away the men. I say deliberately that this must be done or the garrison will be sacrificed. I am sending the wounded and sick now to Cummings Point, and will continue to do so, if possible, until all are gone. I have a number of them now there. I have not in the garrison 400 effective men, including artillery. The engineers agree in opinion with me, or, rather, shape my opinion. I shall say no more."</blockquote>A council of war in Charleston on the 4th had already reached the same conclusion, and the evacuation was carried out as planned.<ref>[http://ebooks.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=moawar;cc=moawar;q1=evacuated;rgn=full%20text;idno=waro0046;didno=waro0046;view=image;seq=120;page=root;size=100 "The War of the Rebellion"], Series I, Volume 28, part I, pp. 100–105. See also {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160802043628/http://civilwardailygazette.com/confederates-abandon-battery-wagner/|title=Confederates Abandon Battery Wagner|date=August 2, 2016}}.</ref>

The fall of Battery Wagner had considerable strategic significance. With its loss and that of Fort Gregg, Morris Island fell to the US. Although Charleston remained in the hands of the rebels its port was effectively closed.  At the end of the year, Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles could report that "the commerce of Charleston has ceased."<ref>''The New York Times'' December 10, 1863, [https://www.nytimes.com/1863/12/10/news/navy-department-report-secretary-welles-north-atlantic-squadron-south-atlantic.html?pagewanted=all "Report of Secretary Welles"]</ref>  The impact also showed directly in rebel customs receipts, which fell drastically from 1863 to 1864.<ref>''Confederate Finance'', Richard Cecil Todd, University of Georgia Press, 1954, p. 125{{ISBN?}}</ref>  The labors and sacrifices of the US forces during the storms and siege had in the end shut down a vital lifeline to the rebellion.