Existing comment:
Somewhere out there on Morris Island would have Battery Wagner. Morris Island was a required step on the path toward taking Fort Sumter so Union forces had to seize it. As a sign says:
On July 18, 1863, a direct assault failed against Fort Wagner. a Confederate stronghold near Morris Island's north end. [This was the charge made famous by the 54th Massachusetts Infantry, a black regiment under Robert Shaw, which is depicted in the film "Glory."] The Union then changed tactics, subjecting Fort Wagner to a two-month siege. The Confederates finally evacuated, abandoning Morris Island on September 6, 1863. Union gunners then aimed powerful rifled cannon at Fort Sumter. In the next two years, bombardments reduced most of Sumter to rubble.
In 1863-64, Confederates still held most of the strategic positions around Charleston Harbor. The Union Navy failed to take Fort Sumter by sea, and in June, 1862, the Army failed against Secessionville, south of Charleston. Controlling Morris Island in 1863 enabled the Union to bombard Fort Sumter and Charleston. |