On the night of September 6–7, 1863, during the American Civil War, Confederate forces quietly evacuated Fort Wagner and Battery Gregg on Morris Island, South Carolina. Pressed by advancing Union siege works and nearly two months of relentless artillery fire from Federal land batteries and naval vessels, the Confederate garrison withdrew by boat across Charleston Harbor under cover of darkness. Union troops occupied the abandoned fortifications the following day, bringing all of Morris Island under Federal control.
The evacuation ended a brutal summer campaign that had included the famous July 18 assault on Fort Wagner by the 54th Massachusetts Infantry and other Union regiments. That attack failed with heavy losses, after which Union forces turned to siege operations rather than another major frontal assault.
Although the Confederates surrendered Morris Island, they preserved most of the garrison by withdrawing before an expected Union attack. Federal control of the island gave Union forces a forward position from which to intensify operations against Charleston Harbor’s defenses, including Fort Sumter—but it did not immediately capture Charleston or end Confederate control of the city.
Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
