Second Battle of Fort Wagner

Second Battle of Fort Wagner (Second Assault on Morris Island)
Part of the American Civil War
Assault on Fort Wagner, Charleston Harbour, on the night of July 18
Date July 18, 1863 Location Morris Island, South Carolina 32°43′48″N 79°52′16″W / 32.73000°N 79.87111°W / 32.73000; -79.87111 Result Confederate victory[1]
Belligerents
United States (Union)	C.S. (Confederacy)
Commanders and leaders
Quincy A. Gillmore Truman Seymour John A. Dahlgren Robert Gould Shaw † George C. Strong †	P.G.T. Beauregard William B. Taliaferro Johnson Hagood
Units involved
See Union Order of Battle	See Confederate Order of Battle
Strength
5,000 troops 6 Ironclads	1,800 troops
Casualties and losses
1,515 total (246 killed; 880 wounded; 389 missing/captured)[2]	174 total (36 killed; 133 wounded; 5 missing/captured)[2]

The Second Battle of Fort Wagner, also known as the Second Assault on Morris Island or the Battle of Fort Wagner, Morris Island, was fought on July 18, 1863, during the American Civil War. Union Army troops commanded by Brig. Gen. Quincy Gillmore launched an unsuccessful assault on the Confederate fortress of Fort Wagner, which protected Morris Island, south of Charleston Harbor. The battle came one week after the First Battle of Fort Wagner. Although a Confederate victory, the valor of the Black Union soldiers in the battle was hailed, which had long-term strategic benefits in encouraging more African-Americans to enlist allowing the Union to employ a manpower resource that the Confederacy could not emulate for the remainder of the war.