Siege of Charleston, South Carolina. After capturing Morris Island, the Union troops opened fire on Fort Wagner, opposite Fort Sumter. They then attacked. Leading the charge was the 54th Massachusetts Regiment, composed entirely of black soldiers except for the officers, led by the young Colonel Shaw, a staunch advocate of slave emancipation. He even climbed onto the fort’s battlements, only to fall dead. Another attempt failed. It cost the Unionists 1,126 killed and wounded and 389 prisoners. The Union suffered 36 killed and 133 wounded.
