Rebellion Record: a Diary of American Events: Documents and Narratives, Volume 10.
Frank Moore, Ed.

At about seven o'clock on the morning of the eleventh, the enemy's land batteries and monitors opened heavily on Battery Wagner, but the monitors soon withdrew. The fire from the land batteries was, however, kept up with more or less spirit during the day, and replied to by Fort Sumter, Batteries Simkins and Gregg. The damage to our works was slight.

During the night of the eleventh the relief of the garrison by fresh troops was accomplished, with the assistance of the boats of the navy. So soon as it had been finished, Colonel Harrison opened fire upon the enemy's working parties nearest Battery Wagner, interfering with and putting a stop for the time to their progress.

Fort Sumter and Battery Simkins also kept up a steady fire on the approaches. The enemy replied from his land batteries, Parrotts, and mortars, doing some damage to the bomb-proofs, but without inflicting any casualty on our side.

On the morning of the twelfth, the enemy opened with two-hundred-pound Parrott shot and shell upon Fort Sumter from his batteries near the foot of Craig's Hill, on Morris Island, a distance of about five thousand yards. Wherever the shot struck light masonry it did serious damage. The heavy masonry of concrete and the revetments of sand were not materially damaged. The fort was struck seventeen times. The transport steamer Hibben, lying at the wharf of Fort Sumter, was shot through her boiler, scalding and injuring nine negro hands on board.

The enemy was observed from Battery Wagner building a work at their extreme left. Colonel Rhett, commanding Fort Sumter; Captain Mitchell, commanding Battery Simkins, and Captain Lesesne, commanding Battery Gregg, directed their fire upon his parties, which were dispersed and the work stopped.

At dark Battery Wagner opened on the enemy's works immediately in its front with eight guns, and kept a steady fire, at intervals, throughout the night. Sumter and Simkins also kept up a steady fire, and no progress in advance was made by the enemy. His rearmost batteries, however, were in progress, and a continued reply was kept to the fire of Battery Wagner, with shots at Battery Gregg to interrupt communication.

The effect was to kill one and wound four of the garrison at Battery Wagner, and I regret to add that of the latter Captain J. C. Gray, of Lucas's battalion of artillery, a gallant and accomplished young officer of high promise, was mortally injured. He has since died.

On the thirteenth the enemy several times undertook to repair the damage to their advance, but were repulsed by a fire skilfully directed against them from Battery Wagner. Finding that it was difficult to proceed with his approaches, he fell back to his rear batteries, and with his naval force opened fire on Battery Wagner and Battery Gregg. Fort Sumter and Battery Simkins replied, and the sharpshooters at Battery Wagner kept those of the enemy quiet during the day.

One man was mortally wounded at Battery Gregg. During the afternoon, the heavy Parrott guns of the enemy opened on Fort Sumter, of which several struck the gorge wall and the reinforce to the western magazine, injuring the brick work to a considerable extent, but not sufficiently to cause any serious apprehension of a speedy penetration of the defences on that side. One falling in the interior of the work injured temporarily a mortar platform.

The Twelfth Georgia battalion was relieved from Morris Island during the night, bringing the garrison to about the strength of eleven hundred, as ordered by the commanding General.

During the fourteenth the enemy remained remarkably quiet, firing only occasionally, replied to by our batteries. At night Fort Sumter was struck five times by land batteries, and once from a gunboat, with slight damage. Battery Wagner, opened fire, first at intervals, to which the enemy replied with all the guns he could bring to bear. Our guns were allowed to remain quiet for a time, to permit him to bring up his working parties, when they were reopened with vigor, putting a stop to his operations, and, from the report of our advanced pickets, it is believed that serious loss was inflicted upon him. His operations against other points consisted only in occasional shots, which were replied to from our batteries.

On the fifteeth the enemy fired occasionally at Battery Wagner, and was at work principally on his long range batteries at the southern part of Morris Island. A few shots were directed at Fort Sumter during the evening. Colonel L. M. Keitt, of the Twentieth South Carolina regiment, relieved Colonel Harrison in command of the troops on Morris Island. The Twentieth South Carolina volunteers relieved the Fifty-first North Carolina at Battery Wagner. A brisk artillery action was kept up between our batties on Morris Island and those of the enemy, and one of the monitors threw several shells at the transport steamer Sumter. Battery Simkins and Fort Sumter kept up a fire upon the enemy's approaches.

During the night of the fifteenth the enemy kept up a vigorous fire, both vertical and direct, on Battery Wagner and Battery Gregg, until about half-past 4 o'clock on the sixteenth, when it ceased. It was replied to by Sumter, Gregg, and Simkins at intervals. From Battery Wagner the fire was continuous and slow until about two o'clock in the morning, when a general discharge took place along the whole front, causing interruption to the advancing works of the enemy. The enemy's batteries were universally quiet during the sixteenth, so far as Wagner and Gregg were concerned; but during the afternoon he opened on Fort Sumter, apparently to get the range, firing forty-eight shots, of which four passed over, four or five fell short, ten struck inside, and the remainder outside the