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Chapter 7: bombardment of Charleston.
Morris Island was ours; but no sooner had the enemy evacuated than
Wagner,
Gregg, and the intervening ground were daily subjected to a fire from the
James and Sullivan's Island batteries.
A heavy action on land and water occurred on the morning of September 8, occasioned by the grounding of the monitor
Weehawken; and in the course of the day a magazine blew up in
Moultrie, and the village of Moultrieville was set on fire by our shells.
Admiral Dahlgren having demanded the surrender of
Sumter, which was refused, a night assault was determined upon jointly by the army and navy; but differences arose regarding the command.
When the time came,
Gillmore's force was detained in shallow waters by the tide.
Commander T. H. Stevens, with eighteen officers and some four hundred sailors and marines, embarked in thirty boats for the enterprise.
The leaders landed at
Sumter after midnight on the 9th.
Major Elliott was prepared for and received the assault with musketry and fragments of the epaulment.
In a few minutes all was over, for the brave leaders, finding it impossible to scale the walls, were made prisoners.
Our loss was ten officers and one hundred and four men captured and three men killed.
As
Forts Wagner and Gregg were ordered to be turned for offensive purposes, a covered way between these two
