D. H. Hill, Jr., Confederate Military History, a library of Confederate States Military History: Volume 4, North Carolina
Clement Anselm Evans, Ed.

[203] the battle—was captured. General Taliaferro makes this favorable report of the Fifty-first regiment: ‘Colonel McKethan's regiment, the Fifty-first North Carolina troops, redeemed the reputation of the Thirty-first. They gallantly sought their position, under a heavy shelling, and maintained it during the action. Colonel McKethan, Lieutenant-Colonel Hobson and Major McDonald are the field officers of this regiment and deserve special mention.’ The Confederate loss in this battle was only 18; the Federal, 1,515.¹

The two direct assaults upon Wagner having failed, the Federals determined to besiege it by regular approaches. Heavy Parrott guns and mortars were called into service, and from the 18th of July to the 6th of September, when it was evacuated, the troops serving in the fort had arduous duties. Ludgwig, in his Regimental History of the Eighth regiment describes the routine of duty there: ‘The nature of the service on Morris island was such as to render it necessary for the regiments composing the army on that side of Charleston to perform duty there alternately. While on the island the men were exposed at all times to the enemy's fire, both from land and sea. An attack had to be prepared for at any instant, day or night. It was no place for rest. The battery, frequently shelled, had to be repaired. The enemy's ever active sharpshooters had to be watched. To expose one's self to view meant to be shot at with attending consequences. The men had to keep under cover of the battery or in sandpits near by. Under such circumstances it was necessary to relieve the men once about every seven or eight days. . . There was no place for cooking. All the rations had to be prepared and carried there. . . It was a veritable target practice between the sharpshooters every day, and any careless or reckless exposure meant work for the ambulance corps.’ All of General Clingman's regiments took their regular tours of duty at Wagner.