morning of July 18 until July 19, and did good service by keeping the enemy's cannoneers from their guns. Second Lieut. Rudolph Kost, Company H, with the second platoon of his company, defended his position on the parapet until compelled to surrender for want of ammunition. Capt. Frederick B. Osborn, Company K, at one time rescued the State colors from the hands of a rebel and brought them from the field. Color-Bearer Sergt. Gustave De Bonge, Company C, while carrying the regimental State colors on the parapet, was shot through the forehead and instantly killed. Lance Corpls. Luzerne Baldwin and Albert M. Scott, Company E, distinguished themselves by their coolness and bravery in supporting the colors and by encouraging the men to keep in position and order. Private William Milner, Company F, was killed while carrying the colors on the parapet, after the colorbearer (De Bonge) had been killed. Sergt. John P. Connell, Company G, was noticed for his courage and good conduct. Corpl. James Cummings, Company G, who was wounded in the leg, removed the tourniquet which had been placed upon it and applied it to another man who was more seriously wounded. Private Bernard Haffy, of the same company, deserves especial mention. When he saw his colonel (Chatfield) lie down wounded, he placed himself by his side to protect him from the fire of the enemy. Special credit is due Sergt. Christian Handel, Company H, for bringing wounded men from the front of the fort after the order to retire had been given. Many others besides those mentioned are undoubtedly as worthy of notice, but their special acts were not noticed by those officers now in the regiment who were present at the assault. No act of cowardice or want of courage was noticed in either officers or men during the engagement. I am, general, very respectfully, your obedient servant, Brig. Gen. T. SEYMOUR, Morris Island, S. C. [28.] Report of Capt. Sylvester H. Gray, Seventh Connecticut Infantry, of second assault on Battery Wagner, July 18. HDQRS. SEVENTH REGIMENT CONNECTICUT VOLUNTEERS, Saint Helena Island, S. C., November 24, 1863. GENERAL: I have the honor to report the part taken by the battalion, Seventh Regiment Connecticut Volunteers, in the engagement with the enemy on Morris Island, S. C., on the 18th of July, 1863: Thirty men, under command of Capt. S. H. Gray, served a battery near Battery Hays containing two 30-pounder Parrott rifles. The balance of the command was doing provost guard duty. I cannot too highly compliment Sergeant Young, I Company, and Corporal Brown, Company K, for the gallant and effective manner which each served his piece. Respectfully, your obedient servant, SYLVESTER H. GRAY, Captain, Seventh Connecticut Volunteers, Comdg. Battalion. Brigadier-General SEYMOUR. Report of Col. Sabine Emery, Ninth Maine Infantry, of second assault on Battery Wagner, July 18. HEADQUARTERS NINTH MAINE VOLUNTEERS, Black Island, S. C., November 9, 1863. GENERAL: I have the honor to report that in the assault on Fort Wagner, July 18, my regiment formed the center of a line of columns by company, the Sixth Connecticut on my right, the Third New Hampshire on the left. The Fifty-fourth Massachusetts was immediately în front, advancing in two lines. I was ordered to carry the center of the fort. The regiment advanced under a very heavy fire of artillery and infantry, and when within a few rods of the ditch received a serious check from a part of the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts, which had already been repulsed, striking the head of the column, during which several destructive discharges of grape and canister were received. Untangling the head of the column, I again advanced and attempted to gain the fort, but the fire was very destructive; the right companies were badly cut up; Captain Brooks and Lieutenant Goodwin, of the first company, and Lieutenant Emerson in command of the second company, were wounded, and Captain Shaw, of the third, killed. It had become dark, so that it was scarcely possible to distinguish whether the men coming from the fort were our own or those of the enemy. Under these circumstances the head of the column gave way, and the regiment retired in some confusion. I now learn that it was reformed soon after by the senior officer remaining unhurt, Capt. S. D. Baker, and returned to the field. I have to speak of the gallantry of Capt. Charles A. Brooks, whose company (A) had the head of the column, and of First Sergt. George S. Colbath, of the same company, who bravely led and cheered on his men after the fall of Captain Brooks and Lieutenant Goodwin; also of the courage and generosity of Sergt. David L. Tracy, Company C, who, after the regiment had retreated, remained on the glacis of the fort to assist a wounded comrade, and succeeded alone in bringing him within our intrenchments. All the officers and men, so far as I know, behaved with equal coolness and courage, and I only speak of these instances because they came under my personal observation. The regiment went into action with 354 men, and lost 117 in killed, wounded, and missing. I am, general, very respectfully, your obedient servant, Brig. Gen. T. SEYMOUR. [28.] Report of Col. George B. Dandy, One hundredth New York Infantry, of second assault on Battery Wagner, July 18. MORRIS ISLAND, S. C., November 4, 1863. SIR: I have the honor to submit the following report of the part my regiment took in the assault on Fort Wagner on the evening of July 18, 1863, and of the part taken by the brigade commanded by Colonel Putnam, Seventh New Hampshire Volunteers, on that occasion: The brigade was formed on the beach at about 10 a. m., and remained there until ordered forward to the assault at about 4 p.m. The following-named regiments composed the brigade and were in the order (right in front) hereafter named, viz: Seventh New Hampshire Volun teers, One hundredth New York Volunteers, Sixty-seventh Ohio, Sixtysecond Ohio. The total force of the brigade was about 1,700 men. The One hundredth Regiment, having three companies absent on other duty, numbered on that day 465 men. At about 150 yards south of the beacon-house the brigade, then in column of companies, was halted and the regiments deployed. While in this formation I lost three men by a solid shot from Fort Gregg. I endeavored at this time to obtain some information from Colonel Putnam of the plan of attack and of the manner in which the approach was to be made. Colonel Putnam informed me that he knew of no plan, and that we were to follow the leading brigade. Within half an hour after the brigade had been halted the Seventh New Hampshire Volunteers was ployed into column of companies and moved forward. I was about to do the same with my regiment, although I had received no orders, when Colonel Putnam directed me to remain where I was. Shortly after I received an order from Colonel Putnam, through Major Henderson, of the Seventh New Hampshire Volunteers, to move forward, and I gained the lost distance by taking the double-quick. We made one or more halts, and our loss from the fire of the enemy during these halts was very great; still while daylight lasted not a man from my regiment unless wounded left the ranks. I marched to the ditch of Fort Wagner in line of battle, my right on the beach, my left fronting the bastion next the marsh. At this time the marsh (which covers near Wagner two-thirds of the front of that work) was soft and full of water holes, and the approach in line was difficult. The ditch in front of my left was deep, miry, and filled with water, and that portion of my regiment fronting the curtain was subjected to a galling cross-fire, both of artillery and infantry, from the bastions which it connected. A few companies on the right of my regiment succeeded in crossing the ditch near the beach and mounted the parapet; the cen ter and left found it impossible to do so. I mounted that portion of the parapet in front of the bomb-proofs with a few of my men and was fired upon from the entrances of two bomb-proof galleries. It was then so dark that friends and foes could not be distinguished. In my opinion no man entered Fort Wagner that night except those who are now prisoners of war. Some 200 of our troops may have gained the parapet, but on account of the fire of the enemy in the bomb-proofs were obliged to seek safety by lying flat or crouching on the superior slope of the work. The only point where the ditch could be crossed by troops was the most defensible part of the work, as the top of the bomb-proofs formed a cavalier, from which the riflemen of the enemy could and did command the whole work. I could not determine from my position who were friends or foes, and descending from the slope I endeavored to collect men in the ditch for the purpose of assisting in the capture of one of the guns then firing heavily on our reserves. Shortly after Colonel Putnam was killed and the order came to leave the work. I lost 5 officers and 176 men in the assault. I do not think that from its commencement to its termination our forces at any time held any portion of the work, or without more information of its plan than we had on the occasion of the assault it could be taken at night. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, G. B. DANDY, Colonel One hundredth New York Volunteers. ASSISTANT ADJUTANT-GENERAL, Headquarters U. S. Forces, Morris Island, S. C. Report of Lieut. Col. Joseph C. Abbott, Seventh New Hampshire Infantry, of second assault on Battery Wagner, July 18.* HQDRS. SEVENTH NEW HAMPSHIRE VOLUNTEERS, Morris Island, S. C., November 6, 1863. GENERAL: I have the honor to submit the following report of the part taken by the Seventh New Hampshire Volunteers in the assault on Fort Wagner on the 18th of July, 1863: Col. H. S. Putnam, then the commander of the regiment, was on the 14th of July placed in command of the Second Brigade, Seymour's division, and consequently the command of the regiment devolved upon myself. Pursuant to orders the regiment formed upon the beach, near the signal station, at 9 a. m. of July 18, composing a part of Putnam's brigade and occupying its right. This position was retained during the entire day while the bombardment of Fort Wagner by the batteries and the fleet was in progress. At about an hour before sunset I received orders from Colonel Putnam to load and put the regiment into close column by division, which was at once done. A few moments after, by order of Colonel Putnam, I caused the muskets to be uncapped. Colonel Putnam then rode to the signal station, where he held a short consultation with General Gillmore, and on returning, by his order, the brigade advanced. Moving up the beach in the order above mentioned to within about 150 yards of the beacon-house, we were deployed into line so that the brigade was in column by battalion. It was now that we began to receive the fire of the enemy's artillery. In this order we advanced until we arrived near where our batteries then were (first parallel) when we massed, in order to pass them upon the beach, and having advanced to a point a little beyond where was afterward established our second parallel, we were again deployed into line. At this time the fire of the enemy was very severe and we were ordered to lie down to avoid it. Soon, however, the order was given to advance, and we moved on the enemy's works. While lying down, and immediately after we rose to advance, we met the stragglers of the First Brigade retreating. The numbers were such as led me to suppose that a retreat had been ordered. In advancing from the point where we laid down the left of my line was, obstructed by the marsh and broken, but the companies thus thrown from their position came up promptly by obliquing to the right. The center of the line reached the works nearly opposite the southeastern bastion, while the right and left wings, respectively, were opposite the eastern and southern faces of the works, but on account of the depth of the ditch and the water the least difficult place to cross was near the angles, and hence the left wing moved in that direction. The moat and the approach to the bastion were swept by the enfilading fire of howitzers, besides being under the fire of infantry from behind the parapets on the western and eastern faces, and hence here was our heaviest loss. In the face of this deadly fire the attempt was made to cross the moat and mount the parapet, the men being gallantly led or urged on by their officers, but in a brief time the other regiments of the brigade came up, all were mingled together, the regi ments pressing upon and mingling with each other, and, as in the darkness one man could hardly be distinguished from another, all action as a regiment ceased. The conduct of both officers and men during this advance, which was protracted under the deadly fire by the deployment and the halt, was most commendable. It is nearly impossible among those who fell or among those who survived to mention in this report any considerable number of the instances of good conduct. Capt. Augustus W. Rollins, Adjt. Henry G. Webber, and First Lieut. William C. Knowlton were among the first to enter the works and among the last to leave them, and behaved throughout with coolness and courage. Six officers of the regiment fell before reaching the moat, two of whom were mortally wounded and one of whom has since died of his wounds, and seven officers, including Colonel Putnam, were killed within the fort or in the moat. Four first sergeants were killed and two wounded (one mortally so) in the advance on the works. In killed my loss in the charge was 76 officers and men, and my report of casualties the next morning in killed, wounded, and missing was 18 officers and 200 men. The regiment went into action with 25 officers and 480 men. Before the works were finally abandoned, having collected as many as possible of the regiment near the fraisé above our batteries, I was again advancing when the order was given to return to camp, which was done in good order. I am, general, very respectfully, your obedient servant, JOSEPH C. ABBOTT, Lieutenant-Colonel Seventh New Hampshire Volunteers, Comdg. Brig. Gen. T. SEYMOUR, Commanding U. S. Forces, Morris Island, S. C. [28.] Report of Capt. John S. Littell, Seventy-sixth Pennsylvania Infantry, of second assault on Battery Wagner, July 18. HDQRS. SEVENTY-SIXTH PENNSYLVANIA VOLUNTEERS, Hilton Head, S. C., November 10, 1863. GENERAL: In compliance with request I have the honor to make the following report of the part taken by the Seventy-sixth Pennsylvania Volunteers in the assault upon Fort Wagner on the 18th day of July, 1863: On the evening of the 17th of July the regiment was ordered to the front. We remained there under a heavy fire, with the loss of one officer (a lieutenant) killed, until the evening of the 18th, when, by order of Brigadier-General Strong, we participated in the assault, being the fourth regiment in line. When the order was given to charge some of the regiments in front made but little advance. In breaking and falling back they broke through my line, but we continued to advance until reaching the top of the glacis, and many had reached the moat when General Strong directed his brigade to fall back and reform, as some of the regiments were badly broken up and scattered. My regiment fell back in good order and were not again ordered forward, as some other brigade had taken our place. My loss was 24 out of some 140 engaged. The conduct of the entire regiment engaged was exceedingly good, and to designate any officer or man for having displayed any extraordinary courage or for good conduct would be doing a great injustice to many |