One often overlooked Civil War site is Morris Island, location of the former Confederate battery Fort Wagner. Built after the start of the war, Fort Wagner aided Fort Sumter in protecting Charleston, South Carolina from invading Union forces during the Civil War.

Fort Wagner was significant to Americans on both sides of the conflict. The Confederate soldiers who manned the fort under the command of General William Booth Taliaferro repelled several attempts by Union forces to capture the fort. One of the largest attempts resulted in 50 Confederate and 2,000 Union soldiers killed.

The 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment, one of the first all African-American regiments of the war led a particularly significant assault on the fort.

Born into a Massachusetts abolitionist family, Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, led the 54th regiment which sought to prove to the country that black soldiers were as good as white soldiers, despite discriminatory policies by the Union and Confederate threats of re-enslavement. Though they failed to capture the fort and suffered numerous casualties including the death of Shaw, these soldiers earned respect from both sides of the battle.

Fort Wagner is important to the heritage of American civil rights because of the men who defended it and those who tried to capture it. Men from both sides fought and died for what they believed was right, be it state sovereignty or racial equality.

Although the fort itself was washed away by a hurricane, its location serves as an eternal reminder of the accomplishments of the brave men who fought on both sides of the Civil War.

Researched and written by University of West Florida Public History student Sean Gravel