Re-enactment of historic Folly Beach Civil War battle
By Anton DuMars
Joseph McGill, a program officer for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, is a man with a mission. McGill says there is an “untold story” African-American Union soldiers that “deserves to be told”. After befriending several Confederate civil war reenactors as a park ranger at Fort Sumter National Monument, and watching the movie “Glory,” McGill became a reenactor himself. “We are constantly recruiting men and women to help us tell the story of the 180,000 African-American men that served the Union in the Civil War,” McGill said. The movie “Glory” centers on the 54th Massachusetts “colored” troops historic battle at Battery Wagner, Morris Island, SC on July 18th, 1863.
According to James W. Hagy in To Take Charleston- The Civil War on Folly Island, proximity to Morris Island and the Charleston ship channel prompted Folly’s use as a staging point, starting in February of 1863. Later that year as many as 10,000 Union troops, garrisoned on Folly Island, stood poised for battle. Steven Smith, of the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, claims that Folly Island was literally deforested by the Union troops who needed firewood and building wood. On July 10, 1863, after a two-hour barrage of cannon fire from Folly, Union troops launched an amphibious assault across Lighthouse Inlet for an attempt to take Battery Wagner from the Confederates. The troops were driven back by a barrage of musket fire as they reached the walls of the fort. On July 18, Union assault forces from the 6th and 7th Connecticut, and the 54th Massachusetts staged another attempt on Fort Wagner. Union artillery support from gunboats, ironclads, and land batteries landed an estimated 9,000 rounds onto Fort Wagner. Confederate forces answered with batteries from Battery Greg on Cummings Point, Fort Sumter, James Island, and Sullivan’s Island. The Union troops were repelled once more after sustaining heavy casualties, with the 54th Massachusetts suffering the greatest losses.
Civil War re-enactors will commemorate the 147th anniversary of the assault on Battery Wagner on July 16. Volunteer re-enactors from Company I, 54th Massachusetts Re-enactment Regiment, will honor the men who participated in the historic battle on July 18, 1863. The event will occur on Morris Island, and the public is invited and encouraged to attend. The boat for the one-hour event will leave from the Charleston Maritime Center (10 Wharfside St., downtown Charleston) at 3:00 p.m. and return at 5:00 p.m. Make reservations by calling Joseph McGill at 408-7727. Participants should arrive 30 minutes before their reserved time. The cost of the boat ride and visit to the island is $25. Tideline Tours also offers Ferry service from James Island to Cummings Point, leaving at 1:30 p.m. and returning at approximately 6:00 p.m. The cost is $25 per person with a $5 per car parking fee. Make reservations by contacting Tideline Tours at 843-813-2497. The event is sponsored by Company I, 54th Massachusetts Re-enactment Regiment.
