Engagement near Grimball's Landing, 54th Massachusetts see battle first time...

5fish

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2019
Messages
10,619
Reaction score
4,544
The 54th MA. Infantry goes to battle...


snip...
The Battle of Grimball's Landing took place in James Island, South Carolina, on 16 July 1863, during the American Civil War. It was a part of the campaign known as Operations Against the Defenses of Charleston.

Meanwhile, the Confederates moved against James Island. On 16 July they attacked, with the goal of encircling and destroying a part of the Union forces there. The men of the 10th Connecticut Infantry were in an exposed position, and in jeopardy of being cut off. The Confederate efforts to get around them were checked by the men of the 54th Massachusetts, who rebuffed a series of attacks while the 10th Connecticut was withdrawn.[3] The 54th suffered 43 casualties, with 14 killed, 17 wounded, and 12 others lost to capture, but the 10th Connecticut was saved.[4] The following day the Union forces were pulled off the island.[5] This battle was the first engagement of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment.[6]


Another take...

https://worldhistoryproject.org/1863/7/16/battle-of-grimballs-landing

snip...

Gen. Alfred H. Terry [US]; Brig. Gen. Johnson Hagood [CS]

Forces Engaged: 6,800 total (US 3,800; CS 3,000)

Estimated Casualties: Total unknown (US unknown; CS 18)

Description: To divert Confederate reinforcements from a renewed attack on Fort Wagner, Gen. Gillmore designed two feints. An amphibious force ascended Stono River to threaten the Charleston & Savannah Railroad bridge. A second force, consisting of Terry’s division, landed on James Island on July 8. Terry demonstrated against the Confederate defenses. On July 16, the Confederates attacked Terry’s camp at Grimball’s Landing. Because of incomplete reconnaissance of the difficult, marshy ground, the disorganized Confederate attack was soon aborted. Their mission accomplished, Federal troops withdrew from the island on July 17.
 

5fish

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2019
Messages
10,619
Reaction score
4,544
Here is a confederate take of the action was his artillery dueling with the Pawnee...

Engagement near Grimball's Landing, James Island, SC, with the Confederate attack being repulsed, with the help of the US steam sloop, Pawnee.


snip...

Report of Col. James D. Radclifee, Sixty-first North Carolina Infantry.

JAMES ISLAND, S. C.,
July 17, 1863.

CAPT.: I respectfully beg leave to submit the following report of the
engagement by the troops under my command with the U. S. sloop of war
Pawnee and one other gunboat (name not known) near Grimball's Landing, on
the Stono River, on Thursday morning, the 16th instant:

On Wednesday night, at 12 o'clock, in obedience to instructions from the
general commanding. I moved with my regiment (Sixty-first North Carolina
Troops) toward the Artillery Cross-Roads, where I was joined by a section
of the Chatham Artillery, Capt. [J. F.] Wheaton commanding, and a section
of Capt. [F. D.] Blake's artillery, consisting in all of four Napoleon
guns, under the immediate of three rifled guns which was to form part of
the column of attack, being delayed by some cause, I thought it proper to
put the troops in marsh, throwing forward 200 men of the Sixty-first North
Carolina Troops, to be used as skirmishers against the enemy's line of
pickets, under the immediately command of Maj. Henry Harding. The whole
column moved from the cross-roads the Grimball road, about 3 o'clock on the
morning of the 16th, in the direction of the commanded by the guns of two
formidable vessels.
On arriving at the field adjacent to the Grimball
Landing, I caused the infantry in advance to be deployed as skirmishers on
the skirt of the woods contiguous, and for a distance of several hundred
yards on either side of the road leading to the landing.

The light batteries, under Col. Del. Kemper, had received orders to advance
simultaneously with the line of skirmishers, followed by the remainder of
the Sixty-first North Carolina Troops as an infantry support.

At the first dawn of day, the command was given to advance, the troops,
infantry and artillery, moving up boldly and eagerly to the attack. So
prompt and silent were they in taking their positions, that the whole
attack proved a complete surprise, our batteries having fired about six
times before the Pawnee, the most formidable of the two boats, could
prepare for action.
The rapidity and accuracy with which our batteries
fired on this occasion has scarcely been equaled in artillery practice,
more than one-third of the missiles discharged from our guns taking effect
on the Pawnee, a fact easily ascertained by the crashing her timbers and
confusion and cries of her crew. Both boats finally withdrew beyond range
of our guns, the Pawnee supposed to be very seriously crippled and the
other boat more or less damaged.


The infantry, who were disappointed in meeting the enemy on land, were,
nevertheless, exposed during the entire action to a galling fire of shell
and canister from the bunboats, and showed, both officers and men, by their
proximity to danger, that they would never desert the batteries.

Much credit is due to the skill and coolness of Lieut. Col. Del. Kemper in
the disposition of the artillery for action, and also to Captains
Wheaton and Blake for the efficiency attained in the instructions of their
respective commands, as shown in the serious damage sustained by the
gunboats.

Officers and men, although exposed to a most galling fire, performed their
duty well.

The siege train participated in the latter part of the engagement, but
under unfavorable circumstances.

I regret to have to report 1 man mortally and another slightly wounded in
Company F, Sixty-first North Carolina Troops. No other casualties occurred.

I have the honor to be, captain, your most obedient servant,

JAS. D. RADCLIFFE,
Col., Cmdg.

Capt. P. K. MOLONY,
Assistant Adjutant-Gen.
 

5fish

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2019
Messages
10,619
Reaction score
4,544
What is interesting in two more days the 54th MA. attacks FT. Wagner and goes down in the annuals of history...


snip...

Attempting to weaken the defenses of Fort Wagner, the Army seized nearby James Island. There, the 54th Massachusetts fought in their first battle, the Battle of Grimball’s Landing. Confederate general Johnson Hagood, one of the commanders of Charleston’s defenses, ordered the island re-taken. On July 16, 1863, a force of 3,000 Confederates attacked the 3,800 strong Union garrison on James Island. During the battle, 900 Confederates assaulted a position held by 250 men of the 54th Massachusetts. Although outnumbered, the men of the 54th held their ground and repelled the assault before Union forces retreated from James Island. In his official report on the action, Union Brig. Gen. Alfred H. Terry commended the 54th for their strong performance in battle, noting their “steadiness and soldierly conduct.

As Union forces reorganized after the Battle of Grimball’s Landing, they planned for a renewed assault on Fort Wagner. On the morning of July 18, 1863, Union forces began to bombard Fort Wagner with fire from siege guns, mortars, and ships. During the bombardment, Brig. Gen. George C. Strong, commander of the attacking Union forces, visited Shaw and the 54th. He pointed to Fort Wagner and shouted to the assembled men, “Is there a man here who thinks himself unable to sleep in that fort tonight?” The men of the 54th loudly answered in unison “No!” Strong next asked as he gestured to the color bearer, “If this man should fall, who will lift the flag and carry it on?” Shaw answered, “I will” and the men of the 54th cheered.
 

5fish

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2019
Messages
10,619
Reaction score
4,544
Here a navy version....


snip...

Batteries at Grimball's Landing on the Stone River, South Carolina, opened a heavy fire on U.S.S. Pawnee, Commander Balch, and U.S.S. Marblehead, Lieutenant Commander Scott while Confederate troops assaulted a Union position on James Island under command of Brigadier General Alfred H. Terry. Though Pawnee, struck some 40 times by the accurate shorefire, and Marblehead were compelled to drop downriver, they nonetheless provided important support for the Union troops and were instrumental in forcing the Confederates to break off the attack. Brigadier General Terry reported that the ships "opened a most effective fire upon my left. The enemy, unable to endure the concentric fire to which they were exposed, fell back and retreated. . . I desire to express my obligations to Captain Balch, U.S. Navy, commanding the naval forces in the river, for the very great assistance he rendered to me. . .
 
Top