Rear Admiral Samuel Du Pont, South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, is relieved of duty over the lack of ability of the Navy to make headway against the fortifications of Charleston, according to Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles. He is replaced by John Dahlgren.
The 54th Massachusetts, comprised primarily of free blacks from Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, attack Battery Wagner in Charleston Harbor, losing 30% of their men and forcing Quincey Gillmore to lay siege to the city. The film "Glory" is based on this action.
In an impressive display of firepower, Federal batteries begin heavy shelling of Confederate positions ringing Charleston Harbor including Fort Sumter. Using Parrott rifled cannon including the 200 pound Swamp Angel, the artillery is deadly accurate and easily breaches Sumter, but no assault is forthcoming. Although the initial attack is the heaviest, Federal assaults continue off and on until September, 1864.
Fort Sumter, the outpost in Charleston Harbor where the Civil War started stood as a symbol of the radical Southerners in the eyes of both the North and the South. Two years after the bombardment of Fort Sumter Admiral David Porter decided to make a move against the fort, advancing a fleet of 9 ironclads to the harbor. The cannon of Fort Sumter dealt a serious blow to Porter's fleet an hour into the battle.
Once a naval attack was ruled out, Brigadier General Quincey A. Gillmore