13. The defeat at Fort Wagner was a blow to Union pride
July 1863 had begun with victories for Union forces in both the Eastern and Western Theaters. The Army of Northern Virginia had suffered its first major defeat of the war at Gettysburg, and in early July was still retreating from Pennsylvania to the relative safety of Virginia. In the west, the siege of Vicksburg, which had been a masterpiece of joint military-naval operations, had been successfully concluded when the Confederate garrison surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant. The bloody repulse at Fort Wagner drew negative opinions over the competence of the command of troops and ships in the southeast, where recent command changes had occurred.
In June, Major General David Hunter had been relieved of command (he would later wreak havoc in the Shenandoah Valley, including burning VMI) and was replaced by Brigadier General Quincy Gillmore. Gillmore was an officer of the Corps of Engineers who had successfully reduced Fort Pulaski through the use of heavy guns. He believed that the capture of Fort Wagner would allow him to repeat his success at Fort Pulaski by reducing Fort Sumter, allowing the US Navy access to Charleston Harbor, as Fort Pulaski’s fall had allowed it to enter the Savannah River and close the port. To Gillmore, Fort Wagner had to be taken.