Date: July 19th, 1863, Fort Wagner, South Carolina

Dear Diary,

Just arrived at Fort Wagner in South Carolina today. They say that this fort could be crucial to winning the Civil War. The plan is to capture this fort, and use its large cannons to turn on Charleston. This would allow us to destroy the center of slavery, and in turn, demoralize the Confederates. We walked day and night in storms to get here, so this plan better work. This is also going to be our chance to show America what we can do, and so we can get our $13.00 salary, not just our measly $7.00. 

Yesterday, our artillery shell was fired at Fort Wagner. Since then, thousands of shells were fired, making a colossal amount of craters. Once the bombardment had finally stopped, me and my fellow comrades had to run towards the fort. Then we had to wait for the command. Finally after hours of waiting, we got the signal. We rushed the fort with our sharp bayonets gleaming in the sun. Many of my friends fell, as the Confederates fired waves of bullets into our army. Our hearts sank once our general fell. But we kept fighting. Blood was splattering onto my face as people in front of me and beside me were getting slaughtered. I thought I had the duty to keep fighting in this fight. As the reinforcements came, the Confederates started firing cannons filled with grapeshot, wiping out hundreds of men from other infantries, as the siege progressed. We kept going. My arm was skinned by a bullet, and I had to retreat, as I couldn’t just sit there and let myself die. I tried to do things to relieve the pain, but it didn’t help. I just watched as other soldiers fell, with tears in my eyes, for I felt like I hadn’t done the country any good. I watched the distant explosions like fireworks. I watched the people operating the cannons mow down other soldiers as they ran into battle. I saw the people who had died from afar. We thought we could do so well in this fight since we won in our first fight, James Island. 

We hope to win this battle soon. Our casualties have taken a huge toll on our camp. Everybody is down, and we don’t know how to win the war. We will continue to attack Fort Wagner until it falls, and hopefully end the war. It has been quite difficult, hot, and overall challenging conditions. We started digging a trench to get to the fort with a cannon, but confederate snipers are picking off our men. I am hopeful that my arm will recover soon, for it could get infected. Hopefully, we will be able to win the war, so I and others will survive. And if we don’t, this would’ve all been for naught, for me and all of my other black comrades.  

Sincerely,

Johnham Spearhand