Higginson. The second brigade, composed of the 7th New
Hampshire, Col. H. S. Putnam; 626 Ohio, Col. Steele; 67th Ohio, Col.
Vorhees; and the 100th New York, under Col. Danby, was led against the
fort, by Col. Putnam, who was killed in the assault. So this brigade
was compelled to retire. One thousand and five hundred (1,500) men
were thrown away in this fight, but one fact was clearly established,
that Negroes could and would fight as bravely as white men. The
following letter, addressed to the Military Secretary of Gov. Andrew,
of Massachusetts, narrates an instance of heroism in a Negro soldier
which deserves to go into history:

"HEADQUARTERS 54TH MASSACHUSETTS VOLS. }
"MORRIS ISLAND, S. C., Oct. 15, 1863. }

"COLONEL: I have the honor to forward you the following letter,
received a few days since from Sergeant W. H. Carney, Company C,
of this regiment. Mention has before been made of his heroic
conduct in preserving the American flag and bearing it from the
field, in the assault on Fort Wagner on the 18th of July last,
but that you may have the history complete, I send a simple
statement of the facts as I have obtained them from him, and an
officer who was an eye-witness:

"When the Sergeant arrived to within about one hundred yards of
the fort--he was with the first battalion, which was in the
advance of the storming column--he received the regimental
colors, pressed forward to the front rank, near the Colonel, who
was leading the men over the ditch. He says, as they ascended the
wall of the fort, the ranks were full, but as soon as they
reached the top, 'they melted away' before the enemy's fire
'almost instantly.' He received a severe wound in the thigh, but
fell only upon his knees. He planted the flag upon the parapet,
lay down on the outer slope, that he might get as much shelter as
possible; there he remained for over half an hour, till the 2d
brigade came up. He kept the colors flying until the second
conflict was ended. When our forces retired he followed, creeping
on one knee, still holding up the flag. It was thus that Sergeant
Carney came from the field, having held the emblem of liberty
over the walls of Fort Wagner during the sanguinary conflict of
the two brigades, and having received two very severe wounds, one