When they had come within six hundred yards of Fort Wagner, they formed in line of battle, the colonel heading the first, and the major the second battalion. This was within musket-shot of the enemy. There was little firing from the enemy; a solid shot falling between the battalions, and another falling to the right, but no musketry. At this point, the regiment, together with the next supporting regiment, the Sixth Connecticut, Ninth Maine, and others, remained half an hour. The regiment was addressed by General Strong and by Colonel Shaw. Then, at seven and a half or seven and three-quarters o’clock, the order for the charge was given. The regiment advanced at quick time, changed to double-quick when at some distance on. The intervening distance between the place where the line was formed and the fort was run over in a few minutes. When about one hundred yards from the fort, the rebel musketry opened with such terrible effect that for an instant the first battalion hesitated,--but only for an instant; for Colonel Shaw, springing to the front and waving his sword, shouted, “Forward, my brave boys!” and with another cheer and a shout they rushed through the ditch, gained the parapet on the right, and were soon engaged in a hand-to-hand conflict with the enemy. Colonel Shaw was one of the first to scale the walls. He stood erect, to urge forward his men, and while shouting for them to press on was shot dead, and fell into the fort. His body was found, with twenty of his men lying dead around him; two lying on his own body. The Fifty-fourth did well and nobly; only the fall of Colonel Shaw prevented them from entering the fort. They moved up as gallantly as any troops could, and with their enthusiasm, they deserved a better fate. Sergeant-Major Lewis H. Douglass, son of Frederick Douglass, the celebrated orator, sprang upon the parapet close behind Colonel Shaw, and cried out, “Come, boys, come; let’s fight for God and Governor Andrew.” This brave young man was the last to leave the parapet. Before the regiment reached the parapet, the color-sergeant was wounded; and while in the act of falling, the colors were seized by Sergeant William H. Carney, who bore them up, and mounted the parapet, where he, too, received three severe wounds. But on orders being given to retire, the color-bearer, though almost disabled, still held the emblem of liberty in the air, and followed his regiment by the aid of his comrades, and succeeded in reaching the hospital, where he fell exhausted and almost lifeless on the floor, saying, “The old flag never touched the ground, boys.” Captain Lewis F. Emilio, the junior captain,--all of his superiors having been killed or wounded,--took command, and brought the regiment into camp. In this battle, the total loss in officers and men, killed and wounded, was two hundred and sixty-one.