Siege artillery in the American Civil War were used by the Federal troops as their trenches approached Fort Wagner and field artillery was placed in the trenches to defend against possible Confederate sorties. While Fort Wagner was subject to near constant bombardment from the batteries listed in the table below, as approaches neared the fort's ditch the bombardment increased. Fire from U.S. Navy ships, particularly the USS "New Ironsides", proved very effective. The navy were able to skip the round shells from their XI-inch Dahlgren guns off the water, over the ramparts, and into the fort. Several heavy Parrott rifles that had been directed against Fort Sumter
Origins of the American Civil War Proclamation: On March 4, 1865, Lincoln said in his Second Inaugural Address that slavery was the cause of the War: Origins of the American Civil War Historians debating the origins of the American Civil War focus on the reasons why seven Southern states declared their secession from the United States (the Union), why they united to form the Confederate States of America (simply known as the "Confederacy"), and why the North refused to let them go. While most historians agree that conflicts over slavery caused the war, they disagree sharply regarding which kinds of conflict—ideological, economic, political, or social—were most