 A letter to his wife written by First Sergeant Simmons shortly before the attack on Battery Wagner was published in the New York Tribune on the 23rd of December, 1863.At roughly the same time as the events that First Sergeant Simmons described took place, his seven year old nephew was murdered in New York during the four days of race riots that followed the 13 July.First Sergeant Simmons himself was among the casualties of the battle for Fort Wagner.