Successful artillery barrages

Does anyone know of an instance in the civil war where artillery was used to great effect against solidified positions before a general assault?

At Gettysburg we know the South bombarded the Union wall with all they had, but to what end? When Pickett moved forward his charge was met by Union firepower barely affected by the bombardment, as horrendous as it had been. Of course, artillery showed its murderous advantage when firing at massed troops advancing in formation.

But I've never quite grasped the 'softening up' aspect. In any war really, it hasn't delivered: WW1, the Somme; WW11, Okinawa, Iwo Jima, Cassino,..; our latest, Afghanistan and inability to blast them from caves.

So, sticking to the civil war, are there any good examples of softening up that one of you know about? Thanks.

great point i never thought about that before,what about fort jackson wiyh your man porter and his mortar boats i guess they didnt destroy jackson and phillippe and high water didnt hurt,how about fort henry tn footes gunboats and again high water no i think your right.i will look into this.

Yeah, and Fort Fisher by Wilmington. I guess they figure why not bombard beforehand, it might soften them up; besides we can't bombard while our troops engage them, we'll kill our men. Thanks for the Fort reminders, I hadn't thought of them.