Fort Mitchell, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina-- Part 1

From the February 8th Hilton Head Island Packet "As 150th anniversary of the CivilWar approaches, area history buffs hope Fort Mitchell gets its due" by Laura Nahimias.

Fort Mitchell was a Union battery located at the northwest end of Hilton Head Island. The island was captured by Union forces the after the 1861 largest amphibious assault by American forces until World War II. (I'm not sure, but I thought Fort Fisher was in 1864 and 1865.)

The remains of it are inside the present day Hilton Head Plantation and is a series of 15 foot high mounds shored up by palmetto logs. Its cannons are pointed across Skull Creek toward what today is Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge. Around 1,000 freed slaves built it. One of the cannons was discovered in 1973 during preparations to build the Old Fort Pub restaurant.

Another fort, Fort Howell, is near Beach City Road.

Never Heard of It. --B-R'er