Folly Island, South Carolina, in the Civil War-- Part 1: 13,000 Union Troops There At One Time

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about the Civil War cannonballs found on Folly Island in the wake of Hurricane Matthew and I got to wondering about the role the island played during the war.

From the Civil War Album.

Federal troops occupied the island in 1863.  At one point, there were over 13,000 Union troops stationed there, including the 7th Connecticut, which regiment I am writing about right now in my Civil War Navy blog, Running the Blockade.  (And research on that regiment started because of research on General Amos Hall from the War of 1812 in my Not So Forgotten blog on that war. I had found out he had served in the 7th Connecticut during the American Revolution)

At the time of Union occupation, it was relatively uninhabited and the federal soldiers constructed the first system of roads to allow ambulances to transport the wounded and for communications.

--Old Secesh