Edisto Island during the American Civil War

Edisto Island during the American Civil War was the location of a number of minor engagements and for a time of a large colony of African-American escaped former slaves during the American Civil War (1861–1865). Edisto Island was largely abandoned by planters in November 1861 and in December 1861, escaped slaves began setting up their own refugee camps there. In January 1862, armed African Americans from the island and Confederate forces clashed and a Confederate raid in reprisal killed a small number of unarmed African Americans. In February, Union forces were stationed on the island to develop it as a staging area for future campaigns against Charleston, twenty-five miles away, as well as to protect the colony, which would eventually number thousands of African Americans. As Union forces took control of the island, a number of skirmishes occurred, but Confederates withdrew. In June, most of the Union troops left the island in a campaign, which culminated in the Battle of Secessionville. In July, the remaining troops withdrew, and the colony was removed to St. Helena Island. For the rest of the war, a small number of escaped slaves and plantation owners remained and farmed the island, but it was largely abandoned. Near the end of the war, the island was again used as a location of colonies of freed slaves.

After success at the Battle of Balls Bluff in the late fall of 1861, Confederate officer Nathan George Evans was promoted to Brigadier General and put in command of the Department of South Carolina and Georgia. The protection of Charleston was an important part of his charge, and Edisto Island would be a key location in Union plans to advance upon the city. North Edisto afforded a safe harbor for large vessels from which Union forces could move to White Point or Simon's Landing, points near to the Charleston and Savannah Railroad. Confederate General P. G. T. Beauregard commanded the defenses of Charleston, South Carolina, at the start of the Civil War at Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861. In May, Beauregard worked with Edisto Island leader, John F. Townsend of the Bleak Hall Plantation to fortify the island. However, after losing a series of battles in West Virginia, Robert E. Lee was put in command of coastal defenses late in the year. Lee believed the sea islands were indefensible and quietly decided to establish a defense line further inland. Later that year, in November, Union forces established beachheads along the coast, notably at Port Royal. In response, many white plantation owners fled to the interior. Several, including on Edisto Island, burned their cotton before fleeing to prevent the crop from falling into union hands.

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