Fort Howell is one of the best preserved Civil War earthen forts in South Carolina. It was built to defend Hilton Head Island and protect the freedmen’s town of Mitchelville.

The fort is at 160 Beach City Rd.

Fort Howell covers nearly three acres on what was once the William Pope plantation.

Fort Howell

This Civil War fort, named for Gen. Joshua Blackwood Howell (1806-1864), was built by the U.S. Army to defend Hilton Head Island and the nearby freedmen’s village of Mitchelville from potential Confederate raids or expeditions. That village, just east of here, had been established by Gen. Ormsby M. Mitchel in the fall of 1862 and was named for him after his death.

Fort Howell

This fort was an enclosed pentagonal earthwork with a 23′ high parapet and emplacements for up to 27 guns. It was built from August to November 1864 by the 32nd U.S. Colored Infantry and the 144th N.Y. Infantry. Though Fort Howell never saw action, it is significant for its design and its structural integrity. It was listed in teh National Register of Historic Places in 2011.

There is a path around the remains of the fort with information signs and figures to represent various people from the fort.

The path goes along the top of the earthworks.

You can make out where the walls and the bastions were.

We met cyclists pushing their bikes around the path.

One side of the earthworks was less traveled.

There are metal figures along the path to represent various people.

Soldier from the 32nd Colored Infantry, USCT

I represent a soldier who served at Fort Howell with the 32nd U.S. Colored Infantry. Our mission was to protect the Town Mitchelville, the first freedmen’s village in the South. Please explore the fort and read about its history.

Harriett Tubman came to Hilton Head Island with the Union Army.

Harriett Tubman

I represent Harriett Tubman, former slave, scout, spy, nurse, famed abolitionist, and conductor on the Underground Railroad, who came to Hilton Head Island with the Union Army and guided the successful Combahee River Raid in 1863, disrupting supply lines and freeing over 700 slaves.

There are way more representative soldiers showing the different things soldiers did at the fort.

Soldier from the 32nd Colored Infantry, USCT

I represent a soldier from the 32nd Colored Infantry, USCT, who traveled from Pennsylvania to fight for the Union in the Civil War. We bivouacked at the nearby Camp Baird and were ordered to help build Fort Howell in the fall of 1864. We built this Fort to protect the people of Mitchelville.

The metal sculptures were made by Mary Ann Browning Ford.

Creator of the Fort Howell Metal Art Figures: Mary Ann Browning Ford

The metal sculptures at Fort Howell were created by local artist Mary Ann Browning Ford, also known for her murals and paintings, and for her devotion to helping disadvantaged children through art.

The Story of Fort Howell

In the spring and summer of 1864, Union officers of the Department of the South on Hilton Head Island became concerned about retaining sufficient troops and equipment to defend Hilton Head, as unites were being transferred to participate in campaigns elsewhere, particularly Virginia and Georgia, where General William Tecumseh Sherman’s army had attacked Atlanta in the spring of 1864. Commanders on Hilton Head worried that the Confederates would engage in raids and more serious attacks on the Island, especially on the new freedmen’s village of Mitchelvillle. Major General John G. Foster ordered Captain Charles R. Suter, Chief of Engineers in the Department of the South, to build an earthwork fort for the purpose of defending Mitchelville and Hilton Head. The pentagonal earthwork was designed to defend the two main approaches to Mitchelville from the southwest and southeast.

Fort Howell did not see action, and was abandoned at war’s end. One of the best preserved Civil War earthen forts in South Carolina, it was listed on the National Register of Historical Places in 2011, and was designated as a National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Site by the National Park Service in 2013.

The Troops that Built Fort Howell

Construction of Fort Howell was begun by the 32^nd U.S. Colored Infantry and completed by the 144^th New York Infantry. The 500-man 32^nd Colored Infantry was organized at Camp William Penn, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in March of 1864, and was made up of volunteers from Delaware, Maryland and Pennsylvania. Unlike many other U.S. Colored Troops, which were made up of mostly former slaves, the 32^nd was almost entirely free blacks. The troops, under the command of Colonel George W. Baird, were ordered to Hilton Head in April of 1864. From August through mid-October they were responsible for building Fort Howell, with its 23-foot high earthen ramparts, with picks, spades and axes.

As the Fort neared completion, the 32^nd was redeployed to various locations on Hilton Head and throughout the Department of the South. The regiment was mustered out in Philadelphia in August, 1865.

The work on the fort was completed in November, 1864, by fatigue details from the 144^th New York Infantry, which had reported to Hilton Head in June, 1864. The 144^th regiment, organized at Delfi, New York, in 1862, first saw duty in the defense of Washington, and later served on Folly Island during the siege of Charleston. There it suffered many casualties, both in battle and due to disease, which was a common cause of Civil War casualties. After completing the work on Fort Howell, the regient saw duty elsewhere in South Carolina. It was mustered out on Hilton Head in June, 1865.

Camp Baird

In August of 1864 Colonel George W. Baird was charged with setting up an encampment for his regiment the 32^nd near the site of Fort Howell, not far from Mitchelville. From this location work details reported each day to the engineer officer overseeing the project, which was under the overall supervision of Captain Charles Suter. This encampment was named Camp Baird, and was located on what is now a golf course at Palmetto Hall. Before beginning development at the Palmetto Hall in the 1990s, Greenwood Development commissioned an historical and archaeological investigation of the sites of Camp Baird and Fort Howell. As archaeologists excavated in the area of the camp the discovered the locations of tents, latrines, and a garbage dump. They recovered many artifacts, such as buttons, jewelry, coins, marbles, buckles, pots and pans, and inkwells, which provide an historical portrait of what life was like for these soldiers, who had been known to use their leisure time to read and improve their writing skills, skills they knew would be very important to them after the war ended.

General Joshua Blackwood Howell 1806-1864

Fort Howell is named for General Joshua Blackwood Howell of Pennsylvania, who commanded the Hilton Head District, Department of the South, United States Army, from February through April, 1864. His brigade was then transferred to the Army of the James in Virginia. He was posthumously promoted to brigadier general of volunteers.

Captain Charles Russell Suter 1842-1920

Fort Howell was designed by Captain Charles Russell Suter, Chief Engineer of the Department of the Sought, United States Army (May, 1864 to October, 1865), Captain Suter had been with the Army of the Potomac in 1862, and assisted in building bridges across the Potomac and in constructing defenses at Harpers Ferry. He was assigned to the Department of the South in 1863 and participated in the siege of Confederate Battery Wagner and bombardment of Fort Sumter (1863 and 1864). On August 17, 1864, he was ordered to design and begin construction on the earthworks that would later be named Fort Howell. The fort was completed in November of that year, and his design is preserved in the National Archives.

Fort Howell – 1864

An excellent example of defensive earthworks common the Civil War era, Fort Howell was constructed by Union forces occupying Hilton Head Island and was one of the final major fortifications to be built during the war.

The men of the 32^nd U.S. Colored Infantry Volunteers labored to complete the fort in the fall of 1864. Its purpose: to protect Mitchelville, a freedmen’s town of newly emancipated slaves, which lay just down the road from this spot.

Fort Howell was deeded to the Hilton Head Island Land Trust in 1993 to insure its public preservation as an historic site for current and future generations to enjoy.