Battle of Port Royal

A decisive battle in the Civil War took place here on Nov. 7, 1861, when 18 Union warships with about 55 supporting craft led by Adm. S. F. DuPont bombarded for 4 ½ hours the Confederate forces in Fort Walker on this shore and Fort Beauregard on the opposite point. About 13,000 troops under Gen. Thomas W. Sherman then landed on this beach to establish the main Union blockade base on the South Atlantic coast.