“P” is for Port Royal, Battle of (November 7, 1861)

“P” is for Port Royal, Battle of (November 7, 1861). The Battle of Port Royal culminated an amphibious operation designed to establish a United States military depot on the islands on the southeastern coast to carry out land and sea operations against the Confederacy. Fort Walker on Hilton Head and Fort Beauregard on Bay Point defended Port Royal Sound. After nearly five hours of fighting, the Confederates evacuated Fort Walker and Fort Beauregard and fled inland, abandoning Beaufort and the Sea Islands. The Union forces suffered thirty-one casualties and the Confederates had seventy-two. The capture of Port Royal provided the North with an important political and morale-boosting victory.  The Battle of Port Royal began a social and economic revolution because the Union victory brought freedom to thousands of enslaved persons who lived in the Port Royal area.