Battery Saxton
Inscription
(Front) Battery Saxton, constructed here in 1862, was in the second line of earthworks built by Federal troops occupying Beaufort during the Civil War. Laid out by the 1st New York Engineers with the assistance of black laborers, it held 3 8-inch siege howitzers and was occupied 1862-65 as one of two batteries anchoring a line from Battery Creek to the Beaufort River, the remnants of which are visible here just south of U.S. Hwy. 21 (known as Shell Rd. during the war).
(Reverse) Battery Saxton was named for Brig. Gen. Rufus Saxton (1824-1908), a native of Massachusetts. Saxton, an ardent abolitionist, served for most of the war in and around Beaufort in the Union Dept. of the South. As military governor of the Ga. and S.C. sea islands 1862-65 he led the way in educating freedmen and in raising and training black units for service in the U.S. Army.
Saxton was later assistant commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau for S.C., Ga., & Fla., 1865-66. Erected by the Historic Beaufort Foundation, 2001
Location
Sources
More markers in Beaufort
Beaufort
Beaufort, SC
Second Oldest Town In South Carolina/Authorized by the Lords Proprietors, December 20, 1710,/ Chartered January 17, 1711.
Bluffton, S.c.*
Bluffton, SC
Settled in 1825 as a summer resort of rice and cotton planters, this town was incorporated in 1852.
Prince William’s Parish Church (Sheldon Church)
Gardens Corner, SC
(Front) These ruins are of Prince William’s Parish Church, built ca.
Battle of Port Royal Island
Grays Hill, SC
Near the old halfway house, in the vicinity of Grays Hill, on February 3, 1779, a force of South Carolina militia, continentals, and...
“robbers Row”
Hilton Head Island, SC
After the occupation of Hilton Head in 1861, a civilian town grew up to serve the needs of the large Union base and its garrison here.