The Civil War brought changes for all of Johns Island’s residents. At 4:00 a.m. on April 12, 1861, Confederates fired on Federal troops in Fort Sumter, starting the American Civil War. Union forces quickly captured Beaufort and Hilton Head Island and then turned their attention north to Charleston. Property owners began to evacuate Johns Island ahead of the arrival of Union troops, taking many of the people they enslaved with them.
Slavery was the central reason for the Civil War. For the South, slavery was integral to its economy and culture.
Johns Island was evacuated during the war. Skirmishes happened across the island as Confederate and Union forces fought across the region between 1862 and 1864. Confederate forces may have passed Fenwick Hall when troops and artillery moved down Ferry Road to attack the USS Marblehead, a Union gunboat anchored on the Stono River near Legareville in June 1862.
There is little evidence that either Union or Confederate forces occupied Fenwick Hall. However, oral tradition suggests that it may have been used as an occasional field hospital.
When he returned after the war,he filed for compensation for damage to his property. His claims included:
