These batteries were built by the U.S. Army in 1898 in response to the Spanish-American War as part of Fort Fremont, which defended the coaling station and dry dock at the Port Royal Naval Station on nearby Parris Island. The fort, built in 1898-99 and named for Maj. Gen. John C. Frémont (1813-1890), explorer, 1856 Republican Presidential candidate, and Union Civil War general, was active from 1898 to 1911, covered 170 acres, and was manned by a Coast Artillery company numbering 112 men. It was armed with three 10” guns, two 4.7” guns, and submarine mines. Fort Fremont never saw action, was decommissioned in 1911, sold in 1930, partially acquired by Beaufort Co. in 2004, and listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2010.