Folly Island was occupied by Union troops from April 1863 to February 1865, and nearby from November 1863 to February 1864 was the camp of Gen. Edward A. Wild's "African Brigade," whose two regiments were the 55th Massachusetts, made up largely of free blacks, and the 1st North Carolina, made up of former slaves. A cemetery was laid out nearby for soldiers in Wild's Brigade who died there in 1863-64, and although most graves were removed after the war, relic hunters discovered additional graves of U.S. Colored Troops in 1987. In 1987-88, archaeologists removed 19 burials and published their findings, and the soldiers were reburied with full military honors at Beaufort National Cemetery in May 1989.
