The first black troops in the Union Army enlisted on Hilton Head Island in May 1862. At first, men who had escaped plantations and slavery were reluctant to join because they did not want to leave their families and new financial opportunities, and because capture by Confederates meant a return to slavery or death. Many Union troops on Hilton Head Island were also openly hostile to escaped slaves. To encourage enlistment, Gen. Hunter issued passes declaring those who joined free and forever absolved from claims to their service, with full right for them, their wives, and their children to go where they chose. The unit was disbanded a few months later, and Congress did not allow black men to serve until 1863, when the unit was officially organized as the First South Carolina Regiment. Its men were primarily former slaves from South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Throughout the Civil War, Hilton Head Island and Beaufort remained focal points for organizing and stationing these freedom fighters. In the fall of 1864, troops in the 32nd United States Colored Infantry and the 144th New York Infantry constructed Fort Howell just southwest of Mitchelville to protect the village. Despite 150 years of erosion, the earthwork fort remains easily discernible, reflecting the work of Captain Charles R. Suter and the men who built it. Afterward, the 32nd U.S. Colored Infantry fought at the Battle of Honey Hill on November 30, 1864, where they sustained fifty-one casualties. They were among the 179,000 colored men in the Union Army and another 20,000 in the Navy who fought for freedom and an end to slavery during the Civil War.