Battery Haskell was a large Confederate fortification built on Legare’s Point in 1863 to help defend James and Morris Islands. The surviving two-gun Confederate artillery battery and magazine stood just behind the left flank of Battery Haskell, which was named for Capt. Charles T. Haskell, Jr. of the 1st S.C. Infantry, mortally wounded on Morris Island July 10, 1863. Described as “a massive open work,” Battery Haskell was built for twelve guns. In early 1865 its armament was one 8-inch smoothbore cannon, one 32-pounder smoothbore cannon, and two 10-inch mortars. It and the rest of Charleston’s defenses were evacuated February 17, 1865, and Battery Haskell was gradually demolished from the 1920s to the 1960s for farm use and later for residential development.
