Fort Boykin and Fort Huger

IF YOU GO

Fort Boykin 1740 Fort Boykin Trail Smithfield, VA 23430 757-357-0115 Open seven days a week 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. March through October, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. November through February Admission: free

Historic forts in Isle of Wight

By Stephen Faleski Staff Writer

A capped-off brick well and a few other fragments are all that remain of Fort Boykin’s past.

Were it not for replica cannons and signs telling of its history, the former fort’s appearance today would present as a simple park with nature trails and beach access.

Isle of Wight County owns and operates two former forts as public parks: Fort Boykin and Fort Huger, both located along the banks of the James River. While named for Maj. Francis Boykin, an Isle of Wight local who served with Gen. George Washington, Fort Boykin’s military history dates beyond the Revolutionary War to the time of the Warraskoyack tribe.

In 1608, Capt. John Smith went in search of food for his fellow colonists at Jamestown, states a sign at the entrance to the fort. The Warraskoyack were a friendly tribe and provided 30 bushels of corn for the settlers, but as the Virginia colony grew both north and south of the James River, Warraskoyack lands were encroached upon and relations grew fragile.

By 1621, there were two English settlements on the southern bank of the James River in what would eventually become known as Isle of Wight County. On March 22,1622, a Native American attack on the colony claimed the lives of hundreds of settlers, including 32 at these two sites. The construction of Fort Boykin began shortly after as a triangular-shaped earthen structure known as The Castle. In 1775, The Castle was refortified and renamed for Maj. Boykin.

During the War of 1812, Fort Boykin was enlarged into an irregular five-pointed star shape, during which time local militia foiled an attempt by the British to land near the fort. The fort is also home to a black walnut tree thought to be more than 200 years old and the second largest in Virginia.

Between June 1861 and May 1862 during the Civil War, the Confederate Army refortified Fort Boykin under the supervision of Capt. T.M.R. Talcott and Lt. W.G. Turpin. Under their command were “a force of at least 1,000 hands” of enslaved and free Blacks.

Slave and free Black labor was also used to construct Fort Huger in 1861, which is named for Confederate Gen. Benjamin Huger. Payment records show the freed men worked for 50 cents a day (roughly $14.80 in 2021 dollars). A sign at Fort Huger further states that in December 1861, Isle of Wight County Commissioner of the Revenue B.J. Gray sent a letter to Richmond on behalf of the free Black laborers who had not yet been paid, indicating he would travel to Richmond on their behalf to collect payment if necessary.

On May 8, 1862, the USS Galena, USS Port Royal and USS Aroostook bombarded forts Boykin and Huger. On May 17 and 18 that year, U.S. Marines landed and occupied both forts to find most of the guns spiked and many of the forts’ structures intentionally destroyed by the retreating Confederates.

IF YOU GO

Fort Huger 15080 Talcott Terrace Smithfield, VA 23430 757-357-2291 Open dawn until dusk Admission: free

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