During the American Civil War, the Confederacy fortified the island with three forts.
 The Battle of Roanoke Island (February 7–8, 1862) was an incident in the Union North Carolina Expedition of January to July 1862, when Brigadier General Ambrose E. Burnside landed an amphibious force and took Confederate forts on the island.
 Afterward, the Union Army retained the three Confederate forts, renaming them for the Union generals who had commanded the winning forces:  Huger became Fort Reno; Blanchard became Fort Parke; and Bartow became Fort Foster.
After the Confederacy lost the forts, the Confederate Secretary of War, Judah P. Benjamin, resigned.
Roanoke Island was occupied by Union forces for the duration of the war, through 1865.

The African slaves from the island and the mainland of North Carolina fled to the Union-occupied area with hopes of gaining freedom.
By 1863, numerous former slaves were living on the fringe of the Union camp.
The Union Army had classified the former enslaved as "contrabands," and determined not to return them to Confederate slaveholders.
 The freedmen founded churches in their settlement and started what was likely the first free school for blacks in North Carolina.

Horace James, an experienced Congregational chaplain, was appointed by the US Army in 1863 as "Superintendent for Negro Affairs in the North Carolina District."
He was responsible for the Trent River contraband camp at New Bern, North Carolina, where he was based.
 He also was ordered to create a self-sustaining colony at Roanoke Island  and thought it had the potential to be a model for a new society in which African Americans would have freedom.

In addition to serving the original residents and recent migrants, the Roanoke Island Freedmen's Colony was to be a refuge for the families of freedmen who enlisted in the Union Army as United States Colored Troops.
By 1864, there were more than 2200 freedmen on the island.

Under James, the freedmen were allocated plots of land per household, and paid for work for the Army.
He established a sawmill on the island and a fisheries, and began to market the many highly skilled crafts by freed people artisans.
James believed the colony was a critical social experiment in free labor and a potential model for resettling freedmen on their own lands.
Northern missionary teachers, mostly women from New England, journeyed to the island to teach reading and writing to both children and adults, who were eager for education.
A total of 27 teachers served the island, with a core group of about six.

The colony and Union troops had difficulty with overcrowding, poor sanitation, limited food and disease in its last year.
The freedmen had found that the soil was too poor to support subsistence farming for so many people.
In late 1865 after the end of the war, the Army dismantled the forts on Roanoke.
In 1865, President Andrew Johnson issued an "Amnesty Proclamation," ordering the return of property by the Union Army to former Confederate landowners.
Most of the 100 contraband camps in the South were on former Confederate land.
At Roanoke Island, the freedmen had never been given title to their plots, and the land was reverted to previous European-American owners.

Most freedmen chose to leave the island, and the Army arranged for their transportation to towns and counties on the mainland, where they looked for work.
By 1867 the Army had abandoned the colony.
In 1870 only 300 freedmen were living on the island.
Some of their descendants still live there.
During the American Civil War, the Confederacy fortified the island with three forts.  The Battle of Roanoke Island (February 7–8, 1862) was an incident in the Union North Carolina Expedition of January to July 1862, when Brigadier General Ambrose E. Burnside landed an amphibious force and took Confederate forts on the island.  Afterward, the Union Army retained the three Confederate forts, renaming them for the Union generals who had commanded the winning forces:  Huger became Fort Reno; Blanchard became Fort Parke; and Bartow became Fort Foster. After the Confederacy lost the forts, the Confederate Secretary of War, Judah P. Benjamin, resigned. Roanoke Island was occupied by Union forces for the duration of the war, through 1865.
The African slaves from the island and the mainland of North Carolina fled to the Union-occupied area with hopes of gaining freedom. By 1863, numerous former slaves were living on the fringe of the Union camp. The Union Army had classified the former enslaved as "contrabands," and determined not to return them to Confederate slaveholders.  The freedmen founded churches in their settlement and started what was likely the first free school for blacks in North Carolina.
Horace James, an experienced Congregational chaplain, was appointed by the US Army in 1863 as "Superintendent for Negro Affairs in the North Carolina District." He was responsible for the Trent River contraband camp at New Bern, North Carolina, where he was based.  He also was ordered to create a self-sustaining colony at Roanoke Island  and thought it had the potential to be a model for a new society in which African Americans would have freedom.
In addition to serving the original residents and recent migrants, the Roanoke Island Freedmen's Colony was to be a refuge for the families of freedmen who enlisted in the Union Army as United States Colored Troops. By 1864, there were more than 2200 freedmen on the island.
Under James, the freedmen were allocated plots of land per household, and paid for work for the Army. He established a sawmill on the island and a fisheries, and began to market the many highly skilled crafts by freed people artisans. James believed the colony was a critical social experiment in free labor and a potential model for resettling freedmen on their own lands. Northern missionary teachers, mostly women from New England, journeyed to the island to teach reading and writing to both children and adults, who were eager for education. A total of 27 teachers served the island, with a core group of about six.
The colony and Union troops had difficulty with overcrowding, poor sanitation, limited food and disease in its last year. The freedmen had found that the soil was too poor to support subsistence farming for so many people. In late 1865 after the end of the war, the Army dismantled the forts on Roanoke. In 1865, President Andrew Johnson issued an "Amnesty Proclamation," ordering the return of property by the Union Army to former Confederate landowners. Most of the 100 contraband camps in the South were on former Confederate land. At Roanoke Island, the freedmen had never been given title to their plots, and the land was reverted to previous European-American owners.
Most freedmen chose to leave the island, and the Army arranged for their transportation to towns and counties on the mainland, where they looked for work. By 1867 the Army had abandoned the colony. In 1870 only 300 freedmen were living on the island. Some of their descendants still live there.
Roanoke Island