Did you know North Carolina's 1st safe haven for African Americans during the Civil War, the Hotel de Afrique, was on Hatteras?
The Battle of Hatteras Inlet (August 28-29, 1861) was a key Union victory &, perhaps, the earliest example of African Americans fighting to liberate their enslaved brethren. Central to this victory was the USS Minnesota, manned by white sailors alongside an African American gun crew: William H. White, William Brown, Charles Johnson, George Moore, George H. Roberts, George Sales, & Henry Williams. After the battle, Federal forces controlled Hatteras & its strategically important waterways, & a wooden barrack at Hatteras Inlet. Named Hotel de Afrique, it was designated as lodging & a place of safety.
News spread quickly & hundreds of enslaved people traveled seeking refuge, receiving food & housing in exchange for work as laborers, watermen, & soldiers. They provided vital intelligence crucial to continued Union victories. Contemporary reports describe many freedom seekers as expert watermen, offering the skills required to navigate the difficult local waters.
By February 15, 1862, a new campsite had been built on higher ground with 10-12 barracks & Hotel de Afrique was home to 40+ families.
Despite being named a place of safety, historians note it "should be considered more of a labor camp rather than a comfortable place of living," & not all white soldiers embraced racial equality. Late at night on March 12, 1862, violence erupted & a drunken mob of white soldiers broke into Hotel de Afrique & attacked the sleeping families with knives & bayonets, murdering a man called Old Galloway. Colonel James Nagle, furious with the soldiers reprimanded them but no one would name the murderers. There would be no further punishment. No trial. No justice.
Hotel de Afrique was disbanded when the war ended in 1865. Long since lost to time & tide, the site has returned to nature, covered with native foliage and the expansive root systems so important to holding the sands of Hatteras in place.
On April 2012, a monument to Hotel de Afrique was established & in 2013, the site was officially recognized as part of the Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.
Image 1: Hotel De Afrique from Harpers Weekly, February 15, 1862
Image 2: Hotel de Afrique Marker at the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum
