After success at the Battle of Balls Bluff in the late fall of 1861, Confederate officer Nathan George Evans was promoted to Brigadier General and put in command of the Department of South Carolina and Georgia. The protection of Charleston was an important part of his charge, and Edisto Island would be a key location in Union plans to advance upon the city. North Edisto afforded a safe harbor for large vessels from which Union forces could move to White Point or Simon's Landing, points near to the Charleston and Savannah Railroad. Confederate General P. G. T. Beauregard commanded the defenses of Charleston, South Carolina, at the start of the Civil War at Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861. In May, Beauregard worked with Edisto Island leader, John F. Townsend of the Bleak Hall Plantation to fortify the island. However, after losing a series of battles in West Virginia, Robert E. Lee was put in command of coastal defenses late in the year. Lee believed the sea islands were indefensible and quietly decided to establish a defense line further inland. Later that year, in November, Union forces established beachheads along the coast, notably at Port Royal. In response, many white plantation owners fled to the interior. Several, including on Edisto Island, burned their cotton before fleeing to prevent the crop from falling into union hands.