HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – For more than a century, the bodies of some 300 black soldiers who died in the Civil War have lain in unmarked graves on the bank of Skull Creek harbor.

These former slaves who fled the plantations to fight for freedom on the side of the Union Army are heroes few people know about.

The small plot of land where they are buried is overshadowed by multimillion-dollar condos and a private marina — symbols of the transformation that has occurred in Hilton Head over the last 50 years, changing the island from a predominantly black town to a city of gated communities for the wealthy. Read More