General Description

The LLE is a two-day, experiential leadership development program delivered over parts of three days and focused on three of the unique historical assets in the greater Hilton Head, SC area. The program will profile the leading characters in American Civil War period events surrounding the following: the Battle of Port Royal in 1861, the largest amphibious assault in American history prior to D-Day; the founding of Mitchelville, the first self-governed community of African-American Freedmen, and generally regarded as the Birthplace of Freedom for African-Americans in the US, with its role in both the so-called 1862 “Port Royal Experiment” and events influencing President Abraham Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863; and, the significant 1864 Battle of Honey Hill in Ridgeland, SC, the last Confederate victory in the Civil War. ***

Logistics and Transportation

The Savannah-Hilton Head International Airport is the preferred air destination, and it is an approximate 45 minute drive from most Hilton Head resort properties. Hilton Head Municipal Airport has infrequent connecting flights from Charlotte via US Air. Rental car and shuttle/taxi transfers are available from both airports. Hilton Head Island boasts several leading hotel chain properties, including Marriott, Hilton Omni, Sonesta, and Westin oceanfront locations, as well as luxury retreat-type accommodations at the Inns at Harbour Town in Sea Pines and at Palmetto Bluff in Bluffton. Bus transportation from hotel to program sites will be arranged by Legacy Leadership.

Standard Program Format

Standard program duration is two days, delivered over parts of three days. Participants will arrive for a program introduction and strategic overview by 4 PM of Day One and will be ready to depart by early afternoon of Day Three. Program content and schedules can be somewhat customized to meet varying meeting agenda needs.

*** This program can be customized to meet the learning objectives of a specific group or team. LLL has developed proprietary case studies based on the following events - and the Low Country Leadership can include a selection of any of the following cases:

 The establishment of the Spanish colony of Santa Elena (Beaufort), the capital of Spanish Florida and first lasting European settlement on the North American continent (1566-1587) by explorer Pedro Menendez nearly forty years prior to the English village at Jamestown.

 The Revolutionary War Battle of Savannah (1779) in which 2,500 highly resolved British defenders withstood a determined series of attacks from a multinational force of 5,500 soldiers comprised of troops from America, France, Haiti, Germany, Scotland, Ireland, Sweden and Poland.

 The November 1861 Battle of Port Royal (Hilton Head), in which 13,000 Federal troops landed on the shores of Hilton Head Island to establish a station in the heart of the Confederate Coastal Defenses from which to prosecute the Naval blockade ordered by President Lincoln.

 The April 1862 Battle of Fort Pulaski (Savannah), in which innovative artillery tactics led to a brief defense of the main bastion guarding Savannah’s harbor and the early capture of a strategically important Confederate port by the Union and an acceleration of the blockading effort along the Southeastern coast.

 The founding of Mitchelville in November 1862 (Hilton Head), the first self-governed community of African-American Freedmen in the United States and a model component of the “Port Royal Experiment” which was a strong influence on Abraham Lincoln in issuing the Emancipation Proclamation in January 1863.

 The Voyage of the Planter in 1863 (Beaufort), a Confederate gunboat commandeered in Charleston and piloted by escaped slave Robert Smalls through Confederate waters and surrendered to the Union garrison at Hilton Head, leading to Smalls becoming the first African-American Captain in the U.S. Navy.

 The June 1863 Combahee River Raid led from Hilton Head by Harriett Tubman (Beaufort or Hilton Head) as a scout under the command of Union Colonel James Montgomery and freeing over 700 slaves from the plantations of Secessionist owners inhabiting the banks of the Combahee River.

 The work of Clara Barton, later founder of the Red Cross (Hilton Head), in establishing medical facilities and care for Freedmen in the environs of Mitchelville, which became the model for similar facilities and care programs at other “refugee camps” in Union-occupied former Confederate territory.

 The Battle of Honey Hill in November 1864 (Ridgeland), a combined forces operation of the Union Navy and Army aimed at the interdiction of the Charleston-Savannah RR and the isolation of Savannah to coincide with Sherman’s arrival in the area, and acknowledged as the last significant Confederate victory in the Civil War.

 The establishment of the Sea Pines Plantation (Hilton Head) from 1950-1970, the founding and evolution of the first destination resort-retirement community based wholly in sensitive and sustainable land use planning and real estate development, the success of which was due to values-based, visionary leadership and the impact of innovation on land value creation and sustainability.

The foregoing events and case studies will typically be grouped geographically as much as possible to maximize participants’ experience and minimize transit time during the program.

Mitchelville Leadership Experience

Battle of Port Royal Leadership Experience

Honey Hill Leadership Experience

Fort Pulaski Leadership Experience

The Lowcountry Leadership Experience

Programs & Services

The Lowcountry Leadership Experience

The Hilton Head Leadership Experience