Zion Chapel of Ease Cemetery

The Zion Chapel of Ease Cemetery, located at the intersection of Mathews Drive and William Hilton Parkway, is the most significant Revolutionary War landmark on Hilton Head Island. While the wooden chapel that once stood here is gone, the cemetery remains a hallowed ground that anchors the island’s history of militia organization and partisan sacrifice.

Militia Muster House and Chapel

In the years leading up to the Revolution, this site was the location of a militia muster house. It served as the central gathering point for the island’s Patriot planters to train and organize local defense. In 1767, a “Chapel of Ease” was constructed on the site to serve the spiritual needs of families living far from the main parish church in Beaufort. During the war, this location remained the strategic heart of the island’s resistance against British and Loyalist raids.

The Memorial to Charles Davant

The cemetery is the burial site of Charles Davant, who is recognized as the only Patriot military casualty on Hilton Head Island during the Revolution.

• The Ambush: Davant was mortally wounded on October 22, 1781, while patrolling the nearby marshes to protect island homes from the Daufuskie Royal Militia.
• The Marker: A bronze memorial at the cemetery, erected by the Sons of the American Revolution, details the circumstances of his death and the subsequent retaliatory raids by the “Bloody Legion”.

The Baynard Mausoleum

Also located within the cemetery is the Baynard Mausoleum, built in 1846. While a later structure, it stands as a testament to the enduring wealth of the planter families whose ancestors first took up arms on these grounds. The surrounding wrought-iron fence and weathered headstones mark the final resting places of many families who navigated the volatile shift from British subjects to American citizens.