Charlesfort was established when a French expedition, organized by Huguenot leader Admiral Gaspard de Coligny and led by the Norman navigator Jean Ribault, landed at the site on the May River in February 1562, before moving north to Port Royal Sound.
After Ribault left, most of the settlers' stores were burned, and Captain Albert de la Pierria died in a mutiny, possibly as a reaction to his heavy discipline.