Hardeeville was the site of a massacre Confederate civillians by U.S. troops during the Second Great War. In early 1944, Hardeeville was taken by the United States Army, lead by Lt. Boris Lavochkin. Shortly after, Lavochkin met with Mayor Darius Douglas on the outskirts of the town. Douglas was indifferent to the town's decision to deport its Negro population to death camps, and disgusted at Lavochkin for being so concerned about the deaths of "coons". Lavochkin shot Douglas in the face, and returned to town, announcing that Douglas had been defying U.S. authority. Immediately, a local boy started shooting at U.S. troops from a window. The boy and his mother were instantly killed. Another sniper began firing. In response, Lavochkin ordered the indiscriminate shooting of the civilian popula