Fort Boykin is a historic site in Isle of Wight County, Virginia, located along the James River.

The history of the site is believed to date back to 1623 when colonists were ordered to build a fort to protect them from attacking Native Americans or Spanish marauders.

The attack claimed 347 people in the Virginia colony, a quarter of the population, including 52 in Warrosquyoake Shire (an early name for Isle of Wight County).

[3] Although the records do not reveal any direct engagements with the fort, it is known that the British warship HMS Plantagenet lay offshore in the river for several months.

[6] During that time, the British attempted to land at the wharf of The Rocks plantation, only to be beaten back by the men stationed at the fort.

[5] The American Civil War brought a renewed interest in the fort by the Confederate Army, and the size was doubled from that of its previous incarnation.

[5] Between June 1861 and May 1862, the Confederate Army cleared, refurbished and refortified Fort Boykin as one in a series of earthworks designed to prevent invasion by the Union,[7] whose buildup at the mouth of the James River posed a severe threat to Richmond.

[3][5] For the remainder of the war, the site was used by the Confederate Signal Corps, among whose ranks were poet Sidney Lanier and his brother Clifford.