The Battle of Sullivan’s Island, fought on June 28th, 1776, was a stinging defeat for the British navy at the hands of state forces of South Carolina, and a testament both to the patriots of the American war for Independence, and the merciful Providence of God that enabled the American cause of liberty to triumph that afternoon over the forces of British tyranny.

 Background

Although the attention of the British army in 1775 was fixated upon the siege of Boston, they did not completely neglect the Southern colonies, where the spirit of liberty burned just as strongly, despite the large Tory populations. The news of the massacre at Lexington and the successful defeat of the British at Concord roused the patriots in the Southern colonies to throw in their lot with the New Englanders. In South Carolina, the patriots began raising regiments, seizing, and storing gunpowder, including from a brig captured off Augustine, and on September 4th, James Island was seized on the order of the Council of Safety. On September 15th, the royal governor, Lord William Campbell, fled to the safety of a British vessel offshore. From here, he wrote to the king asking for a British invasion of the colony, and pointing out that relative ease with which the obstinate American “rebellion,” as the British considered it, could be put down:

Let it not be entirely forgot that the king has dominions in this part of America. What defense can they make? Three regiments, a proper detachment of artillery, with a couple of good frigates, some small craft, and a bombketch, would do the whole business here.[1]

Similar sentiments flowed from the pen of Josiah Martin, the royal governor of North Carolina, also induced to flee by the patriots. Although forced to flee from North Carolina, South Carolina did not escape his attention. He wrote:

The people of South Carolina forget entirely their own weakness and are blustering treason; while Charleston, that is the head and heart of their boasted province, might be destroyed by a single frigate. In charity to them and in duty to my king and country, I give it as my sincere opinion that the rod of correction cannot be spared.[2]

The British had no intentions of sparing the “rod of correction,” and a naval and military expedition was accordingly fitted out to attack the Southern Colonies. News of this reached the South Carolinians when they seized a British vessel and private dispatches between the British government and at least one British royal governor. King George III, it was announced in the in the captured correspondence, “…being determined, in concurrence with Parliament, to pursue the most vigorous measures for reducing his rebellious subjects in North America to obedience,” had organized a force “…of seven regiments and a fleet of frigates and small ships,” which was “in readiness to proceed to the Southern colonies…in the first place to North Carolina, and from thence either to South Carolina or Virginia…as circumstances shall permit.”[3]

Now forewarned of British intentions, the South Carolinians wasted no time in preparing for a defense of the colony. As Henry B. Carrington notes, “they were especially influential in stirring up the people of Charleston to prepare for the worst.”[4] Three regiments, two of foot and one of rangers, were raised.

The field officers of the First regiment, were, Colonel Christopher Gadsden, Lieutenant Colonel Isaac Huger, and Major Owen Roberts; and of the Second regiment, Colonel William Moultrie, Lieutenant Colonel Isaac Motte, and Major Alexander McIntosh. Among the captains were Charles C. and Thomas Pinckney, Francis Marion, Peter and Daniel Horry, William and Benjamin Collet, Francis Huger and Charles Motte. William Thompson was elected colonel and James Mayson was elected lieutenant colonel of the Rangers.[5]

To take command of the newly created Southern Department, to oversee the defense of the Southern Colonies, was assigned Major General Charles Lee, whom was considered the most knowledgeable and experienced of all the generals then in American service. Because the intercepted letter had given North Carolina as the first British destination, Lee went first to Wilmington, North Carolina.

In his absence, Colonel Moultrie oversaw the construction of Charleston’s defenses. Flanking Charleston harbor were James Island on the south, and Sullivan Island on the north, with a third island, Long Island in the center. On James Island, Fort Johnson, which had been seized in September and held against the royal governor since then, bristled with twenty guns, and a separate battery on the same island mounted twelve more.[6] A battery was placed at Haddrell’s Point, and other fortifications, consisting of batteries, fleches, and bastions, were erected along and behind the waterfront. However, it was on Sullivan’s Island that Moultrie concentrated the bulk of his efforts. Here, construction was started of the main fortification to guard the harbor entrance, Fort Sullivan, in January. Moultrie planned “a square redoubt with a long pointed bastion at each angle.”[7] By January 15th, “the discipline of the troops had become so well advanced that every company had its designated rendezvous in case of alarm, and nearly seventy guns were in position…the men were drilled in the exercise of extinguishing fires, planting ladders and whatever else might be required in case the city was shelled and set on fire.”[8] By April 26th, the number of heavy guns available in position had increased to one hundred.

  The British Fleet Sails

In the meantime, the British had not been idle. A fleet of warships and transports had been gathering in Cork under the command of Sir Peter Parker, comprising the 50-gun flagship Bristol, the frigates, Active, Actaeon, Solebay, and Syren, with 28 guns, and the 20 gun Sphinx, the Friendship with 22, the sloop Ranger with 8 guns, the schooner St. Lawrence with six, and the bomb ketch Thunder mounting six, plus two mortars. These warships were to escort thirty transports carrying 2,500 troops from six regiments, the 15th, 28th, 33rd, 37th, 54th, and 57th, and seven companies of a seventh, the 46th. British general Sir Henry Clinton was in command of the troops; Admiral Parker had command of the naval vessels, with the sailors and marines. On February 13th, the British fleet weighed anchor, bound for Cape Fear, North Carolina, as per the plan. Five days out of Cork, however, the providence of God intervened to thwart British plans in the form of violent storms which scattered the vessels. Some of the ships returned to Cork, and others put in at the Plymouth and Portsmouth. Due to this delay, it was not until May 3rd, that the whole fleet reassembled there. However, the passage of time now caused the British to rethink the military expedition’s objective. A rising of North Carolina Tories had been decisively put down at the battle of Moore’s Creek bridge on February 27th, and the British could no longer factor them into their plans. Royal Governors Dunmore of Virginia and Campbell of South Carolina argued strenuously for their states to be the place for the British invasion. Campbell won out, because South Carolina contained the most important port south of Philadelphia, Charleston harbor.[9] So, the British made the taking of this city their first military objective and the destination of the fleet.

Admiral Sir Peter Parker.

 Prelude

At Wilmington, General Lee wrote on June 1rst, that the fleet had sailed, whether north or south he was not sure. However, the people of Wilmington believed that Charleston was the intended British target, and so Lee went there, with a reinforcement of 2,000 men under his command. It was the right guess, because the British fleet dropped anchor a short distance off Charleston simultaneous with his arrival at that place on June 4th.[10] Colonel Moultrie reported that Lee’s “presence gave us great spirits, as he was known to be an able, brave, and experienced officer, though hasty and rough in his manners, which the officers could reconcile themselves at first: it was thought by many that his coming among us equal to a reinforcement of 1000 men, and I believe it was, because he taught us to think lightly of the enemy, and gave a spur to all our actions.”

On June 9th, Lee was formally given command of the South Carolina troops. The formality of this was necessitated because Lee did not technical authority of the South Carolina troops, who were under the supreme command of Governor John Rutledge, but only of the 2,000 troops that he had brought with him. These were two North Carolina regiments and a Virginia regiment under Colonel Peter Muhlenberg. Some of the South Carolinians had downright refused to follow his orders, and this necessitated Rutledge formally giving him the command, stating “the command of all the regular forces and militia of this colony, acting in conjunction, with them being invested in Major General Lee, orders issued by him are to be obeyed.”

Lee first visited Rutledge and explained his plan of defense to the governor, then visited the fortifications, giving orders for things to be done as he thought necessary. “He was every day and every hour of the day on horseback, or in boats viewing our situation and directing small works to be thrown up at different places.” However, when Lee got a look at Fort Sullivan, still in the process of construction, the principal American fortification, he didn’t like it at all. There was no way to retreat, he objected; the place was a “slaughter pen.” He wished to withdraw the garrison and give up the fort, but both Rutledge and Moultrie were adamantly opposed to this. Lee settled for building a bridge of boats across to the mainland to secure a line of retreat. This effort however, had to be abandoned because not enough boats were available to span the length to the mainland, since the distance was over a mile. A second attempt, using empty hogsheads buoyed at certain distances with planks stretched from hogshead to hogshead also failed, Moultrie reported, because it sank upon the weight of 200 men who attempted to cross it.  Moultrie was never in any anxiety about his line of retreat, writing, “for my part, I never was uneasy on not having a retreat because I never imagined that the enemy could force me to that necessity; I always considered myself as able to defend that post against the enemy.” Indeed, when an American sea captain pointed out to Moultrie that “those ships come to lay along side of your fort, they will knock it down it half an hour,” an opinion that was shared by all the sailors, Moultrie replied, “We will lay behind the ruins and prevent their men from landing.”

Colonel William Moultrie

Although the British fleet had reached Charleston on June 4th, they were not ready to attack immediately. In order for the British ships to avoid running aground in the shallow water off Charleston, it was necessary for them to take soundings and bearings in order to ascertain the depth of the water. It was also necessary for them to find a “find a channel past the bar and buoy it.”[11] The shallow water around Charleston harbor made operations of the British fleet near it very difficult, for the depth of the water of the harbor entrance at its deepest point was in the north channel close by Sullivan Island where the depth was thirteen feet. The other channels ranged from nine to seven feet, which necessitated that that ships attempting to enter the harbor sail past Sullivan’s Island and the guns of Fort Sullivan. The depth of water over the sandbar itself varied with the tides. At low tides, the depth was eleven and a half, while at high tide it was nineteen feet.[12]

It is obvious that there is no depth of water which will give to a naval force a choice of position or room to wear on or off at will; that a landing which can not be made through the marshes of the mainland must be made upon Sullivan Island…that the small channels with seven feet of water must require boats for a passage, and that there be some solid landing place, or there can be no efficient landing at all under fire.[13]

The frigates and most of the transports had gotten across the bar by June 7th and anchored in the deeper water at Five Fathom Hole. Admiral Parker had a tougher time getting his bigger and heavier warships over the bar. Although most of these did so by the tenth, two of his warships were unable to do so, and had to be lightened by removing their naval artillery, before they were able to cross the sandbar.  Further delays were caused by violent windstorms, and it was not until June 28th that offensive operations against Fort Sullivan were ready to commence. Nevertheless, the British had not been completely inactive during this period. On June 7th, Admiral Parker sent a messenger under a white flag to offer terms; the messenger was fired upon by an ignorant American sentry, prompting Moultrie to apologize to Admiral Parker and promising to receive a second messenger. And so, a second messenger was sent by Admiral Parker offering a proclamation of pardon to all that would return their allegiance to the British crown. On June 9th, General Clinton landed 500 troops on Long Island, and Lee responded by detaching Lieutenant Colonel Thompson’s regiment of South Carolina Rangers, 200 Continental Army troops under Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Clark, 200 South Carolina troops under Captain Daniel Horry and finally, a small party of militia, a total of 780 men, to dislodge the British from Long Island.[14] However, the order was soon after canceled, because it was impractical to implement, and the troops were instead sent to the northeast end of Sullivan Island.[15]

The delays were certainly of benefit to Colonel Moultrie, for Fort Sullivan was still under construction, and every delay allowed him to strengthen the fort and further its construction. Nevertheless, the fort was still unfinished and incomplete by June 28th. Moultrie records:

…our fort at this time was not nearly finished; the mechanics and negro laborers were taken from all the works about the town and sent down to the Island to complete our fort, we worked very hard, but could not get it nearly finished before the action.

And Ward records:

The plan was for a square redoubt with a long, pointed bastion at each angle. So far as it was completed, it was built of two parallel walls of palmetto logs laid upon one another, the two rows tied together at intervals with logs dovetailed and bolted at each end. The space between the lines of logs, sixteen feet long, was filled with sand. There were proper embrasures for cannon all along its sides and in its bastions, the merlons, or spaces between them, being especially strengthened. Inside platforms for the guns were supported on brick pillars, the walls rising ten feet above them. At the time of the attack upon it, only the front wall, toward the sea, its two bastions, and the wall on the southernly side, with the gun platforms, had been finished. The other two walls and the two rear bastions had been built to a height of no more than seven feet. Thus, it was practically open and undefended in the rear and on the northerly side.[16]

The uncompleted nature of the fort was a beautiful sight to British eyes, since it seemed to offer them a more vulnerable target. Admiral Parker was of the impression that two rounds apiece from all his guns would be sufficient to knock out the fort and open the way for an assault. He was of the impression that the whole operation would be an easy one, and that his sailors and marines could handle the storming of the fort, by themselves, without reliance upon Clinton’s army troops.

 

 The American Dispositions

The morning of July 28th, Colonel Moultrie rode out to inspect the advance guard on the northeast point of Sullivan Island three miles from the fort, just after daylight. It was just after he had finished when he beheld:

“a number of the enemy’s boats in motion, at the back of Long Island, as if they intended a descent upon our advanced post; at the same time, I saw the men of war loose their top-sails; I hurried back to the fort as fast as possible; when I got there the ships were already under sails; I immediately ordered the long roll to beat, and officers and men to their posts, when the following ships of war came sailing up as if in confidence of victory…”

Fort Sullivan was not merely unfinished; it was also undermanned. Though the planned garrison of the fort was a thousand men, it was currently manned only by Colonel Moultrie’s 2nd North Carolina regiment, which comprised 413 men, and by the 4th Artillery of 22 men. These served thirty-one guns. Ward writes:

Along the front [of Fort Sullivan] were mounted six 24-pounders and three 18 pounders. Along the southerly side were six guns, 9 and 12 pounders. In each bastion were five guns, ranging from 9 to 26 pounds. Somewhat to protect its undefended rear, a traverse—that is to say, a simple line of earthworks – was drawn across from one side of the enclosure to the other, and epaulements, or similar earthworks, had been hastily erected outside the fort, extending from the rear bastions to right and left. Three 12-pounders were mounted in each of these. Thus, the front, including the two breastworks, and excluding four guns on the inner side of each bastion, showed twenty-one guns to an enemy directly below it, while the southerly side showed only nine – six in the wall and three in the breastwork on that side.[17]

Ammunition was, however, not in plentiful supply. Each gun had approximately only thirty rounds per piece. The 1rst South Carolina regiment under Colonel Gadsden, 380 men, and a small group of artillerymen held Fort Johnson. The other battery on James Island was held by Captain Thomas Pinckney with a company from Gadsden’s regiments.

 

 The Attack on Fort Sullivan

At 9:00 am, Admiral Parker signaled to Clinton that he intended to attack Fort Sullivan at flood tide. At 10:30 am, he signaled to his warships, to commence their reduction of the fort. The bombardment was opened by the bomb ketch Thunder, covered by the 22-gun Friendship, which anchored a mile and a half from the fort, and commenced lobbing shells at it. But it was nearly 11:00, when Parker’s first division of warships (Solebay, Experiment, Bristol, and Active, in that order), sailed to within four hundred yards opposite the fort, and “dropped anchor with springs on their cables, in line broadside to the fort, at wide intervals.”[18] The Americans opened fire first, “as soon as they came within reach of our guns,” wrote Moultrie. “They were soon abreast of the fort, let go their anchors, with springs upon their cables, and begun their attack most furiously.” The first British broadside did surprisingly little damage. The soft palmetto logs absorbed the cannonballs and scattered no wooden splinters. The mortar shells too, were ineffective. Moultrie writes that the Thunder “…threw her shells in good direction, and most of them fell within the fort, but we had a morass in the middle that swallowed them up instantly, and those fell in the sand, in and about the fort, were immediately buried, so that very few bursted among us.” The frigates Sphynx, Actaeon, and Syren, moved on a more southerly course, having been ordered to pass the first division, and take up position west of the fort, in order to subject it to enfilading fire.[19] The sloop Ranger and the schooner St. Lawrence had orders to act in concert with the small boats which were to ferry the British soldiers from Long Island to Sullivan’s Island to take Fort Sullivan by storm.[20]

When all the British ships reached their stations, they began to pour a combined bombardment from a hundred naval guns against the little uncompleted fort, besides the mortar shells of the Thunder. Unfortunately, for the British, despite their “furious and incessant” fire, in the words of Lee, and their “brisk fire,” in the words of Moultrie, their awesome bombardment was having little effect. The soft palmetto logs absorbed the cannon balls, and they did not scatter splinters when they hit. Thus, the walls of the fort were not battered down, and casualties in the fort did not mount from flying wood splinters. Moultrie wrote: “They were could not make any impression on our fort, built of palmetto logs and filled in with earth, our merlons were 16 feet thick, and high enough to cover the men from the fire of the tops…”

Nevertheless, Moultrie did fear when a broadside from several of the British ships struck the fort at the same instant. The blow caused the whole fort to shake, and Moultrie feared lest the British knock down the walls with a few more such well combined broadsides. But his fears were unfounded. The walls of Fort Sullivan held against the British blows.  But while the British were unable to seriously damage the fort, Moultrie’s gunners were able to seriously damage Admiral Parker’s ships, on the other hand. “Mind the Commodore, mind the two fifty-gun ships,” was the word passed to the gunners by Moultrie and his officers. The South Carolina gunners fired their cannon slowly and deliberately, aiming carefully, and conscious both to conserve ammunition and to make every shot count. A British observer reported or it: “The Provincials reserved their fire until until the shipping were advanced to within point blank shot; their artillery was surprisingly well served; it was slow but decisive; indeed, they were very cool, and took great care not to fire except when their guns were exceedingly well directed.”[21]

The American shooting was devastatingly accurate and deadly, as the British found out to their consternation. The two British men of war, Experiment and Bristol, bore the brunt of the American fire, and with terrible results, being reduced almost to floating wrecks. Early in the action, the Bristol’s cable was cut by an American cannonball, and the flagship swung around, stern toward the fort, which drew the fire of every available American gun. The hapless flagship was then savaged by a storm of American cannon fire, which raked her fore and aft. She was heavily damaged in her hull, yards and rigging. The mizzenmast was hit a total of seven times by thirty-two-pound balls, and so badly damaged that it would fall over the next day, and the mainmast was so badly damaged, from nine hits, that the British would be obliged to cut off twenty-two feet of it, and to “case and fish” the remainder, and to “fish” the foremast.[22] The head of the main topmast, and caps of the bowsprite and top gallant mast [were also] shot away…”[23] “Perhaps an instance of slaughter cannot be produced,” wrote a British observer. Twice the American fire swept the quarter deck of the Bristol and cut down every man there with the exception of Admiral Parker, who was wounded. The captain’s arm was shot off, and he would expire a week later. Admiral Parker reported forty men killed and seventy-one wounded aboard the flagship. She was so badly damaged by the seventy hits she absorbed that had the sea been rough instead of calm, she certainly would have floundered. The Experiment was riddled, sustaining heavy damage to her hull, masts, yards, and rigging, and suffered twenty-three killed and fifty-six wounded, according to Admiral Parker. Her captain lost his left arm.[24] British attempts to perch snipers in the rigging of the ships were foiled by the fire. While most of the American attention was concentrated on the bigger vessels, the Active and Solebay were hit as well. The former suffered casualties of one killed and six wounded, and the latter casualties of eight wounded. The Thunder was soon hit as well, and her mortar beds disabled.

But the hail of American shellfire soon slackened, for the defenders needed to conserve ammunition, and finally fell silent. The British supposed that they had silenced the fort, but fire was resumed within an hour, again with devastating impact. The 2nd Division of Admiral Parker had no better success. Thanks to the “strange unskillfulness of the pilot,” as reported by Edmund Burke, the Sphynx and the Syren got fouled up, the former losing her bowsprit, and ran aground in the shallow water upon the sandbar, a fate, which the Actaeon also shared. Moultrie reported that if the British vessels had been able to enfilade Fort Sullivan, they would have forced its abandonment. The grounding of these ships and the pilot error was a most Providential occurrence to the American cause.

The performance of the American gunners was superb. “Never were men fight more bravely, and never were men more cool,” Moultrie reported. Their chief worry was a shortage of gunpowder and ammunition, and Moultrie reports that if they had not been low on such, they would have sunk the British vessels, or at least compelled them to strike their colors and surrender. The chief affliction of the gunners that day was not in enemy fire, but in heat and thirst.

It being a very hot day, we were served along the platform with grog in fire-buckets, which we partook of very heartily: I never had a more agreeable draght than that which I took out of one of those buckets at the time; it may be very easily conceived what heat and thirst a man must feel in in this climate, to be upon a platform on the 28th of June, admidst 20 or 30 heavy pieces of cannon, in one continual blaze and roar; and clouds of smoke curling over his head for hours together; it was a very honorable situation, but a very unpleasant one.

This is not to say, however, that the defenders had everything their own way. The Americans did suffer casualties, most of these occurring from shots that passed through the embrasures. “Young, the barber, an old artillery man, who lately enlisted as a sergeant, has lost a leg. Several arms are shot away,”[25] wrote one American the day after the battle. A cannonball removed the shoulders of a Sergeant McDaniel, who had been distinguishing himself throughout the battle,  and “scooped out his stomach,”[26] but the brave American died gallantly, urging his fellow patriots, as he was being taken off to see a doctor, to “fight on, my brave boys; don’t let liberty expire with me today!”[27] The Americans suffered a total a total of twelve men killed and twenty-four wounded. The battle was watched with “anxious hopes and fears,” by the inhabitants of Charleston, some of whom had relatives and husbands participating in the defense, and “whose hearts,” Moultrie reports, “must have pierced at every broadside.” All the Americans performed heroically that day, but none so heroically as a sergeant named Jasper, of the 2nd Regiment.

After the battle had been raging for some time, the flagstaff was shot away and collapsed outside the wall. Supposing that the fort must have struck its colors, and that the battle was lost, the watching spectators were aghast. However, their hopes would be restored by the gallant Sergeant Jasper. Perceiving that the flag was down outside the fort, he resolved to recover it. “Colonel,” he called out to Moultrie. “Don’t let us fight without our flag!” “What can you do?” Moultrie responded. “The staff is broke.” “Then sir,” Jasper answered, “I’ll fix it to a halbert and place it on the merlon of the bastion next to the enemy.” And the brave patriot was as true as his word. Sergeant Jasper leapt from one of the embrasures and recovered the flag. Fixing it to a sponge-staff, he brought it back to the fort under heavy British fire and planted it atop the ramparts once again.[28] And upon seeing the blue banner, with the silver crescent moon in one corner, and the word “Liberty,” emblazoned on it, once again waving defiance, the “drooping spirits of our friends,” Moultrie wrote, were “revived.”

Sergeant Jasper returns the flag.

Despite the efforts of Moultrie’s gunners to conserve powder and balls, ammunition continued to run low. General Lee had ordered Moultrie to spike his artillery and retreat, should his ammunition run out, but this would not be necessary for Governor Rutledge now sent Moultrie 500 pounds of gunpowder, with an attached note: “Do not make too free with your cannon.” And the American fire continued, slowly but steadily. Moultrie reports that Lee visited the fort during the battle. “During the action, General Lee paid us a visit through a heavy line of fire and pointed two or three guns himself; then said to me, “Colonel, I see you are doing very well here, you have no occasion for me. I will go up to the town again, and then left us.” Lee was quite impressed with the skill and coolness of the American gunners, writing “The behavior of the garrison, both men and officers, with Colonel Moultrie at their head, I confess astonished me. It was brave to the last degree. I had no idea that so much coolness and intrepidity could be displayed by a collection of raw recruits.”[29] The British bombardment continued all afternoon, and so did the return fire of the fort, but as darkness drew near and finally fell, the action slackened, and at 9:30 am, the guns on both sides finally fell silent.[30] “At length,” wrote Moultrie, “the British gave up the conflict. Their ships slipped the cables and dropped down with the tide, and out of the reach of our guns.”

The reason why was that the British had been stymied in all their efforts, and Admiral Parker had thus thrown in the towel. It was no longer possible for his shattered 50-gun ships to support an amphibious landing, and the efforts of his three frigates to get above Sullivan’s Island and subject the Americans to enfilading fire had failed with the three vessels running aground on the sandbar. His attempt to land troops from Long Island onto Sullivan’s Island and take the fort by storm after a softening up bombardment from the fleet had likewise failed. Sphynx and Syren eventually managed to get off the sandbar and into deeper water, with considerable damage and difficulty, such that they were not able to support any landings either. They joined up with the 1rst Division. But Actaeon failed to extricate herself and remained aground in the shallow water. Not only had Fort Sullivan not been sufficiently softened, but the troops had failed to land. Carrington reports:

Clinton had loaded his boats and attempted to cross to Sullivan Island. The men could not wade through the deep water: and the loaded boats could do nothing upon intermediate shoals, with a depth of less than eighteen inches. The withering fire of the American riflemen who were under close cover, rendered every vigorous effort to force the army to the shore, a sure delivery of the command to entire destruction.[31]

And so, after two attempts, the landing attempt had to be abandoned. As the sun fell, the watching citizens of Charleston feared the worst, and were reassured by a dispatch boat sent out from Moultrie which assured the townspeople that the British had retired, and that the Americans were victorious.

Morning found Actaeon still stuck fast on the sandbar 400 yards from Fort Sullivan. She had failed during the night to extricate herself. Capture or destruction at the hands of the Americans was a foregone conclusion, and so her crew made the decision to scuttle her. The Americans opened fire on her when the sun rose, and the British returned fire, but the exchange of gunfire did not last long. The British before long took to their boats and abandoned Actaeon, which they set afire and left to her fate. Captain Jacob Milligan took a boarding party aboard her from some boats, and they used the frigate’s own guns to fire upon the retiring British. They departed not long after, after stripping the ship of her bell and other articles, and it was well that they did, because no sooner had they departed, than the frigate, in Moultrie’s words: “blew up, and from the explosion issued a great grand pillar of smoke, which soon expanded itself at the top, and to appearance, formed the figure of a palmetto tree; the ship immediately burst into a great blaze that continued till she burnt down to the water’s edge.”

 Retirement of the British

The British effort had been a futile one, though hardly unenergetic. Indeed, 7,000 cannonballs were later found on Sullivan’s Island. The British had expended 34,000 pounds of powder in the engagement, while the Americans expended 4,766 pounds.[32] The Americans observed that the British ships lay about 2 miles away and were taken a considerable drubbing from American gunfire. Though the British had been soundly beaten, they did not retire right away. Clinton’s troops remained on Long Island for nearly three weeks. At the end of that time, they were reloaded again on the transports and sailed away to New York. The warships remained at anchor some time longer, repairing the terrific damage they had sustained at the hands of the Americans. Then they too, lifted anchor, and retired to join the immense armada gathering for the invasion of Long Island and New York. Naturally, the British were sore losers, considering the fact that they had not expected the unfinished fort to hold against the gun batteries of their fleet, nor the troops of Clinton to fail to land on Sullivan’s Island, and Parker and Clinton each blamed the other for the failure of the operation. However, as Carrington points out, neither man was to blame for this:

Useless differences arose between that officer [Clinton] and Commodore Parker. Each did his duty gallantly and well. Neither had the right to blame the other for the alternations of deep and shoal water, which rendered impossible the success of either.[33]

Neither could blame be assigned to the frigate captains whose ships had run aground on the sandbar. Though Parker had the captains and officers court-martialed, they were acquitted of all charges, and Parker was forced to admit that “Captain Hope [of the Actaeon] made his armed his ship as useful as he could on this occasion, and he merits everything that can be said in his favor.”[34]

    Aftermath

The Americans on the other hand had every reason to be exceedingly proud of their victory. The South Carolinians in their little palmetto fort had held off a squadron of medium sized ships of the largest navy in the world, “the mistress of the seas,” as Britain was called, and had prevailed. The people of South Carolina had shown the world that when it came to political liberty they were just as zealous and committed as those of New England. It was a trait they would exhibit again in 1861 when they sacrificed that precious security of union for the sake of liberty. Commendations were in order for some of the defenders, in particular Sergeant Jasper.  In a ceremony after the battle, Governor Rutledge did not forget the courageous deed of the courageous man. One writer records:

Gov. Rutledge called Sergt. Jasper from the ranks, and unfastening his own sword, handed it to the brave hero, amid the cheers of his own soldiers. “Hereafter you are Captain Jasper; your commission shall be made out at once,” the governor added. “Never did a man better deserve promotion,” said General Moultrie. “He is one of the truest men we have in the regiment, which is the highest praise where all our heroes,” added Major Marion. To the surprise of all, Jasper refused the promotion and honor. “I am greatly obliged to you, governor,” he said, “but I had rather not have a commission. As I am, I pass very well with such company as a poor sergeant has any right to keep. If I were to get a commission, I should be forced to keep higher company, and then as I don’t know how to read, I should be only throwing myself in a way to be laughed at.” “If you do not know how to read, you know how to be a true hero,” exclaimed the governor, and the soldiers cheered, for the compliment to Jasper they felt was one to them likewise. “If he will not accept a captaincy,” said the lovely wife of Col. Elliot of the artillery, “he will not refuse to receive for his regiment, a set of colors.” A most superb set of colors, embroidered with gold and silver by her own dainty hands, were handed to the brave fellow. “I will guard them with my life,” he said, as he took them from the lady.[35]

And do just that he did, even in his death in action at the siege of Savannah. But Jasper alone was not singled out for praise. The Continental Congress gave their praise as well. From the pen of its president, John Hancock came the following commendation on July 20th, 1776:

Resolved, That the thanks of the United States of America, be given to Major General Lee, Colonel William Moultrie, Colonel William Thompson, and the officers and soldiers under their commands; who, on the 28th of June last, repulsed, with so much valor, the attack which was made on the State of South Carolina, by the fleet and army of his Britannic majesty. That Mr. President transmit the foregoing resolution to Major General Lee, Colonel Moultrie, and Colonel Thompson. By Order of the Congress, John Hancock, President.

Though General Lee had considered Colonel Moultrie “too easy in command” prior to the battle of Sullivan’s Island, he came to acquire a high degree of respect for the man after the battle, and Moultrie records that Lee “became my bosom friend,” following the engagement. Despite his opposition to holding Fort Sullivan, “he was one of the first to congratulate Colonel Moultrie upon his final success.”[36] Moultrie had assured Lee he could hold the fort, and he had proved as good as his word. Little wonder then, that Fort Sullivan would be henceforth forever dubbed Fort Moultrie. There the forces of liberty met the forces of tyranny and liberty triumphed. Praise be to God!

Lessons

In conclusion, what lessons can we as Christians learn from this battle in the 21rst century. Several lessons immediately stand out.

First, the zealous stand of liberty made by our ancestors.

We have already noted the zeal and the valor of the South Carolinians. May we follow their example in the great contest for liberty that is being waged in our day against the forces of tyranny. Though our war as yet has not reached the point of bloodshed, we should heed the example of the brave men of Fort Sullivan. And like Jasper we should be willing to risk our lives, as well as our fortunes and sacred honors, in the cause of political liberty should our war turn hot.  And like McDaniel we should, if God sees fit to take our life in the cause of freedom, to die a noble and Christian death.

Second, the providence of God toward the American cause.

Despite the valor and skill of the South Carolinians, the victory would have been won had not the three British frigates run aground, and their failure in doing so was the result of a mere accident that the Americans cannot take credit for. Credit for this can also go to God. The “accidental” – we would say providential – nature of this fact is brought home by Ward:

No one could possibly have foreseen the accident that enabled the Americans to win – the grounding of the Actaeon, the Syren, and the Spynx on the Middle Ground. There was plenty of water between that shoal and the southern end of Sullivan’s Island to permit the three vessels to come to anchor in the undefended rear of the fort and then to blast the garrison out of its defenses. But for that accident, the whole tide of battle might have turned against the Americans. But that is the way with battles.[37]

May a knowledge of such blessings galvanize our hearts as we set our hands to the warfare, both physical and spiritual, we face.

 

Bibliography

Christopher Ward The War of the Revolution (New York, New York: The MacMillan Company 1952)

Henry B. Carrington Battles of the American Revolution (New York, New York: Promontory Press [Reprint] 1877)

Quoted in Rupert Furneaux, The Pictorial History of the American Revolution as Told by Eyewitnesses and Participants (Chicago, Illinois: J.G. Ferguson Book Publishing Company, 1973)

William James Morgan (ed.) Naval Documents of the American Revolution (Washington, D.C. Government Printing Office 1970)

William Moultrie, Memoirs of the American Revolution (New York, David Longworth, 1802)

John DeMorgan The Patriot Marion and His Men, Or The Swamp Fox of Carolina (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: David McKay, Publisher, 1892)

Endnotes

[1] Quoted in Christopher Ward The War of the Revolution (New York, New York: The MacMillan Company 1952) II:665

[2] Ibid pp. 665-666

[3] Ibid p. 669

[4] Henry B. Carrington Battles of the American Revolution (New York, New York: Promontory Press [Reprint] 1877) p. 178

[5] Ibid p. 179

[6] Quoted in Christopher Ward The War of the Revolution (New York, New York: The MacMillan Company 1952) II:671

 

[7] Quoted in Christopher Ward The War of the Revolution (New York, New York: The MacMillan Company 1952) II:671

[8] Henry B. Carrington Battles of the American Revolution (New York, New York: Promontory Press [Reprint] 1877) p. 179

[9] Quoted in Christopher Ward The War of the Revolution (New York, New York: The MacMillan Company 1952) II:670

[10] Ibid

[11] Ibid p. 673 The bar here referred to was a sandbar

[12] Henry B. Carrington Battles of the American Revolution (New York, New York: Promontory Press [Reprint] 1877) p. 177

[13] Ibid

[14] Christopher Ward The War of the Revolution (New York, New York: The MacMillan Company 1952) II:673

[15] Henry B. Carrington Battles of the American Revolution (New York, New York: Promontory Press [Reprint] 1877) p. 184

[16] Christopher Ward The War of the Revolution (New York, New York: The MacMillan Company 1952) II:671

[17] Ibid p. 672

[18] Ibid p. 674

[19] Henry B. Carrington Battles of the American Revolution (New York, New York: Promontory Press [Reprint] 1877) p. 187

[20] Ibid

[21] Quoted in Rupert Furneaux, The Pictorial History of the American Revolution as Told by Eyewitnesses and Participants (Chicago, Illinois: J.G. Ferguson Book Publishing Company, 1973) p. 97

[22]  To fish a mast or yard is to fasten a piece of timber of a plank to the mast or yard in order to shore up and strengthen the said mast or yard. The piece of plank used in this way is called a fish.

[23] William James Morgan (ed.) Naval Documents of the American Revolution (Washington, D.C. Government Printing Office 1970) 5: 1001

[24]“After having the two bones of his forearm shattered by a chain shot, and receiving a wound from a ball in his neck, he was taken into the cock- pit, where he readily submitted to amputation, which was performed just above the elbow. During the operation a red-hot ball went through the cockpit, which killed two of the surgeon’s assistants and wounded the purser. After the confusion which this circumstance occasioned was over, Capt. Morris insisted on being carried on the quarter-deck to resume his command; which being complied with, he continued the fight for a considerable time after, till he was shot through the body. A prodigious effusion of blood following, and his dissolution being apparently at hand, one of the officers asked him, if he had any directions to give with respect to his family, to which he heroically answered, ” None!” as he left them to the providence of God, and the generosity of his country!” His Majesty, accordingly, immediately on receiving an account of this affair, fent the Captain’s widow an handsome present, and fettled a pension on her and her children.” (Edmund Burke An Impartial History of the War in America [London, England: R. Fauldner, 1780] pp. 317-318

[25] Quoted in Rupert Furneaux, The Pictorial History of the American Revolution as Told by Eyewitnesses and Participants (Chicago, Illinois: J.G. Ferguson Book Publishing Company, 1973) p. 98

[26] Quoted in Ibid p. 97

[27] Quoted in Ibid

[28] According to George Mason Weems, Jasper, after snatching up the flag, “kissed [it] with great with enthusiasm,” and after having planted it atop the ramparts, he waved his hat in the air, and shouted encouragement to his comrades, “God save liberty and my country forever!” The act of Jasper in stopping under heavy fire to slather kisses on the flag and to stand on the rampart under heavy British fire, and shout what he did, only stand as testament to the fearlessness and patriotic zeal of this brave man.

[29] Quoted in Christopher Ward The War of the Revolution (New York, New York: The MacMillan Company 1952) II:676

[30] Christopher Ward The War of the Revolution (New York, New York: The MacMillan Company 1952) II:676

[31] Henry B. Carrington Battles of the American Revolution (New York, New York: Promontory Press [Reprint] 1877) p. 188

[32] Christopher Ward The War of the Revolution (New York, New York: The MacMillan Company 1952) II:677

[33] Henry B. Carrington Battles of the American Revolution (New York, New York: Promontory Press [Reprint] 1877) p. 190

[34] William James Morgan (ed.) Naval Documents of the American Revolution (Washington, D.C. Government Printing Office 1970) 5: 999

[35] John DeMorgan The Patriot Marion and His Men, Or The Swamp Fox of Carolina (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: David McKay, Publisher, 1892) p. 64

[36] Henry B. Carrington Battles of the American Revolution (New York, New York: Promontory Press [Reprint] 1877) p. 183

[37] Christopher Ward The War of the Revolution (New York, New York: The MacMillan Company 1952) II:678