Clinton Repulsed.

Cannonade of Fort Sullivan.

Fate of the British Fleet.

Charleston, Parker ordered the Sphynx, Actæon, and Syren to take a position in the channel on that side, so as to enfilade the garrison. Had they succeeded, surrender or certain destruction must have been the alternative for the Americans. The three vessels advanced to execute the orders, when they all struck upon a shoal called the Middle Ground, and while thus entangled a very destructive fire was poured upon them from the fort. The Sphynx got off with the loss of her bowsprit, and the Syren without much injury, and withdrew to another part of the harbor; but the Actæon was too thoroughly grounded to be moved. Simultaneously with the advance of the ships to the attack of Fort Sullivan, Clinton's batteries upon Long Island, and some floating batteries in the creek, opened upon those of Thomson; and a portion of the British land forces embarked in boats under cover of their artillery, to force their way to assail the fort on the west, where it was unfinished, or at least to prevent Lee from sending re-enforcements or ammunition from Haddrell's Point, across the bridge of boats which had now been constructed. Clinton's whole regular force on Long Island was about two thousand troops, and between five and six hundred seamen. Colonel Thomson had only two cannons, but his riflemen were among the best marksmen in the state. He allowed Clinton's flotilla to approach within musket shot, when he opened a destructive fire upon them from his battery and small arms. Several attempts to advance were made, and every time the sure marksmen of Carolina swept many from the boats, and Clinton was obliged to abandon his design. Lee, who had perceived the weakness of the fort on its western side, and penetrated the design of Clinton, observed this retrograde movement with joy; and when at about two o'clock, the garrison ceased firing, on account of the exhaustion of ammunition, he sent a sufficient supply from Haddrell's Point and a schooner, and the defensive cannonade was resumed.

The fire from the ships was almost incessant, and yet the patriots in the fort were firm.' Their shots were dreadfully effective, and the ships were severely battered and maimed. Anxiously the seamen and marines turned their eyes toward the East, expecting aid from Clinton, but it did not appear. For ten long hours, while the iron storm from the fort was beating their ships in pieces, and sweeping whole ranks from the decks, scarcely a ray of hope appeared for the seamen; and when the sun went down, its last gleams were upon the scarlet coats and burnished arms of the British, yet upon Long Island, and kept at bay by Thomson's batteries and sure-aimed riflemen. The contest continued without intermission until sunset, when it slackened, and at half past nine in the evening it entirely ceased. At eleven o'clock the shattered vessels slipped their cables and withdrew to Five Fathom Hole, about two miles northeastward of Fort Johnson, except the Acteon, which remained aground. Early the next morning the garrison fired a few shots at her, which were returned. At the same time, Clinton made another effort to cross from Long Island to Sullivan's Island, but Thomson confronted him with such hot volleys, that he was obliged to retreat behind his batteries. Perceiving further efforts to reduce the fort, especially in his

1 Burke, in his Annual Register, gave the following graphic account of the naval engagement and the fort: While the continued thunder from the ships seemed sufficient to shake the firmness of the bravest enemy, and daunt the courage of the most veteran soldier, the return made by the fort could not fail of calling for the respect, as well as of highly incommoding the brave seamen of Britain. In the midst of that dreadful war of artillery, they stuck with the greatest firmness and constancy to their guns, fired deliberately and slowly, and took a cool and effective aim. The ships suffered accordingly; they were torn to pieces, and the slaughter was dreadful. Never did British valor shine more conspicuous, and never did our marines, in an engagement of the same nature with any foreign enemy, experience as rude an encounter. The springs of the Bristol's cable being cut by the shot, she lay for some time exposed in such a manner to the enemy's fire as to be most dreadfully raked. The brave Captain Morris, after receiving a number of wounds, which would have sufficiently justified a gallant man in retiring from his station, still with a noble obstinacy disdained to quit his duty, until his arm being at length shot off, he was carried away in a condition which did not afford a possibility of recovery. It is said that the quarter-deck of the Bristol was at one time cleared of every person but the commodore, who stood alone, a spectacle of intrepidity and firmness which have seldom been equaled, never exceeded. The others on that deck were either killed or carried down to have their wounds dressed. Nor did Captain Scott, of the Experiment, miss his share of the danger or glory, who, besides the loss of an arm, received so many other wounds, that his life was at first despaired of."

Burning of the Acteon.

Effect of the Battle.

The Loss.

Bravery of Sergeant Jasper.

crippled condition, to be futile, Parker ordered the crew of the Acteon to set fire to and abandon her. They did so, leaving the colors flying and guns loaded. When they had left, the Americans boarded her, secured her colors as a trophy, carried off the ship's bell, fired her guns at the Bristol, loaded three boats with stores, and set her on fire. Within

This battle was one of the severest during the whole war, and while it redounded to the military glory of the Americans, and greatly increased the patriot strength at the South, it was regarded by the British as peculiarly disastrous, aside from the actual loss of life and property in the action.1 This discomfiture occurred at a time when the British were desirous of making the most favorable impression here and in Europe, for Lord Howe was then on his way as a commissioner to settle all disputes, or as a commander to prosecute the war. His course was to be determined by circumstances. This was the first time that the Americans had encountered a regular British fleet. The fact that it had been terribly shattered and driven to sea was very humiliating to the vanquished, and, at the same time, encouraging to the victors, at a moment when a brilliant act like this was of immense moment to the Republican cause.

a June 31.

On the morning after the battle, the British fleet left Charleston harbor, and proceeded to Long Island to recruit. Almost every vessel was obliged to remain for that purpose. On the thirty-first, General Clinton, with Cornwallis and the troops, escorted by the Solebay frigate, with Sir Peter Parker on board, sailed for New York with a heavy heart. The joy of the Americans on account of this victory was unbounded, and the praises of the actors were upon all lips. On the day when Clinton sailed, a the lady of Bernard Elliot presented Colonel Moultrie's regiment with a pair of elegant colors. The loss on board of the ships was frightful. Every man stationed on the quarter-decks of the vessels, at the beginning of the action, was either killed or wounded. The commodore suffered a slight contusion. Captain Morris soon afterward died of his wounds. Forty men were killed and seventy-one wounded, on board the Bristol. The Experiment had twenty-three killed and seventy-six wounded. Her commander, Captain Scott, lost an arm. Lord William Campbell, the last royal governor of the province, who served as a volunteer, was badly wounded at the beginning of the action. The whole loss of the British, in killed and wounded, was two hundred and twenty-five. The Bristol had not less than seventy balls put through her. When the spring of her cable was cut, she swung round with her stern toward the fort, and instantly every gun that could be brought to bear upon her hurled its iron balls upon her. At the beginning of the action, Moultrie gave the word, "Mind the commodore and the fifty gun ships!" These were the principal sufferers. Although the Thunder-bomb cast more than fifty shells into the fort, not one of them did serious damage. There was a large moat, filled with water, in the center of the fort, which received nearly all of the shells, and extinguished the fusees before the fire reached the powder. Others were buried in the sand, and did no harm. Only ten of the garrison were killed and twenty-two wounded. Most of these were injured by shots which passed through the embrasures. Moultrie says that, after the battle, they picked up, in and around the fort, twelve hundred shot of different calibre that were fired at them, and a great number of thirteen inch shells.

During the action, Sergeant William Jasper, whom we have already met at the Spring, near Savannah, and witnessed his death while planting the Carolina flag upon the parapet of the British works, at the siege of that town, performed a daring feat. At the commencement of the action, the flag-staff was cut away by a ball from a British ship, and the Crescent flag of South Carolina, that waved opposite the Union flag upon the western bastion, fell outside, upon the beach. Jasper leaped the parapet, walked the length of the fort, picked up the flag, fastened it upon a sponge staff, and in the midst of the iron hail pouring upon the fortress, and in sight of the whole fleet, he fixed the flag firmly upon the bastion. Three cheers greeted him as he ascended to the parapet and leaped, unhurt, within the fort. On the day after the battle, Governor Rutledge visited the fort, and rewarded Jasper for his valor by presenting him with his own handsome small sword which hung at his side, and thanked him in the name of his country. He offered him a lieutenant's commission, but the young hero, who could neither read nor write, modestly refused it, saying, "I am not fit to keep officer's company; I am but a sergeant."

Mrs. Elliot is represented as one of "the most busy among the Revolutionary women, and always active among soldiers." She was a niece of Mrs. Rebecca Motte, the patriot widow of Orangeburg, mentioned on page 683, and during the whole war was a useful co-worker with her republican husband.

The wife of Charles Elliot, brother of Bernard Elliot, was also a glorious Whig. Her wit and repartee often scathed the proud feelings of the British officers, when the royal army occupied Charleston. On one occasion, Colonel Balfour was walking with her in her garden, when, pointing to a chamomile flower, he asked its name. "The rebel flower," she replied. "And why is it called the rebel flower?" asked Because," replied Mrs. Elliot, "it always flourishes most when trampled upon."

the officer.

Presentation of Standards.

Patriotism not sectional.

Declaration of Independence.

Fort Sullivan.

These were the standards which were afterward planted on the walls of Savannah by Bush, Hume, and Jasper.' They were afterward captured when Charleston fell, and were seen years after the war, among other British trophies, in the Tower of London." The Legislature of South Carolina changed the name of the fort from Sullivan to Moultrie, in honor of its brave defender; and on the twentieth of July,a the Continental Congress passed a resolution of thanks to General Lee, Colonels Moultrie and Thomson, and the officers and men under their command."

a 1776.

For three years after the repulse of the British from Charleston, South Carolina enjoyed comparative quiet while the war was raging at the North. Yet her sons were not idle listeners to the roar of cannons in New England, New York, and Pennsylvania, but flocked thither in hundreds, under brave leaders, to do battle for their common country. The patriots of that war were not divided by sectional interests. There was no line of demarkation over which men hesitated to pass. A desire for the happiness of the New England people was a twin sentiment with love for his own fireside, in the heart of the Carolinian and Georgian; and the bosom of the "Green Mountain Boy" heaved as strongly with emotions of joy when a blow for freedom was successfully dealt among the rice lands of the South, as when the shout of victory went up from the heights of Saratoga.

Upon the western frontiers of the South, the Indians, stirred up by Tory emissaries, gave the people some trouble; but from the day when the Declaration of Independence was read at Liberty Tree, until the opening of the campaign of 1779, the people of Charleston continued in quiet pursuit of lucrative commerce. Yet prosperity did not stifle aspirations for freedom, nor the accumulation of riches cause hesitation when danger drew nigh and demanded sacrifices. The spirit of liberty burned with a light as steady and eternal as the polar star, even amid the clouds and darkness of intensest sufferings which ensued.

I visited Sullivan's Island on the day of my departure from Charleston,b and b January 29, sauntered for an hour upon the beach where the old Palmetto Fort once stood.

VIEW AT FORT MOULTRIE.S

1849.

Nothing of it now remains but a few of the logs imbedded in the drifting sand. The modern Fort Moultrie is not a large, but a well-constructed fortification. The island is sandy, and bears no shrub or tree sponta

neously except the Palmetto, and these are not seen in profusion. On the northwestern

One of them was of fine blue silk, and the other of fine red silk, richly embroidered.

3 Journals, ii., 260. Johnson (page 189) relates that on that occasion (fifth of August, 1776) the people of Charleston, young and old, of both sexes, assembled around Liberty Tree (see page 748) with all the military of the city and vicinity, drums beating and flags flying. The ceremonies were opened with prayer. The Declaration was then read by Major Bernard Elliot (whose lady presented the flags, mentioned on page 756), and were closed by an eloquent address by the Reverend William Percy, of the Protestant Episcopal Church It was a hot day, and Mr. Percy's black servant held an umbrella over his head and fanned him during the delivering of his address. Alluding to this, a British wag wrote:

"Good Mr. Parson, it is not quite civil

To be preaching rebellion, thus fanned by the devil."

5 This view is from the southwestern angle of Fort Sullivan, looking toward James's Island. That angle, with cannons, a portion of the barracks, and the flag-staff, are seen on the right. The small building toward the left marks the center of the old Palmetto Fort. In the distance is seen Fort Sumter, and in the extreme distance, close by the angle of the fort, is seen the village upon the site of old Fort Johnson. Charleston bar, at the entrance of the harbor, is about six miles from the city. The width of the inner harbor, at its mouth, is about a mile wide. This is guarded by Forts Moultrie, Sumter, and Johnson, and by Castle Pinckney, a handsome work in front of the city, within the inner harbor.

The British Lazaretto

Formation of an Army under Lincoln.

Major Thomas Pinckney.

side of the island are the remains of an old causeway or bridge, extending to the main, nearly upon the site of a bridge of boats, which was used during the battle in 1776. It was constructed after that conflict, at the cost of Christopher Gadsden, and was called Gadsden's Bridge. The British, when they afterward possessed Charleston, used it to pass over to their lazaretto, which they erected on Sullivan's Island. This lazaretto, was upon the site of the present Episcopal church in Moultrieville. A part of the old brick wall was yet standing when I visited the spot in 1849.

We have already considered the demonstration made by the British at the South, in the capture of Savannah at the close of 1778, and also the events in Georgia after the arrival of General Lincoln as commander-in-chief of the Southern army. Lincoln reached Charles

a 1778.

ton on the fourth of December, a and proceeded immediately to re-enforce the scatb Dec. 29, tered army of Howe, after the fall of Savannah.b On the first intimation of the 1778. designs of the British upon the South, North Carolina raised about two thousand men, and placed them under Generals Ashe and Rutherford. They did not arrive in time to aid Howe at Savannah, but helped to augment the small force of Lincoln. These had entered the state; and to the concentration of these troops, and the raising of South Carolina militia, Lincoln bent all his energies. He chose Major Thomas Pinckney' as his chief aid, and on the twentysixth of December, he marched from Charleston with about three hundred levies of that vicinity, and about nine

hundred and fifty levies and militia of North Carolina, for the Georgia frontier. On the way, they met the flying Americans from the disastrous battle at the capital of Georgia, and on the third of January Lincoln established his head-quarters at Purysburg, on the north side of the Savannah River. He had been promised seven thousand men ; he had only about fourteen hundred. He had been promised supplies, instead of which the new levies, and the militia conscripts. who were brought to

head-quarters, were destitute of tents, camp utensils, or lead, and had very little powder, and no field-pieces. The South Carolina militia, under Richardson, were insubordinate, and rapidly melted away by desertion, or became useless by actual refusal to be controled by any but their immediate commanders. Happily, their places were supplied by the arrival 1779. of General Ashe with eleven hundred North Carolinians at the close of January.c

c Jan. 31,

1 Thomas Pinckney was born at Charleston on the twenty-third of October, 1750. His early years were passed in England. At the close of his studies there, he returned to Charleston, and, with his brother, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, was among the earliest and most efficient military patriots in the provincial regiment raised there. Assured of his talents and worth, Lincoln appointed him his aid, and in that capacity he served at the siege of Savannah by the Americans and French in October, 1779. He distinguished himself in the battle at Stono Ferry. He was aid-de-camp to General Gates in the battle near Camden, where he was wounded and made a prisoner. When sufficiently recovered, he was sent to Philadelphia. In 1787, Major Pinckney succeeded General Moultrie as governor of South Carolina; and in 1792, was appointed by Washington, Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of St. James. In November, 1794, he was appointed Envoy Extraordinary to the Spanish court, and repaired to Madrid the following summer. He effected a treaty by which the free navigation of the Mississippi was secured to the United States. He returned to Charleston in 1796. At the beginning of the war of 1812, President Madison appointed him to the command of the Southern division of the army, and it was under General Pinckney that General Andrew Jackson distinguished himself. After the war, General Pinckney retired into private life. He died on the 2d of November, 1828, aged seventy-eight years. He married the daughter of Rebecca Motte.

Battle on Port Royal Island.

Prevost's March toward Charleston.

Preparations to receive him.

While Lincoln was recruiting and organizing an army near Purysburg, General Prevost joined Campbell at Savannah, with seven hundred regular troops from St. Augustine. Hoping to follow up Campbell's success by striking Charleston, he sent forward Major Gardiner with two hundred men, to take post on Port Royal Island, within about sixty miles of the capital of South Carolina. General Moultrie, with about an equal number of Charleston militia, and two field-pieces, attacked and defeated Gardiner on the morning of the third of February.a The British lost almost all of their officers, and several privates were made prisoners. The loss of the Americans was trifling. Gardiner, with the remnant of his force, escaped in boats and fled to Savannah, while Moultrie, crossing to the main, pressed forward and joined Lincoln at Purysburg.

a 1779.

Strengthened by a party of Creeks and Cherokees, for whom a communication with Savannah was opened by the defeat of General Ashe on Brier Creek (see page 713), and informed that Lincoln, with his main army, was far up the river, near Augusta, Prevost determined to attempt the capture of Charleston. With about two thousand chosen troops, and a considerable body of Loyalists and Indians, he crossed the Savannah at Pu- b April 25. rysburg,b and pushed forward by the road nearest the coast, toward Charleston.

When Lincoln was informed of this movement of Prevost, he considered it a feint to draw him from Georgia. With that view he crossed the Savannah, and for three days' marched down its southern side, directly toward the capital of that state, hoping either to bring Prevost back or to capture Savannah. In the mean while, he detached Colonel Harris, with three hundred of his best light troops, to re-enforce Moultrie, who was retreating before Prevost, toward Charleston. Governor Rutledge, who had gone up to Orangeburg to embody the militia, advanced at the same time with six hundred men of that district, and when Lincoln recrossed the Savannah in pursuit of Prevost, the interesting spectacle was presented of four armies pressing toward Charleston.'

When Prevost commenced his invading march, Charleston was quite unprepared for an attack by land. The ferries of the Ashley were not fortified, and only some weak defenses guarded the Neck. Intelligence of the invasion aroused all the energies of the civil and military authorities in the city, and night and day the people labored in casting up intrenchments across the Neck from the Ashley to the Cooper, under the general direction of the Chevalier De Cambray, an accomplished French engineer. The Assembly, then in session, gave Rutledge power only a little less than was conferred upon him a few months afterward, when he was made dictator for the time, and the utmost energy was every where displayed. Lieutenant-governor Bee, with the council, aided the efforts to fortify the town by necessary legal orders. All the houses in the suburbs were burned, and within a few days a complete line of fortifications with abatis was raised across the Neck, on which several cannons were mounted. Colonel Marion, who commanded the garrison at Fort Moultrie, was re-enforced, and the battery on Haddrell's Point was well manned. These arrangements were effected before the arrival of Prevost, who halted, in hesitation, for three days at Pocataligo, on account of conflicting intelligence. This delay was fatal to his success, for it allowed the people of Charleston time to prepare for an attack.

Lincoln's distance from Charleston with the main army, the retreat of Moultrie, and the terror inspired by the torch of the invader, who went on plundering and burning, caused great numbers to remain on their plantations, and to take protection from Prevost. On the evening of the ninth of May, he encamped on the south side of the Ashley River. c 1779. On that and the following day, Moultrie, Rutledge, and Harris arrived with their respective forces. That of Moultrie had dwindled from one thousand men to about six hundred. He immediately took command of all the Continental troops, while Rutledge claimed the control of the militia. This produced some confusion, but no serious misunderstanding.

On the morning of the eleventh of May, Prevost, with nine hundred regulars, crossed the

1 Rutledge, with the men of Orangeburg; Moultrie pursued by Prevost; Prevost pursued by Lincoln; and Colonel Harris with his corps of light troops.