Battle of Sullivans Island Part 4: Charleston prepares for war

The pre revolution defenses of Charleston were mainly Fort Johnson on James Island, the town militia, and parish militia. The only other military buildings in the general area around Charleston were the Powder Magazine in Charleston and the tabby fort at the town of Dorchester 30 miles upriver from Charleston. The common thread for these defenses was that they were never meant to fight off a major power alone. They were designed to hold off attackers until the British Fleet and Army could come to the rescue of Charles Town. As long as the colony of South Carolina had the protection of the crown it could hold its own against the Native Americans, but not much more. Also with the protection of the crown the colonist did not want to add more defenses because that would require public spending which would causes taxes and we know how they felt about taxes.




Fort Johnson had been guarding the harbor since 1704 on the Southern entrance to the harbor protecting against the ever present Spanish threat from Florida and the French threat from the Caribbean which caused it to be strengthened in 1759 during the French and Indian War. The Powder Magazine was built in 1713 to hold the powder stores for the colony. By the time of the revolution it had already gone out of service, but was used by the patriots as a meeting point and for storage for incoming troops and their munitions. The Powder Magazine can still be visited today in down town Charleston. The fort at the town of Dorchester was built in 1757 to help protect the town from possible French and Indian attacks during the French and Indian War. Its location on the Ashley River meant that it would be the first road block on one of the two the main river transport systems from the interior of South Carolina to the capital at Charleston the other system being the Cooper River. It was constructed out of tabby walls on a bluff overlooking the river. In 1775 a powder magazine was built out of brick in the middle of the fort for storage of extra powder outside of Charleston for either Charleston’s defense if they needed it or for a forward storage area for the interior of the colony by the Patriots. This site can also be visited today to see the fort still intact, a church site, and what’s left of the Powder Magazine.

These defensive positions around Charleston were not in the best of shape in 1775 when the colony of South Carolina decided to rise up with the other colonies to defy their King. In fact, by 1775 the powder magazine and the fort at Dorchester were for the most part abandoned. Fort Johnson was in little better shape, but it was kept in some state of readiness by the British.

This was the state of defense in Charleston when they decided to join the other colonies. As soon as the path was clear that some sort of armed revolt was coming the colonist began to construct works on different parts of the harbor for their protection against their new threat, the British.

This began to change once the South Carolinas began to organize a patriot government. In September of 1775 the South Carolinas took position of Fort Johnson and began to arm the fort with new cannons and to repair the cannons the British had spiked upon their abandoning of the fort. The strengthening of Fort Johnson was assigned to the First South Carolina. Also, this was the time period that the fort at Dorchester began to get its new powder magazine. Four 18lb guns were also placed on Haddrell’s point, on present day Mount Pleasant to guard the Cooper River entrance to Charleston in the inner harbor defenses. This building up of the batteries around Charleston helped to convince Gov. Lord Campbell and the two British ships in the harbor the HMS Tamar and HMS Cherokee where he was trying to cause an uprising of Natives and Tories that it was time to leave before they were caught in a trap.

One of the first things that came about on Sullivan’s Island was that Col. Moultrie of the 2nd South Carolina ordered men from both the 1st and 2nd SC to send a combined force of 225 men to the island on January 10th, 1776 to build a fascine battery on the tip of the island guarding the entrance to the harbor. A fascine battery is one made primary out of sticks that are tied together almost like baskets for protection. Facing any type of artillery barrage this type of battery would be of little use to its defenders. So on March of 1776 Col. Moultrie was ordered to Sullivan’s Island to build a fortification of real substance with his 2nd South Carolina that could hold out the Royal Navy. This was accomplished with the use of mechanics, army personnel, slaves, and volunteers who worked around the clock to build the fortification. This fort was built out of sand and palmetto logs which came from all over the harbor. To get the palmetto logs to the island, they were tied together in rafts and floated to the beaches of the island and then dragged to the construction site by animal and man power. The plan was for the fort to have 16 feet thick walls and 500 feet long around its perimeter with walls 10 feet higher than the gun placements. The palmetto trees would form an inner and outer wall with sand in between to give maximum protection to the guns and their crews inside the fort.

Besides Fort Johnson on James Island, another battery was placed on James Island with twelve cannons in an inner defense position in case the British Fleet got past Fort Johnson. This second battery on James Island was also garrisoned by the 1st South Carolina.

Christopher Gadsden

In the city proper the town was building redoubts, fortifications, and batteries to repel the British if they should get past the outer harbor defenses. One of the most substantial fortifications was placed on and near Gadsden’s wharf one of the largest private wharfs in North America and which was garrisoned by the 4rth South Carolina. Its owner Christopher Gadsden was a member of the 1st and 2nd Continental Congress and a Lt. Col in the 1st South Carolina Regiment. He is also famous for the Gadsden Flag which he designed with the yellow back ground, coiled snake, and the words “don’t tread on me” located on it. These fortifications in the city proper mainly went up on the Cooper River side of Charleston since it was the location where almost all of the industry in Charleston was located at during this time period.

During the spring of 1776 the harbor was full of the sounds of construction and troops drilling in the air as the thought of a British fleet showing up outside the harbor made the work have urgency and real purpose. Also during this time period troops began to come from Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia to aid in the defense of Charleston. Along with the troops came Continental Officers such as General John Armstrong, General Charles Lee, and other to help build and lead the defense of Charleston.



The next in piece in the series will be on the British fleet arriving and the battle.

Battle of Sullivan's Island Part Three

As the British began to pull anchors and set sail for Charleston Harbor, the Patriot forces there were putting their defenses in the ready. This process had already started in January of 1775 when the colony voted to leave the British Empire and set up its own government. This was done after they had sent five representatives to the Continental Congress in September of 1774 in hopes of repairing the relationship between colony and mother country. The Continental Congress was unable to solve the problems and all hope was lost when word reached South Carolina of the Battles of Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts in May of 1775. Once the South Carolines knew there was to be a shooting war they began to build up defenses and recruit troops.


The first troops raised to fight the British Empire in South Carolina were the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th South Carolina. The first two were to be of the line with the third being a ranger regiment to control the inland region of South Carolina and the forth was designated an artillery regiment. Also in the fall of 1775 South Carolines started to take control of key military sites in the harbor and the city proper. This included the fort on James Island, Fort Johnson, the powder magazine in downtown Charleston, and other strategic points in the harbor. The other strategic points included Haddrell Point and at the water front of Charleston, where cannons were placed to defend the city and to help dislodge Governor Campbell from the harbor, where he was still trying to govern from two British warships sitting there. The other keep point that the Patriots began to place guns was on Sullivan’s Island. Sullivan’s Island is located on the Northern approach to the harbor and with it being fortified caused the governor and the British fleets to leave before damage could be done to them in the late fall of 1775. While this was going on in Charleston, militia in the outer parishes of South Carolina began to drill and prepare for the British.

While the South Carolina Provincial Government was preparing for the expected British attack the merchants in Charleston were producing goods as fast as they could. These goods were for the war effort in the North and also for the new trade routes that opened once South Carolina decided to leave the Empire. The workshops and the docks were at full capacity bringing in much need war material and profit for the local merchants. Ships from many nations were in and out of Charleston harbor as fast as they could load and unload. These ships were not involved in diplomatic relations; they were involved in moving valuable cargo to and from Charleston to the Caribbean and other points on the globe. This preparing for war and making a profit for the local merchants and farmers went on for a few months. That was until the return of John Rutledge in February of 1776 from the Continental Congress with word of a British fleet heading south from New England. In February of 1776 the first meeting of the General Assembly occurred and they elected John Rutledge President of South Carolina.

The election of John Rutledge (pictured to the right) marked a turning point in creating a stronger defense of Charleston. Besides the election of Rutledge in February in March the Continental Congress also started to take the threat of a British invasion of the South very seriously and they appointed General Charles Lee as Commander of the Southern Theater of operations. General Lee made his head quarters in Williamsburg, Virginia as he felt that either Virginia or South Carolina would be the place that the British struck in the South. Also in March of 1776 President Rutledge ordered a fort built on Sullivan’s Island to defend the Northern approach to the harbor. He gave this task to Col. William Moultrie and his command, the 2nd South Carolina.

In the next article we will discuss how the fort was built on Sullivan’s Island and

how other defenses were created in Charleston.

Col. William Moultire

Battle of Stono Ferry Part Two

As we left off last time, General Prevost has decided to move his British troop back to Savannah using the Sea Islands as protection since the Royal Navy controls these waters and so that he can move his troops through areas where they can find supplies. To accomplish this, he first selected the Stono Ferry as his main land disembark point to start his plan of island hopping back to Savannah. From the Stono Ferry he was shipping his troops across from the river from main land to John’s Island. So this is the point where he needed to protect his beach head the most. This was the one spot where the Continentals could attack him without having to chase him from island to island. Also this point gave him an avenue to allow any Tories to join his ranks and to forage if possible.


To accomplish this goal, he built a position guarding the ferry. This included three redoubts with cannons, an abates all along the perimeter of fallen trees with the limbs and points sticking out to slowing the enemy advancing, and around 900 men under the command of Lt. Col John Maitland of the 71st Regiment of Foot (Frasier’s Highlanders). With Lt. Col Maitland at Stono Ferry he had his First battalion of the 71st, a detachment of Royal Artillery, a detachment of Hesse Kassel Regiment (Hessians), the Royal North Carolina Regiment (Provincial Unit), a royal navy barge, and South Carolina Tory Militia. Their job to hold the ferry landing on the Charleston side until the main British force had made its way across Johns Island. They were not looking for a fight since the main bulk had already crossed the river and they were exposed until they got across the Stono also.

The date that started the British retreat from Charleston back to Savannah was May the 12th when the bluff was up and Prevost decided the time was right to leave. Some time on June the 12th General Lincoln decided it was time to follow the British with his full Continental Army. Charleston was secure from the British attack and this was his chance to attack them with a superior force. To accomplish this he decided on a two prong attack. The first prong was to be himself with the 4rth North Carolina, the 5th North Carolina, the 4rth South Carolina (Artillery), North Carolina Militia, the Sixth South Carolina, the 3rd South Carolina (Rangers), the 1st Georgia, the 2nd Georgia, the 3rd Georgia, the 4rth Georgia, South Carolina Militia, Count Pulaski’s Legion, North Carolina Dragoons, South Carolina Dragoons, South Carolina Militia, and Virginia Militia. This main force was to proceed directly from Charleston down the Jacksonboro Road to Stono Ferry and attack the British position there. While he was doing that General Moultrie of the first attack of Charleston fame was to take a mixture of militia and some Continental troops from the garrison of Charleston and move across the Wappoo River to James Island. Once on James Island he was to make a demonstration to catch the main British forces attention while he attacked the exposed force on the main land. The big problem for this was that he needed to cross the river before the attack was to begin to accomplish this diversion of the main British force, which as events pan out he does not accomplish.

On the morning of June 20th almost six weeks since Prevost asked Charleston to surrender, General Lincoln had forced marched his army 8 miles and was now ready to attack the Stono Ferry with his main force.  The British force was behind its defensive works and readying its self for the American attack. This sets the stage for part three of the Battle of Stono Ferry which will be up next week.


The American Forces at the Battle of Stono Ferry


Commanding
Brig. General Benjamin Lincoln

Right wing of Attack
Commander Brig. General Jethro Sumner of North Carolina

4th North Carolina
Hillsborough District Militia NC
4th SC Artillery detachment

Left Wing of Attack
Commander Brig. General Isaac Huger

1st South Carolina
3rd South Carolina
4rth SC Artillery detachement
6th South Carolina
1st Brigade of South Carolina Militia
2nd Brigade of South Carolina Militia
3rd Brigade of South Carolina Militia
4rth Brigade of South Carolina Militia

Reserve:
Commander Brig General Count Pulaski

Pulaski’s Legion
South Carolina Light Dragoons
Lower Ninty six District regiment
Virginia Militia
Catawba Indian Company
Virginia Militia Artillery

Flags of the Hesse Kassel and 71st Regiments