SOUTHERN CRUISE OF SIR HENRY CLINTON—FORTIFICATIONS AT
CHARLESTON—ARRIVAL THERE OF GENERAL LEE—BATTLE AT SULLIVAN’S
ISLAND—WASHINGTON ANNOUNCES THE RESULT TO THE ARMY.
Letters from General Lee gave Washington intelligence of the fate of Sir
Henry Clinton’s expedition to the South; that expedition which had been
the subject of so much surmise and perplexity. Sir Henry in his cruise
along the coast had been repeatedly foiled by Lee. First, as we have
shown, when he looked in at New York; next, when he paused at Norfolk in
Virginia; and lastly, when he made a bold attempt at Charleston in South
Carolina; for scarce did his ships appear off the bar of the harbor,
than the omnipresent Lee was marching his troops into the city.
Within a year past, Charleston had been fortified at various points.
Fort Johnson, on James Island, three miles from the city, and commanding
the breadth of the channel, was garrisoned by a regiment of South
Carolina regulars under Colonel Gadsden. A strong fort had recently been
constructed nearly opposite, on the south-west point of Sullivan’s
Island, about six miles below the city. It was mounted with twenty-six
guns, and garrisoned by three hundred and seventy-five regulars and a
few militia, and commanded by Colonel William Moultrie, of South
Carolina, who had constructed it. This fort, in connection with that on
James Island, was considered the key of the harbor.
Cannon had also been mounted on Haddrell’s Point on the mainland, to the
north-west of Sullivan’s Island, and along the bay in front of the town.
The arrival of General Lee gave great joy to the people of Charleston,
from his high reputation for military skill and experience. According to
his own account in a letter to Washington, the town on his arrival was
“utterly defenceless.” He was rejoiced therefore, when the enemy,
instead of immediately attacking it, directed his whole force against
the fort on Sullivan’s Island. “He has lost an opportunity,” said Lee,
“such as I hope will never occur again, of taking the town.”
The British ships, in fact, having passed the bar with some difficulty,
landed their troops on Long Island, situated to the east of Sullivan’s
Island, and separated from it by a small creek called the Breach. Sir
Henry Clinton meditated a combined attack with his land and naval forces
on the fort commanded by Moultrie; the capture of which, he thought,
would insure the reduction of Charleston.
The Americans immediately threw up works on the north-eastern extremity
of Sullivan’s Island, to prevent the passage of the enemy over the
Breach, stationing a force of regulars and militia there, under Colonel
Thompson. General Lee encamped on Haddrell’s Point, on the mainland, to
the north of the island, whence he intended to keep up a communication
by a bridge of boats, so as to be ready at any moment to aid either
Moultrie or Thompson.
Sir Henry Clinton, on the other hand, had to construct batteries on Long
Island, to oppose those of Thompson, and cover the passage of his troops
by boats or by the ford. Thus time was consumed, and the enemy were,
from the 1st to the 28th of June, preparing for the attack; their troops
suffering from the intense heat of the sun on the burning sands of Long
Island, and both fleet and army complaining of brackish water and scanty
and bad provisions.
At length on the 28th of June, the Thunder Bomb commenced the attack,
throwing shells at the fort as the fleet, under Sir Peter Parker,
advanced. About eleven o’clock the ships dropped their anchors directly
before the front battery. “I was at this time in a boat,” writes Lee,
“endeavoring to make the island; but the wind and tide being violently
against us, drove us on the main. They immediately commenced the most
furious fire I ever heard or saw. I confess I was in pain, from the
little confidence I reposed in our troops; the officers being all boys,
and the men raw recruits. What augmented my anxiety was, that we had no
bridge finished for retreat or communication; and the creek or cove
which separates it from the continent is near a mile wide. I had
received, likewise, intelligence that their land troops intended at the
same time to land and assault. I never in my life felt myself so uneasy;
and what added to my uneasiness was, that I knew our stock of ammunition
was miserably low. I had once thought of ordering the commanding officer
to spike his guns, and, when his ammunition was spent, to retreat with
as little loss as possible. However, I thought proper previously to send
to town for a fresh supply, if it could possibly be procured, and
ordered my aide-de-camp, Mr. Byrd (who is a lad of magnanimous courage),
to pass over in a small canoe, and report the state of the spirit of the
garrison. If it had been low, I should have abandoned all thoughts of
defence. His report was flattering. I then determined to maintain the
post at all risks, and passed the creek or cove in a small boat, in
order to animate the garrison in propria personâ; but I found they had
no occasion for such an encouragement.
“They were pleased with my visit, and assured me they never would
abandon the post but with their lives. The cool courage they displayed
astonished and enraptured me, for I do assure you, my dear general, I
never experienced a better fire. Twelve full hours it was continued
without intermission. The noble fellows who were mortally wounded,
conjured their brethren never to abandon the standard of liberty. Those
who lost their limbs deserted not their posts. Upon the whole, they
acted like Romans in the third century.”
Much of the foregoing is corroborated by the statement of a British
historian. “While the continued fire of our ships,” writes he, “seemed
sufficient to shake the fierceness of the bravest enemy, and daunt the
courage of the most veteran soldier, the return made by the fort could
not fail calling for the respect, as well as of highly incommoding the
brave seamen of Britain. In the midst of that dreadful roar of
artillery, they stuck with the greatest constancy and firmness to their
guns; fired deliberately and slowly, and took a cool and effective aim.
The ships suffered accordingly, they were torn almost to pieces, and the
slaughter was dreadful. Never did British valor shine more conspicuous,
and never did our marine in an engagement of the same nature with any
foreign enemy experience so rude an encounter.”[89]
The fire from the ships did not produce the expected effect. The
fortifications were low, composed of earth and palmetto wood, which is
soft, and makes no splinters, and the merlons were extremely thick. At
one time there was a considerable pause in the American fire, and the
enemy thought the fort was abandoned. It was only because the powder was
exhausted. As soon as a supply could be forwarded from the mainland by
General Lee, the fort resumed its fire with still more deadly effect.
Through unskilful pilotage, several of the ships ran aground, where one,
the frigate Actæon, remained; the rest were extricated with difficulty.
Those which bore the brunt of the action were much cut up. One hundred
and seventy-five men were killed, and nearly as many wounded. Captain
Scott, commanding the Experiment, of fifty guns, lost an arm, and was
otherwise wounded. Captain Morris, commanding the Actæon, was slain. So
also was Lord Campbell, late governor of the province, who served as a
volunteer on board of the squadron.
Sir Henry Clinton, with two thousand troops and five or six hundred
seamen, attempted repeatedly to cross from Long Island, and co-operate
in the attack upon the fort, but was as often foiled by Colonel
Thompson, with his battery of two cannons, and a body of South Carolina
rangers and North Carolina regulars. “Upon the whole,” says Lee, “the
South and North Carolina troops and Virginia rifle battalion we have
here, are admirable soldiers.”
The combat slackened before sunset, and ceased before ten o’clock. Sir
Peter Parker, who had received a severe contusion in the engagement,
then slipped his cables, and drew off his shattered ships to Five Fathom
Hole. The Actæon remained aground.
On the following morning Sir Henry Clinton made another attempt to cross
from Long Island to Sullivan’s Island; but was again repulsed, and
obliged to take shelter behind his breastworks. Sir Peter Parker, too,
giving up all hope of reducing the fort in the shattered condition of
his ships, ordered that the Actæon should be set on fire and abandoned.
The crew left her in flames, with the guns loaded, and the colors
flying. The Americans boarded her in time to haul down her colors, and
secure them as a trophy, discharge her guns at one of the enemy’s ships,
and load three boats with stores. They then abandoned her to her fate,
and in half an hour she blew up.
Within a few days the troops were reembarked from Long Island; the
attempt upon Charleston was for the present abandoned, and the fleet
once more put to sea.
In this action, one of the severest in the whole course of the war, the
loss of the Americans in killed and wounded, was but thirty-five men.
Colonel Moultrie derived the greatest glory from the defence of
Sullivan’s Island; though the thanks of Congress were voted as well to
General Lee, Colonel Thompson, and those under their command.
“For God’s sake, my dear general,” writes Lee to Washington, “urge the
Congress to furnish me with a thousand cavalry. With a thousand cavalry
I could insure the safety of these Southern provinces; and without
cavalry, I can answer for nothing. From want of this species of troops
we had infallibly lost this capital, but the dilatoriness and stupidity
of the enemy saved us.”
The tidings of this signal repulse of the enemy came most opportunely to
Washington, when he was apprehending an attack upon New York. He writes
in a familiar vein to Schuyler on the subject. “Sir Peter Parker and his
fleet got a severe drubbing in an attack upon our works on Sullivan’s
Island, just by Charleston in South Carolina; a part of their troops, at
the same time, in attempting to land, were repulsed.” He assumed a
different tone in announcing it to the army in a general order of the
21st July. “This generous example of our troops under the like
circumstances with us, the general hopes, will animate every officer and
soldier to imitate, and even outdo them, when the enemy shall make the
same attempt on us. With such a bright example before us of what can be
done by brave men fighting in defence of their country, we shall be
loaded with a double share of shame and infamy if we do not acquit
ourselves with courage, and manifest a determined resolution to conquer
or die.”