June 23, 1776 Commodore Parker prepares for a naval strike on Charleston
Peter Parker, later Admiral in Chief of the whole Royal Navy
230 years ago on this day in 1776, off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina, British Commodore Sir Peter Parker notifies his boss General Henry Clinton that he will land on the South Carolina mainland the next day on the flood tide, if the wind blows from the south.
After 10 years out of service, Parker received a knighthood in 1772 and rejoined the Royal Navy in 1773. At the outbreak of the American War for Independence, he was charged with supporting Loyalists in the southern colonies and had to split to avoid capture and imprisonment by SC authorities.
The battle
Five days later on June 28, Parker raised the British colors above his ship, HMS Bristol, and at around 10 a.m. his squadron opened fire on the Patriot fortification at Sullivan’s Island off the coast of Charleston.
To the surprise of the British, the fort's palmetto log wall absorbed the British shot like a sponge and prevented the expected splinter injuries to the garrison lying within its walls. South Carolina later declared the palmetto their state tree and it has been used as a state symbol ever after.
Flag flying at Moultrie at the time of this battle
Flag incorporating the palmetto tree adopted right after the battle. Its the state flag of SC today.
The British suffered yet greater upset when they discovered the level of accuracy and efficacy from the fire directed by Patriot Colonel William Moultrie at the British fleet.
William Moultrie, later a US major general. He's buried in nearby Goose Creek SC
Parker's two largest warships suffered extensive damage and severe crew losses. Adding insult to injury, Commodore Parker suffered not only painful physical injuries but also the embarrassing loss of his breeches, when a splinter, like those that failed to wound the Patriots, managed to strike his leg.
Landward entrance to Fort Moultrie. During the Seminole War, Osceola was captured and imprisoned therein. That's his grave inside the wrought-iron fence in the foreground. Some people say the Gamecocks can't beat FSU because of the curse of Osceola and they'll never win a national championship until his body is returned to the Florida swamps.
In addition, HMS Sphinx lost its bowsprit; HMS Actaeon ran aground; and smaller British frigates were damaged. Moultrie's attack cost Parker 261 injured and dead, including Lord William Campbell, the last royal governor of South Carolina, who received a mortal wound aboard HMS Bristol. The Patriots suffered only minor casualties.
During the battle, the fort's flagpole was shot away. Sgt William Jaspar quickly acted. He fashioned a subsitute flag pole from a cannon rammer staff and braved shot and shell to position it on the fort's rampart. This fired everybody up in the fort. Jaspar is remebered in SC for his act to this day and there is a very cool old hotel in downtown Charleston named for the d00d.
The fort on Sullivans Island was later named Fort Moultrie in honor of its first and best commander and you can visit it today. The fort is famous for remaining in military use virtually continuously from 1776 through the end of WWII. As such, it is a remarkable example of American coastal fortifications because it contains portions of Revolutionary sections as well as mid twentieth century technology. Edgar Allen Poe was stationed there during his brief stint in the Army and its environs were the setting for The Gold Bug.
Fort Moultrie today. Its administered by the NPS and you can visit it. The black stuff is concrete built during the Spanish-American War era. It mounted ginormous guns for use against enemy battleships. The yellow masonry was built just after the War of 1812. The little blockhouse on top of the mound behind the black part is an observation post atop an underground command post used during WWII.
Maj Anderson and company bailing out of Fort Moultrie on Christmas night 1860 and sneaking over to Fort Sumter.
On Christmas night of 1860, Maj Robert Anderson evacuated Fort Moultrie with the fort's garrison because it was indefensible from land-born attack. He and his boys rowed out and took up occupancy in an unfinished fort in the harbor called Fort Sumter. This act profoundly p1ssed off SC Confederate forces and would in April of 1861 result in those forces firing on Anderson inside Sumter thus opening the dance on the Civil War.
Fort Sumter in flames, April 1861.
Originally Posted by scaldeddawg
