USA > South Carolina > The history of South Carolina in the Revolution, 1775-1780 > Part 15
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" Though Clinton's troops have shared a different fate 'Gainst them, poor men ! not chosen sure of heaven, The miracle reversed is still as great -
From two feet deep the water rose to seven."
- Johnson's Traditions, 95.
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The bombardment of the fort continued, says a British account, whilst the thunder from the ships seemed suffi- cient 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 roar of artillery the South Carolinians stood 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 conspicuously, nor ever did their marine in an en- gagement of the same nature with any foreign enemy experience so rude an encounter.1
And now General Lee's fears in regard to the danger from an attack upon the fort from the cove side would have been realized but for an accident to the fleet. The Sphynx, Actoon, and Syren, the ships of the second line, were ordered about twelve o'clock to pass the fort and take a position toward the cove of Sullivan's Island for the double purpose of enfilading the front platforms on the southeast curtain and its two bastions whose fire was so destructive to the British ships and crews, and also to cut off communication between Sullivan's Island and Charles- town. Fortunately the manœuvre failed. To make the movement the frigates stood over toward the shallow middle ground opposite to the fort so as to pass clear of the line of ships then closely engaged, and in doing this the Actcon and Sphynx ran foul of each other, and the three stuck fast on the shoal on which Fort Sumter has since been built and stands. The Syren got off, as did the Sphynx, with the loss of her bowsprit, but the Action
1 Annual Register (London), 1776, vol. XIX, 161.
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was left immovable on the shoal. The Syren and Sphynx now withdrew, and bearing away under cover of the ships engaged retired to prepare themselves for further action. The Thunder bombship, too, having thrown fifty or sixty shells with little effect, ceased firing. She had anchored at too great a distance and was therefore compelled to overcharge her mortars, the recoil of which shattered the beds and so damaged the ship as to render her unfit for further service. The combat was now kept up only by the four ships first engaged, but in the afternoon the Brit- ish fire was increased by a reenforcement of the Syren and Friendship.
The fire of the fort was principally directed at the Bristol and Experiment, carrying each fifty guns, and they suffered most incredibly. The first was the flagship on board of which was Sir Peter Parker and with him Lord William Campbell, who had volunteered his service and was complimented with the command of her lower deck. Sir Peter received two wounds, but gallantly remained at his post, encouraging his men and reenforcing his ship from other vessels. Lord William Campbell received a wound in his side, which was at first reported to be not of a serious character, but from the effects of which he ultimately died.1 Early in the action the Bristol had the spring of her cable shot away, which caused her to lie end on to the battery, and was raked fore and aft. She lost upwards of one hundred men killed and wounded. Captain Morris received a number of wounds, but with noble obstinacy disdained to quit his post until his arm was shot off; he died a week after. Perhaps, it was said, another instance of such slaughter could not be produced; twice the quarterdeck was cleared of every person except Sir Peter,
1 Gordon's Am. War, vol. II, 284; Ramsay's Revolution, vol. I, 147; Botta's History, vol. I, 338.
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and he was wounded. The vessel had nine shots in her mainmast, which was so much damaged as to be obliged to be shortened ; the mizzenmast had seven thirty-two-pound- ers, and had to be cut away. The day was very sultry with a burning sun, the wind very light, and the water con- sequently smooth. But for this it is probable the Bristol could not have been kept from filling, as she was hulled in many places and otherwise so damaged that the car- penters of the squadron were called to her for assistance while the battle raged in all its fury. The Experiment suffered almost as much as the Bristol. Captain Scott her commander, like Captain Morris, lost his right arm, and was otherwise so badly wounded that his life, too, was at first despaired of. The number killed and wounded on the Experiment was about the same as upon the Bristol. All the while the battle raged barges were passing from one ship to the other and to and from the transports, removing wounded and bringing fresh men as occasion required. So great was the slaughter on board these two ships that a remonstrance was made to Sir Peter Parker that if the fire from the fort continued, the two ships and their arms would be entirely destroyed; indeed, their abandonment was in contemplation when the fire from the fort slackened from want of powder.
The fort, on the other hand, had not escaped with impu- nity. Three or four of the fleet's broadsides striking the merlons at the same moment shook the slight work to its foundation, and it was apprehended that a few more would realize Lee's predictions and tumble the whole fabric down. Owing, however, to the peculiar character of the palmetto logs of which the fort was built, comparatively little dam- age was done, save in the concussion and shaking of the framework. Though the ships which were to have gained position at the cove failed to do so, yet even from the
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position the ships had reached the southwestern curtain of the fort was so enfiladed and the guns were so often struck that it was apparent that had they reached that point, unless beaten off by the batteries at Haddrell's Point at long range, the fort in all probability would have proved the slaughter pen Lee had predicted. Soon after the action began the three twelve-pounders which were in the cavalier or interior bastion were abandoned, the works not being sufficiently high to protect the men who manned them.
The flagstaff of the fort was shot away some time after and fell with the flag outside the fort. Upon this Sergeant Jasper of the Grenadiers of the Second Regiment leaped down from one of the embrasures, and tearing the flag from the staff returned with it through a heavy fire from the shipping, and fixing it upon a sponge staff planted it once more on the summit of the merlon amidst a rain of shot and shell; then giving three cheers returned to his gun, which he continued to serve throughout the engage- ment.1
While the battle was raging General Lee dispatched a letter by one of his aides, ordering Colonel Moultrie if he should expend his ammunition without beating off the enemy to spike his guns and retreat with all order
1 The example of Sergeant Jasper was repeated, not once or twice, but over and over again, at Fort Sumter and Battery Wagner during the siege of Charleston in 1863-64. At Fort Sumter twenty instances were officially reported - more occurred. Several instances were made subjects of Department General Orders. In this connection the names of twenty- seven officers and men appear with honorable mention in the reports of the commanding officer of Fort Sumter. At Battery Wagner the com- manding officer reports with honorable mention the names of six officers and men. See Defence of Charleston Harbor (Johnson) ; Flag-raising (Sumter), 123, 131, 178, 179, 180, 199, 212, 213, 214 ; Flag-raising (Wag- ner), 106, Ap. Ixxxv.
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possible. Colonel Moultrie was thus placed in a most embarrassing position. If he exhausted his ammunition, he was to desert the fort and thereby to permit Colonel Thomson at the extreme end of the island to be cut off with the whole of his command. But as he was not required by this order to abandon the fort as long as he had ammunition, he determined to save it as long as possible. By slackening the discharges of his guns to intervals of about ten minutes each, he was enabled so to protract the defence and to save the day. The powder, however, being much reduced and a rumor spreading in the fort that the British troops had effected a landing between Colonel Thomson and the fort, Moultrie ceased firing almost entirely, reserving his ammunition for the troops he believed to have effected a landing. This was between three and five in the afternoon. The cessation of the fire was so complete that the British at this time believed that the fort was silenced. President Rutledge however succeeded in sending Moultrie five hundred pounds of powder with a note predicting "honor and victory," and adding by way of postscript, "Do not make too free with your cannon -cool and do mischief." This supply of powder enabled Moultrie to resume his fire at shorter intervals during the rest of the day. About the time the supply of powder sent by Rutledge arrived General Lee came over in a boat from Haddrell's Point through the British line of fire, and ascending the platform of the fort he pointed two or three of the cannon which were dis- charged against the enemy. He remained a quarter of an hour, then saying to Colonel Moultrie, "I see you are do- ing very well here -you have no occasion for me- I will go up to town again," he left the fort, and returned to Haddrell's Point through the same line of fire in which he had come.
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About five o'clock in the afternoon Colonel Muhlenberg of Virginia, with 700 continentals, crossed over from Haddrell's Point and reenforced Colonel Thomson, thus rendering his position more secure against any further attempt from Long Island.
The total number killed in the fort was twelve and the wounded twenty-five. The dying words of Sergeant McDaniel of Captain Huger's company will be remem- bered as long as the story of the battle is told.1 He was cruelly mangled by a cannon ball, yet life and vigor remained long enough to enable him to call to his com- rades, " Fight on, my brave boys ; don't let liberty expire with me to-day."
On the other side the Bristol alone had upward of one hundred men killed and wounded and the Experiment not much less. Each of their captains lost an arm and died a few days after. The Solebay had twelve killed and wounded and the Active seven. Thirty-seven were killed and wounded in the fort, over two hundred in the fleet. The proportion of loss in the fleet was scarcely less than six to one over that in the fort. The fort expended about 4766 pounds of powder, the fleet about 34,000 pounds.
The firing had continued until near seven o'clock in the evening when it slackened with the setting sun, and at half-past nine it ceased on both sides. At eleven the ships slipped their cables without any noise or piping and returned with the last of the ebb tide to their former anchorage near Five Fathom Hole. When the morning of the 29th of June broke upon the scene the Action lay fast ashore at the distance of about a mile from the fort.
1 In accounts given of this battle the name of the hero has usually been given as McDonald, but Drayton gives McDaniel as the true name. Memoirs of the Revolution (Drayton), vol. II, 303.
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The rest of the men-of-war and transports were riding at anchor opposite Morris Island, while Sir Peter Parker's broad pennant was hardly seen on a jury mast consider- ably lower than the foremast of his ship. The blue flag with the crescent and the word "Liberty" still gently waved in the wind from the sponge staff to which it had been fastened by Jasper. Boats were passing and repass- ing in safety between the fort and town, and the hearts of the people were throbbing with gratitude and exulta- tion. The garrison at Fort Moultrie fired a few shots at the Actcon, which were promptly and gallantly returned from her by Captain Atkins, when, to prevent her falling into the hands of the Americans, he set fire to her, taking off her crew in small boats, leaving her colors flying and her guns loaded. But this did not prevent a party under Lieutenant Jacob Milligan of the Carolina ship of war Prosper from boarding her while on fire. This party pointed and fired three of her guns at the British commo- dore, and stripping her of what the pressing moments per- mitted brought off her colors, ship's bell, and as much of her sails and stores as his boats could contain. Milligan had scarcely done this when the Actcon blew up with an awful explosion.
On the 30th of June in the afternoon, General Lee and staff reviewed the garrison at Fort Moultrie and thanked them for their heroic defence, and on the 4th of July President Rutledge visited the garrison, and taking his own sword from his side presented it to Sergeant Jasper as a reward for his bravery and an incitement to further deeds of valor.
Excluding Lexington which ushered in the war, and Yorktown which ended it, the battle of Fort Moultrie must rank with the three most complete and decisive American victories of the Revolution. It was the first
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absolute victory. The next was Saratoga, and the third the culmination of the long series of smaller affairs at King's Mountain. Bunker Hill was a gloriously fought battle, and did much to establish the first confidence of the Americans in the efficacy of their own ability and valor ; but the military advantage of the struggle lay with the British. Princeton and Trenton were brilliant military strokes, which did much to revive the failing spirits of the time, but besides this were productive of no decisive or lasting results. The victory of Fort Moultrie in its moral aspect was as valuable to the cause as Bunker Hill, but it was far more so in the consequences which followed, and the advantages it secured. At Bunker Hill the American troops had exhibited the highest qualities of valor and steadfastness, but the object of the struggle was not attained - the position was ultimately abandoned. At Fort Moultrie they had fought with no less valor and fortunately with the most brilliant success. They had not only resisted but utterly defeated the supposed in- vincible British navy. The little log fort had withstood the broadsides of some of the largest vessels in his Majesty's service, but the material results were far greater. The expedition which so confidently set out to crush and subjugate the Southern colonies was utterly defeated, and these colonies were relieved for three years from invasion, to remain a source of strength and supply to their friends at the North while the war waged there. The victory at Saratoga put an end to the grand strategy by which the New England States were to be cut off and permanently separated from the others, thus it was con- fidently believed practically to end the war. The culmi- nating victory of King's Mountain recalled Cornwallis from the further prosecution of his victorious career, and put an end to the grand movement by which the war was VOL. III. - M
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to be carried " from South to North," and gained time for the coming of the second French fleet. The battle of Fort Moultrie was the first of these great achievements and victories, nor was it the least brilliant of them. Carolinians, North and South, may well remember "Pal- metto Day," and glory in its fame, for Carolinians only were actively engaged in that great battle ; it was South Carolina blood only that was shed on the ramparts of the fort; it was owing only to John Rutledge that the battle was fought, and to William Moultrie that the victory was won ; and yet amidst our rejoicing and pride it is well for us to remember that the result of the battle was, in a manner more than ordinarily manifest, in the hands of the God of Battles by whose behest the east winds blew, which prevented the British force from crossing the inlet to the attack, and to the confusion of the enemy's ves- sels, and their grounding upon the shoals when moving to take advantage of our hero's error.
CHAPTER VIII
1776
JOHN ADAMS in his Diary 1 states that when the Con- gress assembled in May, 1775, the members appeared to be of one mind, and that, after his own heart, namely, that the Congress ought to recommend to the people of every State in the Union to seize on all the Crown officers and hold them with civility, humanity, and generosity as hos- tages for the security of the people of Boston, and to be exchanged for them as soon as the British army would release them ; that it ought to recommend to the people of all the States to institute governments for themselves under their own authority, and that without loss of time ; that it ought to declare the colonies free, sovereign, and independent States, and then inform Great Britain they were willing to enter into negotiations for the redress of all grievances and a restoration of harmony between the two countries upon permanent principles.
The gentlemen of Pennsylvania who had been attached to proprietary interests and owed their wealth and honors to it, and the great body of the Quakers, he says, had hitherto acquiesced in the measures of the colonies or at least had made no professed opposition to them. But now these people began to see that independence was approaching, they started back. In some of his public harangues in which, as he asserts, he freely and explicitly laid open his thoughts, on looking around the assembly he saw horror, terror, and detestation strongly marked on
1 Life and Works of John Adams, vol. II, 406, 409.
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the countenances of some of the members whose names however he would not record.
But he goes on to state that in some of the earlier de- liberations in May, 1775, after he had reasoned on his own plan, Mr. John Rutledge in more than one public speech approved of his sentiments, and that the other delegates from South Carolina -Mr. Lynch, Mr. Gadsden, and Mr. Edward Rutledge -appeared to him to be of the same mind. He relates that Mr. Dickinson told him after- wards that when Congress first came together the balance lay with South Carolina, and that accordingly all the efforts of the opponents of independence were employed to convert the delegates from that State. The proprie- tary gentlemen and Quakers, he says, addressed them- selves with great assiduity to all the members of Congress whom they could influence, even to some of the delegates of Massachusetts, but most of all to the delegates from South Carolina. Mr. Lynch, he says, had been an old acquaintance of the Penn family, particularly of the Gov- ernor. Mr. Edward Rutledge had brought his lady with him, a daughter of their former President, Mr. Henry Middleton.
Mr. Arthur Middleton, her brother, he states, was now a delegate in place of his father. The lady and gentlemen were invited to all entertainments and were visited perpetually by the party, and they soon found that Mr. Lynch, Mr. Arthur Middleton, and even the two Rutledges began to waver and to clamor about independence. Mr. Gadsden was either, from despair of success, never attempted, or if he was he received no im- pression from them. He says he himself became the dread and terror and abhorrence of the party. But all this he avers he held in great contempt. Arthur Middle- ton, whom he ridicules, became, he says, the hero of Quaker and proprietary politics in Congress.
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This account of the state of parties by Mr. Adams is given as part of his Diary of 1775; but it is manifest from the contents that it was not written at any time during that year; and from the confusion of persons it was probably not written until long after - so long after that characters and dates had all become confused in his mind. Arthur Middleton who he says was now, i.e. in 1775, a delegate in the place of his father and the hero of the conservatives, was not in Philadelphia at that time, but was in South Carolina, where as one of the Council of Safety he with William Henry Drayton was leading in Gadsden's absence the extreme party. From the 14th of June, 1775, he was constant in his attendance upon the Council of Safety in Charlestown. His father Henry Middleton, John Rutledge, and Christopher Gadsden returned from the Congress as we have seen soon after the 1st of February, 1776, and did not, any one of the three, return again to it. Arthur Middleton was not elected a member of Congress until the 24th of February, 1776, so that there was no time when Arthur Middleton, the two Rutledges, and Gadsden were in Philadelphia together. John Rutledge was elected President under the new Constitution on the 26th of March, and remained in South Carolina. Christopher Gadsden had been re- called by the Provincial Congress and requested to remain in the performance of his duties in the command of the troops, which he did. From March, 1776, the delegation from South Carolina in the Continental Congress consisted of Edward Rutledge, Thomas Lynch, - who was soon after joined by his son Thomas Lynch, Jr., - Arthur Middle- ton, and Thomas Heyward, Jr. Mr. Adams was probably just as much mistaken in regard to John Rutledge's sup- port of his, Adams's, views in regard to independence, for John Rutledge was throughout the whole struggle until
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the Declaration of Independence consistent in his desire to keep open the door to a reconciliation with the mother country, and even after that, two years later, resigned the Presidency rather than approve a change in the Constitu- tion which he considered as closing the door to such a happy consummation.
The truth is there was no change in the views either of those in Pennsylvania or South Carolina who now hung back unwilling to follow Massachusetts and Virgina in their scheme of independence and separation - the change was in the advocates of this radical, if necessary, measure, not in those who opposed it. Mr. Adams himself after- ward declared that "there was not a moment during the Revolution when I would not have given everything I possessed for a restoration of the state of things before the contest began, provided we could have had a sufficient security for its continuance ;" that is, as has been observed, it was with him a matter of security. If he could be secured of the rights for which he was contending without separa- tion, he was not only willing, but would have preferred it at any cost. Independence of England to him even then was not desirable in itself. So, too, Colonel Joseph Read writes to Washington from Philadelphia early in March that there was a strong reluctance in the minds of many to cut the knot which ties us to Great Britain, particularly in this colony and to the southward. Again, on the 15th of the same month, he writes, " It is said the Virginians are so alarmed with the idea of independence that they have sent Mr. Braxton on purpose to turn the vote of that colony, if any question should come before Congress." And, in reply, Washington admits that the people of Vir- ginia, from their form of government and steady attach- ment heretofore to royalty, will come reluctantly to the idea of independence. A few days before the battle of
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Lexington, Franklin in England testified that he had more than once travelled almost from one end of the Continent to the other, and kept a variety of company, eating, drink- ing, and conversing with them freely, and never had heard in any conversation from any person, drunk or sober, the least expression of a wish for a separation, or a hint that such a thing would be advantageous to America. Mr. Jay was quite as explicit ; he declared that until the second petition of Congress in 1775 he never heard an American of any class or description express a wish for the inde- pendence of the colonies, and that it had always been his opinion and belief that our country was prompted and impelled to independence by necessity and not by choice. Mr. Jefferson affirmed, " What eastward of New York might have been the disposition toward England before the commencement of hostilities, I know not, but before that I never heard a whisper of a disposition to separate from Great Britain; after that its possibility was con- templated with affliction by all."1 James Iredell of North Carolina, afterward a Justice on the Supreme Bench of the United States, in a very able pamphlet written at this time, June, 1775, says : -
"I avoid the unhappy subject of the day, independency. There was a time very lately within my recollection when neither myself nor any person I knew could hear the name but with horror. I know it is a favorite argument against us, and that on which the proceedings of Parliament are most plausibly founded, that this has been our aim since the beginning, and all other attempts were a cloak and disguise to this principal one . . . this suspicion though so ill founded has been professedly the parent of all the violent acts that now irritate the minds of the Americans. Some are inflamed enough to wish for independence, and all are reduced to so unhappy a condition as to dread at least that they shall be compelled in their own defence to
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