Fort Moultrie
Fort Moultrie is a series of fortifications on Sullivan's Island, South Carolina, built to protect the city of Charleston, South Carolina. The first fort, formerly named Fort Sullivan, built of palmetto logs, inspired the flag and nickname of South Carolina, as "The Palmetto State". The fort was renamed for the U.S. patriot commander in the Battle of Sullivan's Island, General William Moultrie. During British occupation, in 1780–1782, the fort was known as Fort Arbuthnot.
For the Florida Second Seminole War fort originally named Fort Moultrie, see Fort Peyton.Fort Moultrie
History[edit]
American Revolution[edit]
Col. Moultrie took command of Sullivan's Island on March 2, 1776, which included a garrison of 413 men of the 2nd South Carolina Regiment of Infantry and 22 men of the 4th South Carolina Regiment, artillery. The island included a fort, still under construction at the southern tip, which was being supervised by Capt. De Brahm. The square design, with corner bastions, was supposed to have parallel rows of palmetto logs 10 feet high (3.0 m), filled in with 16 feet of sand (4.9 m). However, by June 28, only the front (the southeast and southeast curtain walls and bastions) was complete. The northern portion of the fort was unfinished, standing at only 7 ft (2.1 m). Cavaliers were constructed along the rear walls. The blue flag on the southeast bastion had the word "Liberty" on it. A total of 31 guns commanded the approach from Five Fathom Hole offshore, past the island and the Middle Ground shoal, before ships could enter the harbor.[1][2]
South Carolina patriots began to build a fort to guard Charleston, South Carolina, harbor in 1776. Royal Navy Admiral Sir Peter Parker led a fleet of nine warships in an attack against the fort—known as Fort Sullivan and incomplete—on June 28, 1776, near the beginning of the American Revolutionary War.[3] The soft palmetto logs did not crack under bombardment but rather absorbed the shot; cannonballs reportedly even bounced off the walls of the structure. William Moultrie, commander of the 2nd South Carolina Regiment, and his four hundred men fought a day-long battle that ended with Parker's heavily damaged fleet being driven from the area.[4] The fort hence took its name, as Fort Moultrie, in his honor. Charleston locals celebrate "Carolina Day" to commemorate the bravery of the defenders of the fort.
During this battle, Moultrie flew a flag of his own design, authorized by the colonial government. It was later called the Moultrie flag, or Liberty flag, and became iconic to the Revolution in the South.
The British eventually captured Fort Moultrie, as part of the Siege of Charleston in spring 1780, and renamed it as Fort Arbuthnot.[3] Nevertheless, the Patriots won the war, and British troops departed in 1782, at which time the flag was presented in Charleston, by General Nathanael Greene, commander of the southern Regulars.
Early federal period[edit]
Great Britain and France began another war in 1793, heightening tensions. The United States of America thence embarked on a significant fortification program for important harbors, later called the First System of fortifications. Atop the decayed original Fort Moultrie, the Army completed a new fort in 1798; the Army also built nineteen other new forts along the Atlantic coast.[5] The fort was garrisoned by Captain Jonathan Robeson's company of the Regiment of Artillerists in 1802. However, after years of neglect, the Antigua–Charleston hurricane destroyed Fort Moultrie in 1804.[6]
Fort Moultrie was rebuilt as part of the Second System of fortifications in 1808–09, under the direction of Army engineer Alexander Macomb.[7] A report by the Secretary of War, on fortifications in December 1811, describes Fort Moultrie as:
Location
Middle St. and Thompson Ave., bet. Stations 14 and 16.5, Sullivan's Island, South Carolina
5.3 acres (2.1 ha)
September 6, 2007