repulsed at

fort Moultrie.

CHAP. VI. attack by throwing shells at the fort, as the 1776. fleet advanced. About a quarter past eleven British fleet o'clock, the Bristol, Active, Experiment, and Solebay, brought up directly against the fort, and commenced upon it a most furious cannonade. The Sphynx, Acteon, and Syren, had been ordered to the westward to take their station between the end of the island and Charleston, partly to enfilade the works of the fort, partly to cut off, if possible, the communication between the island and the continent, and partly to prevent any attempt which might be made by fire ships, or otherwise to interrupt the grand attack. These vessels were, by the unskilfulness of the pilot, entangled in the shoals called the middle grounds, where they stuck fast until it was too late to execute the intended service. The Acteon being unable to get off was scuttled and burnt next morning by the officers and crew, to prevent her falling into the hands of the Americans.d

The cannonade from the ships was incessant and heavy, but was not attended with the expected effect on the fort. This was attributable to its form and the materials with which it was built. It was very low, with merlons of great thickness, and was constructed of earth, and a species of soft wood common in that country called the Palmetto, which, on being struck

d Annual Register.

1776.

with a ball does not splinter but closes upon it. CHAP. VI. The beds of the mortars in the bomb-ketch, were loosened by being overcharged, and they soon became entirely useless.

е

The fire from the fort was slow, was directed with great skill, and did vast execution. The springs of the Bristol's cable being cut by the shot, she was for a short space of time unmanageable, and was so raked by the fort, that at one time the commodore is said to have remained alone on the deck. The Experiment was also roughly handled, and her captain very dangerously wounded.

In the course of the action all the powder in the fort was at one time expended, and for a short interval the guns were silent! Great hopes were then entertained of success, but these hopes were soon blasted by a fresh supply of powder, and a consequent recommencement of the same terrible fire, under which the British ships had already so greatly suffered. The garrison united the cool determined courage of veterans, to the enthusiastic valour of youth. General Lee crossed over to them in a boat, during the action, to determine whether he should not endeavour to withdraw them, and was enraptured with the ardour they displayed. They assured him they would only lose the fort with their lives, and the mortally

e Annual Register.

CHAP. VI. Wounded breathed their last, exhorting their 1776. fellow soldiers to the most heroic defence of

the place.

Although the British troops had been landed on Long island, for the purpose of attacking the fort on the land side, no attempt was made to execute this part of the plan. Why it was not made, or whether, if made, it would have been successful, cannot be ascertained. General Clinton asserted that the water between the islands, which he had understood to be only eighteen inches deep, was in reality seven feet, and consequently impassable. This effect is said to have been produced by a long series of eastern winds.

The engagement continued until the darkness of the night compelled a suspension, of it. The ships were by that time evidently in such a condition, as to be unfit to renew the action the next day. The Bristol had lost one hundred and eleven men, and the Experiment seventy-nine. Captain Scott of the one lost his arm, and captain Morris of the other was mortally wounded. Lord Campbell, late governor of the province, who served as a volunteer on board one of these vessels, was also mortally wounded; and both ships were so shattered as to inspire the hope that they would be unable to repass the bar. About nine o'clock, they slipped their cables and moved off. A few days afterwards, the troops were re-embarked, and all further designs against

1776.

the southern colonies were, for the present, CHAP. VI. relinquished. The squadron sailed for New York, in pursuance of orders which had been July 15. given by sir William Howe while in Halifax ; but which had not been received by sir Henry Clinton, until he had anchored off the bar of Charleston.

The attack on fort Moultrie was supported by the British seamen with their accustomed bravery, and the slaughter on board the ships was uncommonly great. The loss of the Americans, in killed and wounded, was only thirtyfive men.f

• Great and well merited praise was bestowed by his country, on colonel Moultrie, who commanded the fort; and on the garrison, for the resolution displayed in defending it. Nor was the glory acquired on this occasion confined to them. All the troops that had been stationed on the island partook of it, and the thanks of the United Colonies were voted by congress to general Lee, colonel Moultrie, colonel Thompson, and the officers and men under their command, who were engaged in repulsing the enemy on the twenty-eighth of June.

This fortunate event, for such it may well be termed, though not of much magnitude in

f Annual Register....Gordon....Ramsay....Letters of ge

neral Lee.

CHAP. VI. itself, was, like many other successes attending 1776. the American arms in the commencement of the war, of great importance in its consequences. By impressing on the colonists a conviction of their ability to maintain the contest, it increased the number of those who resolved to resist British authority, and assisted in paving the way to a declaration of independence.

The congress which assembled in 1775, had adjourned with strong and sincere hopes that the differences between the mother country and the colonies would soon be terminated to their mutual satisfaction. But the speech of the king on opening the British parliament, and the first proceedings of the grand legislature of that nation, demonstrated the fallacy of these hopes. Every arrival from Europe continued to bring additional intelligence of the inflexible resolution of the administration still to prosecute the war, and of the immense preparations making for the ensuing campaign. This information evinced the necessity of exertions equally vigorous on the part of America. The letters of the commander in chief respectfully, but earnestly, urged congress to the adoption of measures, which might enable him to give to the country that protection which was expected from its army. The government of the union was not insensible of the importance of the crisis, nor indisposed to meet it with a competent force; but, unaccustomed to the