William Moultrie – Fort Moultrie’s namesake

There are playgrounds named after him, schools named after him, counties named after him, cities named after him, a National Historical Park named after him and even creeks and lakes named after him. Most recognize the name from a Revolutionary War battle fought on June 28, 1776; but who was this South Carolinian that history has immortalized?

Born in Charlestown in the colony of South Carolina in 1730, William Moultrie was the second son of Scottish immigrant Dr. John Moultrie.  We do not know of his early education but his writings reflect those of a well-educated man of his times.  His older brother, John Moultrie, Jr. was a medical graduate of the University of Edinburgh and followed in his father’s footsteps of practicing medicine in Charleston.  William chose a different path in life.

The Carolina colony of Moultrie’s time was not even 100 years old and was growing rapidly as an exporter of agricultural goods. Such goods were produced by the slave-based plantation system pioneered by the British in the West Indies. William’s wife, Elizabeth de St. Julien, whom he married in 1749, had inherited a plantation from her father. North Hampton-  sometimes spelled Northampton - was an 800-acre rice producing plantation about 40 miles by water west of Charleston. It was one of the largest rice plantations of its day.  Rice production was particularly labor intensive before mechanization. William and Elizabeth owned about 200 men women and children of African descent.  Managing a large plantation required organizational and management skills. But even the best run plantations were subject to the whims of weather.  Upland rice production was gradually being displaced by tidal rice cultivation during his lifetime. As successive crops of upland or inland rice began to deplete the soil of the cleared swamps and reducing rice yields, Moultrie began experimenting with cotton. Unsuccessful at first in his own cotton planting, he was instrumental in promoting cotton exports.

His standing as a plantation owner in Berkely County gave William the requisite status in the county to be elected to the 22nd Commons House of Assembly in 1752, the start of an almost 40-year career of public service in South Carolina.  His tenure in the Commons House gave him some important military experience.  Depredations by the Cherokee Indians in the western part of the colony in 1759 prompted a large militia expedition from Charlestown led by then Royal Governor William Lyttelton. William Moultrie served as the governor’s aide during the expedition giving Moultrie first-hand experience regarding the capability of volunteer militia forces that would serve him well in the American Revolution. He participated in three different campaigns against the Cherokee, remained active in the militia and was promoted to Colonel of the Provincial Militia in 1773. His service in the militia brought him into contact with a number of future South Carolina leaders including Francis Marion, Isaac Huger and Andrew Pickens.

The French and Indian War (1753-1764), also known as the Seven Years’ War, was not just a frontier conflict in the American colonies.  It was a lengthy global war, that depleted the British Treasury. To increase revenues the British Parliament unilaterally turned to the colonies through a variety of taxes. At the time there were 23 colonies in North America including the original 13. Without representation in parliament, thirteen of the original American colonies, including South Carolina, resisted the imposed taxes and tariffs.  The perception exists that all of the colonists favored independence from Britain but this was far from the case. The colonies were roughly divided with about a third of the citizens in favor of independence, a third indifferent and a third wanted to remain loyal British subjects. It was not unusual to have split allegiances within families and among neighbors. William Moultrie’s family was split over British rule. William was an opponent, his older brother John a loyalist.  His older brother had left Charlestown for opportunities in Florida and his loyalist leanings led to him being elected governor of the colony of East Florida. The split in his family was by no means unusual. 

When South Carolina determined to resist the British, they formed several Patriot District Militia Regiments. These regiments would become the first South Carolina state troops. William Moultrie was named a Colonel of the Charleston District regiment in February of 1775. Tensions were rising between the colonists and the British. On April 19, 1775 an armed conflict between the British Army and Massachusetts Patriots at Lexington and Concord Massachusetts launched the American Revolutionary War.

Meeting in Philadelphia in May, the 13 original colonies formed a provisional government of the United Colonies which included the right to raise an army for the common defense. This created a complicated overlay of colonial militias and the Continental Army formed by the 2nd Continental Congress that would plague the entire war effort. Militias viewed themselves as home guard and chafed at the concept of expeditions to other colonies. Continentals were viewed as soldiers of the Continental Congress and would go wherever Congress needed them to go.

Inspired by news from the North, South Carolina took bold steps toward making British rule in the colony increasingly difficult. In September of that year, the last Royal Governor, Lord William Campbell was forced to take refuge on one of two British warships in the harbor and Col. Moultrie’s troops successfully captured Fort Johnson on the morning of September 15.  Soon after its capture, Moultrie raised, for the first time in the colony, a blue flag with a white crescent in the corner of his design.

The British war ships remained at anchor in the center of the harbor out of range of Fort Johnson’s cannons and the city for the rest of the year. From this position they were able to effectively blockade the harbor, stimulating the revolutionary government to increase harbor defenses on land and sea. Moultrie was ordered to construct batteries in Mount Pleasant and later on Sullivan’s Island. Sadly, in late November, Elizabeth Damarius de St. Julien, William’s wife of 26 years and mother of his son and daughter died. Her cause of death and place of burial remain unknown.

William hardly had time to grieve. The strategic position of Sullivan’s Island presented an immediate threat should the British warships in the harbor decide to open a base there. Accordingly, Moultrie was ordered to take control of the island. On January 10, 1776, South Carolina militia troops landed on the island. When the British warships discovered the activity, they left the harbor fearing they would be trapped in the harbor.

The Council of Safety inspected the island and determined that a new defensive work should be constructed to command the shipping channel. Work began in January and by March was little more than an outline. Conceptually the new work was based on the resistive power of sand against artillery. Locally abundant palmetto logs were used to construct barriers that contained many feet of beach sand. An advantage of the fibrous palmetto logs is that they do not splinter when struck by cannon fire. Splinters from oak timbers were a deadly menace aboard ships and within forts during battles.

The designer of the original work has been lost to history but it is thought that a German trained military engineer, Capt. William de Brahm was involved. Col. Moultrie was ordered to Sullivan’s Island on March 2, 1776 to take command of the island. He reported that a work large enough for 1000 men was being constructed by a great number of mechanics and Black laborers. Although there were some free Blacks in the Charlestown area at the time, it is likely the negro laborers were enslaved but the record is not clear on this. Moultrie’s initial focus was to complete the new work. His orders were made more difficult by the appearance, in early June, of a British fleet off of Charlestown commanded by Admiral Sir Peter Parker.

In addition to his military duties, Moultrie was called on to participate in forming a new government. On March 26, 1776, the State of South Carolina was formed with John Rutledge as the chief executive. William Moultrie was appointed as a member of the founding Legislative Council but his military duties prevented him from taking his seat for several months.

Once word of an expedition against Charlestown reached the provisional Continental government, Major General Charles Lee, a former British Royal Army officer then in command of the Southern Division, headed to Charlestown. Lee arrived in Charlestown on June 4 and began to take charge of the defenses. The British fleet had begun to arrive at the same time but the shallow water at the mouth of the harbor delayed the entry of the heavier warships. Major General Henry Clinton in charge of the British Army troops and Admiral Peter Parker determined that the best chance of capturing the works on Sullivan’s Island was to simultaneously attack with infantry from Long Island, today’s Isle of Palms, and to overwhelm the fort with naval artillery. Getting two of the largest ships into the outer harbor required that they unload their heavy cannons onto barges to lighten the ships and reduce the draft of their hulls. By mid-June Clinton had been able to land his troops on Long Island. Observers reported that the British were landing troops just across Breach Inlet from Sullivan’s Island. Engineer De Brahm began erecting batteries to oppose a crossing and Col. William “Danger” Thomson’s regiment was stationed there.

Finally, by June 25th all the warships had anchored off of Morris Island;  waiting for favorable wind and tide to attack.

When General Lee began to assess the size of the British fleet opposing him, he believed the guns that Moultrie had were too few and his fort not strong enough to resist a pounding from over 250 cannons and mortars. He was not happy with Moultrie’s progress. He favored abandoning the fort and Sullivan’s Island but the Council of Safety would not permit it.  Frustrated Lee decided to replace Moultrie as commander on June 28 but before he could order his removal, the British made their move.

With the weather conditions they needed favorable on June 28, at 10:00 am the ships began moving into position to assault the fort. Three quarters of an hour later, the four principal ships had arrived and were positioned about 350 yards off the shore.  They opened fire at 11:15 am. Three smaller ships maneuvered further into the harbor to prevent reinforcement or retreat.

What happened over the next ten hours surprised both friend and foe. Major General Charles Cornwallis’ attempt to cross Breach Inlet separating his position on Long Island from Sullivan’s Island was thwarted by Colonel Thomson’s troops and the unanticipated depth of the water which made fording the inlet on foot impossible. Colonel Moultrie’s garrison stood to their guns and gave the British Navy more than they bargained for, trading shot for shot.  Even nature got into the act when the three light warships lost their way and grounded on a shoal opposite the fort. The British managed to get two of them off. Unable to retrieve the Acteon, she was burned to prevent the South Carolinians from refloating her.  By 9 pm the British had had enough and withdrew to their anchorage off of Morris Island. They tended their wounded and repaired their ships before finally departing on August 4.

The South Carolina legislature honored Moultrie about the first of July by naming the fort he had defended Fort Moultrie. The brilliant defense of the fortification won Moultrie the highest praise from Lee who a day earlier had determined to remove him as commander. News of the victory took about 20 days to reach Philadelphia by horseback. In response Congress promoted him to Brigadier General of the Continental Army. It is reported that the news of the defeat emboldened the official signing of the Declaration of Independence engrossed on parchment on August 2, 1776.

For the remainder of 1776 and most of 1777 Moultrie was involved with planning and organizational details under Major General Charles Lee.

The British were concentrating their efforts in New York and New Jersey but maintained a foothold in Florida.  Florida, then a British colony with its capital at St. Augustine, was a loyalist stronghold. John Moultrie, William Moultrie’s loyalist brother and the former governor of Florida served as the Lt. Governor under General Patrick Tonyn. Leaving Moultrie to defend Charlestown, Lee mounted an invasion of Florida until he was recalled in August 1776. He was replaced in Charlestown by Brig. General James Moore until April of 1777 when he was replaced by Brig. General Robert Howe. Howe also mounted failed assaults on St. Augustine, one in the fall of 1777 and the other during the summer of 1778. Howe’s misfortunes were capped by a surprise attack on Savannah by British forces sent south from New York by sea in December of 1778. Howe’s largely militia defenders were overwhelmed by the British and the city fell t on December 29, 1778.  A week later Howe formally relinquished his command to Maj. General Benjamin Lincoln.

In May of 1779, Moultrie participated in a concerted move of Continentals and militia toward Savannah. However, Lincoln divided the forces, moving his wing toward Augusta. Meanwhile, the British determined to push toward Charlestown. Facing daunting odds, Moultrie fell back toward Charlestown and sent word to Lincoln to return.  Moultrie reached the Charlestown defenses with the British close behind. The British crossed at Ashley Ferry, occupied the Charlestown Neck and demanded the surrender of the city.  The civilian government was willing to capitulate but Moultrie was not willing to surrender his troops as prisoners of war.  In the nick of time, Lincoln’s forces began arriving from upstate and the British retreated to Savannah, fearing being caught between Moultrie and Lincoln. For the moment, Charlestown had been spared.

Moultrie was charged with pursuing the retreating British and is credited for his leadership at the Battle of Port Royal forcing the British to retreat to Savannah.

General and Commander in Chief George Washington favored a combined French and American operation against Savannah, Count Charles Henri d'Estaing joined forces with Benjamin Lincoln bringing his squadron of almost 40 ships with almost 4000 troops from the West Indies. Lincoln brought about 1000 troops from Charlestown and Brigadier General Count Casimir Pulaski had about 200 calvary. The operation was a costly failure for the Allies. General Pulaski received a mortal wound during the battle. Lincoln withdrew to Charlestown and the French got back on their ships and left.

While campaigning in 1779, the 48-year-old widowed general married Hannah Motte Lynch, herself a widow whose son Thomas Lynch, Jr. was a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Moultrie’s defenses of Charlestown received their most significant test in early 1780. The British, stymied in their operations in the Northern Colonies, determined to move against Charlestown with a major naval and land assault using Savannah as their base of operations. By mid-February General Henry Clinton, with over 8000 seasoned troops, landed at present day Seabrook Island only 20 miles from the Charlestown peninsula. 

Swiftly crossing John’s and James Islands, Clinton was on the mainland within a month and by the end of March, they crossed the Ashley River at Drayton Place and Middleton Plantation. They were on the upper peninsula about 12 miles from the city limits. With Lincoln and Moultrie bottled up in the city, Clinton began the siege of Charlestown on April 1. Six days later, a British fleet of 14 ships under Vice Admiral Mariot Arbuthnot sailed past Fort Moultrie’s guns into the harbor. 

With Charlestown under siege, Fort Moultrie was of little use in protecting the harbor. On May 7, 1780 Fort Moultrie surrendered without resisting and became known as Fort Arbuthnot to the British.

With the British firing hot shot into the city and the citizens pressing Lincoln to surrender, he formally capitulated on May 12 to Arbuthnot and Clinton.  This not only put an important southern port city in British hands, but it was also the largest surrender of patriot troops in the Revolutionary War. Combined Continental, militia and seamen captured were estimated to be near 6000. The militia troops were paroled to their homes while the Continentals, Moultrie included, were held as prisoners of war.

The sheer number of prisoners overwhelmed Charlestown facilities. The enlisted ranks were mostly held on prison ships in the harbor and the officers in barracks and crude huts at Haddrell’s Point in Mount Pleasant.  Moultrie and Col. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney were held at under house arrest at Snee Farm, now the Charles Pinckney National Historic Site.  In his memoirs, Moultrie says the British tried to entice him to become a loyalist like his brother during his captivity. He declined their offer. In May of 1781, a cartel for exchange and relief of prisoners was executed. About the middle of June, Moultrie, his family and a number of his associates, about 90 in all, were given passage on a brig to Philadelphia. He officially remained a prisoner of war until February 9, 1782 when he was exchanged for British Lieutenant General John Burgoyne, captured after the Battle of Saratoga in October of 1777. The exchange was largely symbolic as Burgoyne had already returned to Britain on parole. The exchange not only included Moultrie but also his Snee Farm roommate Charles Cotesworth Pinckney and in Moultrie’s words, a brigade of American officers.

Moultrie and his family left Philadelphia in April, travelling overland to reach the Georgetown area in June. Leaving his family there, he rode to Major General Greene’s camp on the Ashley River near Charlestown stopping on the way at North Hampton. For over six years, South Carolina had been at war. Moultrie’s plantation had been stripped of all its livestock. The marauding British had made off with his furniture and personal possessions.  Interestingly, they were unable to induce the enslaved people of North Hampton to leave and they welcomed Moultrie’s return.

After the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, the British began pulling back to their bases at Wilmington, Charlestown and Savannah. By the time General Moultrie arrived at General Greene’s camp the British were confined to Charlestown. Still, they took their time in leaving the country.

Finally, on December 14, 1782, newly promoted to the rank of Major General of the Continental Army, Moultrie joined General Greene and over 5000 soldiers and civic leaders in a grand precession down Meeting Street to Broad Street. The British, debarking from Gadsden’s Wharf, crowded over 300 ships in the harbor loaded with fleeing loyalists, several thousand loyal slaves and thousands of dollars’ worth of plunder. There was such joy and celebration that Moultrie declared the date should not be forgotten.

The men who had won independence were happy the war was over but wanted to make certain their sacrifices were not forgotten. One of the most successful remembrance organizations formed after the war was the Society of the Cincinnati founded in 1783 and composed of officers, both French and American who had served the patriot cause in the American Revolution. In addition to being a national organization, the Society had chapters in each of the original colonies and in France.  William Moultrie was the founder and President of the South Carolina chapter until his death. The second National president was Charles Cotesworth Pinckney after whom Castle Pinckney is named.  One of the oldest hereditary societies in America, the Society continues to preserve America’s revolutionary ideals.

Independence allowed an important change for Charlestown. In the year 1783, after 113 years, the town finally became a city. On August 13, 1783 the South Carolina government ratified the charter for Charleston.

Peace did not solve all of the troubles of the newly independent United States.  The cost of the war had been enormous.  Like many wealthy patriots, the war cost Moultrie dearly.  He had amassed considerable debt, often mortgaging his property to help pay for the war effort.  Instead of turning his attention to restoring his own wealth, he continued in public service in the legislature and was elected governor in 1785. He hosted President George Washington during his 1791 visit to Charleston and escorted the President to what remained of Fort Moultrie. Moultrie was again elected as Governor in 1792, after which he retired from public life and began writing his memoirs of the American Revolution. His detailed account is recognized as one of the finest resources on the war in the South.  Some believe that he was hopeful that the memoir would help with his financial difficulties which were manifest. In 1796 his son, Maj. William Moultrie, Jr. died at Windsor Hill plantation located near where the Charleston airport is today.  Wishing to be buried near his son, in 1805 he was buried in the Windsor family cemetery without a permanent marker.

After South Carolina’s secession on December 20, 1860, the newly formed republic needed its own flag. On January 26, 1861, Moultrie’s flag was adopted with a gold palmetto in its center, symbolic of the palmetto logs used by Moultrie to build his fort on Sullivan’s Island. Two days later, the gold palmetto was changed to a simple white palmetto and adopted as South Carolina’s flag. This flag has been the official state flag for over 160 years.

With the growth of North Charleston following the World War II era, subdivisions began occupying the old plantation sites outside of Charleston. There was concern for the family cemetery at the Windsor Hill site. The South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology was contracted to locate the graves in the family cemetery at Windsor Hill. Work at the site began in March of 1977 and was completed in August of that year. The remains of his wife Hannah and his son Major William Moultrie, Jr. and other family member were reinterred at the St. James Episcopal church in Goose Creek.

A more fitting site for the hero of Fort Moultrie was sought and on Carolina Day 1978, his remains were reinterred on the grounds of Fort Moultrie where 202 years earlier he had handed the British Navy their first defeat of the American Revolution.

For more information on William Moultrie see:

• Bragg, C. L. Crescent Moon over Carolina – William Moultrie & American Liberty USC Press 2013

• Moultrie, W. Memoirs of the American Revolution so far as it is related to the states of North and South Carolina and Georgia, New York, David Longworth 1802.