British Expedition Victory at Sullivan’s Island 1776

In Cork, Ireland, Commodore Sir Peter Parker and a British Army consisting of seven regiments led by Lord Charles Cornwallis are preparing to sail to the Cape Fear region of North Carolina. They aim to join Major General Henry Clinton and his troops sailing from Boston. In North Carolina, loyalist Highlanders are getting ready to march towards Wilmington to link up with exiled royal Governor of North Carolina, Josiah Martin, and the promised British Cape Fear Expedition Fleet. At the same time, local patriot leaders are organizing for engagement. Major General Charles Lee, who has been released from his duties in Boston by American Commander-in-Chief General George Washington, is traveling to take on his new Southern Department of the Continental Army under the direct orders of the Continental Congress.

In Charles Town, South Carolina, the patriot-inspired Provincial government and military leaders, including experienced colonials like Colonel William Moultrie, are preparing militia troops and defensive fortifications in anticipation of a British attack fleet. After serving in his second Continental Congress, John Rutledge, a wealthy attorney and legislator, returns home and is elected as the new President of South Carolina under the first legal independent state constitution in America, a constitution that he wrote.

Following the defeat of the Highlanders at Moore’s Creek Bridge by North Carolina patriot militia, General Clinton's army sails aboard Parker’s fleet to attempt a Charles Town Expedition, aiming to capture Fort Sullivan and gain control of Sullivan’s Island at the strategic entrance to Charles Town’s harbor. On June 28, 1776, these diverse men and forces meet at Sullivan’s Island off Charles Town in a grand battle between the Royal Navy and patriot militia gunners at Fort Sullivan. Despite facing great odds, Colonel Moultrie’s militia forces achieve a stunning patriot victory over the British Fleet in this little-known battle.

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