— Ch. 1 · Palmetto Fort Origins —
Fort Moultrie.
~5 min read · Ch. 1 of 6
On the 28th of June 1776, a fleet of nine British warships approached Sullivan's Island under Admiral Sir Peter Parker. The fort they targeted was incomplete and built from soft palmetto logs instead of stone or brick. Colonel William Moultrie commanded a garrison of 413 men from the 2nd South Carolina Regiment alongside 22 artillerymen from the 4th Regiment. Captain De Brahm supervised the unfinished southern tip while northern walls stood only partially constructed. A blue flag bearing the word Liberty flew over the southeast bastion as cannon fire rained down from thirty-one guns positioned offshore. The wooden structure absorbed the heavy bombardment rather than shattering like traditional masonry would have done. Cannonballs reportedly bounced off the flexible log walls without causing catastrophic damage to the defensive line. This unexpected resilience allowed four hundred defenders to hold their ground against a heavily damaged enemy fleet for an entire day. The battle ended with the British ships retreating into the Atlantic Ocean after suffering significant losses. Local residents later named the site Fort Moultrie to honor the commander who led the defense during this pivotal moment in American history.
Evolution Of Armament
The Army completed a new brick fortification atop the decayed original structure in 1798 following decades of neglect. An Antigua-Charleston hurricane destroyed the previous wooden fort in 1804 before engineers began rebuilding efforts under Alexander Macomb. By December 1811, Secretary of War reports described the new design as an irregular form enclosing ramparts and parapets capable of mounting forty guns. Barracks built of brick housed five hundred soldiers within the expanded perimeter. The endicott program initiated major modernization starting in 1897 when eight reinforced-concrete batteries were constructed by 1906. Battery Capron became the largest component featuring sixteen 12-inch mortars arranged in deep pits dug into the earth. These mortars were organizationally split into two separate units called Capron and Butler each containing eight weapons. Batteries Jasper and Thomson provided longer-range firepower through six 10-inch disappearing guns mounted on retractable carriages. Additional batteries including Logan Bingham McCorkle and Lord filled out the defensive network with various calibers ranging from 3 inches to 6 inches. Most of these weapons were purchased from the United Kingdom or manufactured domestically during the late nineteenth century. The harbor defenses evolved significantly over fifty years as technology advanced beyond simple wooden structures.