The current Fort Moultrie, opened in December, 1809, is the third fort on the same site to bear Col. William Moultrie’s name. Reflecting the necessary modifications made over time as America’s coastal defense needs changed, today’s fort looks very little like the original. Still, with different types of guns from different eras on display both inside and outside of the fort, the layout allows visitors to take a walk through time and to understand the changing nature of war from 1809-1947; 171 years of American coastal defense.
Located on Sullivan's Island at the entrance to Charleston Harbor, the first fort sometimes was referred to as Sullivan's Fort or Fort Sullivan. But on June 28, 1776, when it successfully repulsed a British attack, it had no official name. A week later, coincidentally on July 4 as the Declaration of Independence was first being publicized in Philadelphia, the fort officially was named for Col. William Moultrie (pronounced MOOL-tree), the man who built it and served as its commanding officer during the fight. The garrison during the battle consisted primarily of Moultrie's 2nd South Carolina Infantry and cannoneers from the 4th South Carolina Artillery.
That first fort, made of palmetto logs, was much larger than the current version. At 500 feet on a side, it fully encompassed the site of today’s structure. Only two sides, however, the harbor face and the wall facing Charleston, were complete. The northern and eastern walls were only partially built and offered nothing in the way of serious defense.
Even the Americans who built it did not have much confidence that it could withstand a heavy bombardment. Never before had the American military built a palmetto log structure designed to repel artillery. Colonel Moultrie, however, refused to abandon it when urged to do so. In the end, he was proven correct. The 156 guns of the four British vessels which directly attacked the fort did relatively little damage during the 11-hour artillery duel because the soft, spongy, fibrous palmetto logs, being about 75% water, absorbed the pounding without shattering. The hard oak of the British ships, however, exploded into multiple splinters when hit by the cannonballs of the American guns. Those splinters, large and small, became deadly missiles, thus creating a multiplier effect for the American artillery.
As American Major Ebenezer Denny explained after examining the walls, the British cannonballs often just embedded themselves in the soft wood with "the holes almost closed up;" that is, the fibers closed around the balls. The palmetto logs turned out, in a sense, to be self-sealing. Because of the physical properties of palmetto wood, the British suffered more damage and greater casualties than the Americans did during the fight.
The significant advantage which the palmetto logs gave to the Americans during the Battle of Sullivan’s Island is the reason that South Carolina is called “the Palmetto State” and the reason why the state flag includes an image of a palmetto tree.
Four years later, the British took Charleston by landing troops to the south on what now is the golf resort called Seabrook Island and then encircling the city, cutting off both it and the fort from any aid. On May 12, 1780 General Benjamin Lincoln (no relation to the future president) surrendered 5618 American troops to the British. It was the largest surrender of American troops to a foreign enemy until Bataan in 1942.
Serving in the Moultrie garrison were Francis Marion ("the Swamp Fox"), Thomas Sumter ("the Gamecock") and namesake of the later fort in the harbor, and Major Richard C. Anderson (father of Major Robert Anderson who commanded Ft. Moultrie and Ft. Sumter during the opening days of the Civil War).
Following our War of Independence, the first Fort Moultrie was neglected. What storm damage began, Sullivan Island’s civilian residents completed by salvaging the logs for use in constructing homes and other buildings. Within a few years, the fort had disappeared. A second, much smaller fort built in the mid-1790’s, was destroyed by a hurricane in 1804. Then came the current fort, built of masonry during the years just before the War of 1812. Completed in December, 1809, this third Fort Moultrie was designed for 250 men and 40 guns. With many modifications over the years, the last ones not being added until World War Two, it is this fort which attracts so many visitors and history buffs today.
The current Fort Moultrie saw its only military action during the Civil War. In the spring of 1861, approximately 85 regular army artillerymen constituted the main U.S. military presence in the Charleston area. A handful of others, acting essentially as caretakers, maintained Castle Pinckney, the remains of Fort Johnson, and the U.S. Arsenal in the city. South Carolina seceded on December 20, 1860 and declared itself to be an independent republic. The authorities of this new republic ordered Major Robert Anderson and his men, now considered to be a foreign, occupying force, to evacuate the fort and leave South Carolina. Instead, Anderson, knowing that he could not properly defend Fort Moultrie, spiked the guns, burned their carriages, cut down the flagpole, and moved his men across the mile-wide channel to the almost complete and unoccupied, but usable, Fort Sumter. The next day, Moultrie was occupied by South Carolina troops and, later, by Confederate troops who held it for the duration of the war. They abandoned it, along with Fort Sumter and the rest of the Charleston defenses on February 17, 1865.Fort Moultrie participated in the opening bombardment of Fort Sumter then later helped to repel several Union attempts to take Charleston.
Later, Moultrie was modernized several times. Concrete gun batteries were constructed within the walls of the old fort around the turn of the century. These, with further modifications, remained in service until the Army lowered the flag for the final time and closed the fort in 1947.Following the Civil War, the battered fort was ignored by the army. In 1869, the pastor of the nearby Catholic church was granted permission by the War Department to use the abandoned bricks in the construction of a new church building. A few years later, that permission was rescinded as the army had plans for Fort Moultrie, so the church obtained the rest of the bricks it needed from commercial sources. But about half of Stella Maris, completed in 1874 directly across the street from the fort, was built using original Fort Moultrie bricks.
Sources:
Military Journal of Major Ebenezer Denny, unpublished, Fort Moultrie Library
The Historic Guns of Forts Sumter and Moultrie, Mike Ryan, 1997, unpublished, Ft. Moultrie Library
Seacoast Fortifications of the United States: An Introductory History, Emanuel Raymond Lewis, Leeward Pubns, Annapolis, MD, 1970
James A. Morgan, “Coastal Artillery of Fort Moultrie,” The Artilleryman, Fall 2018, Vol. 39, No. 4
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