Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1869-02-10
HISTORICAL.

trle, rs ii was subsequently named |
after its brave defender, was, in June 4
,1776, only in its incipiency. Early !
in the month a British fleet Of about I
fifty sail, Including transports with |
troops, commanded by Sir reter Par /
ker, arrived of Charles ton, with tlie4
object of forcing its surrender. Gen /
eJal Charles Lee was in command OF |
the American forces in the city !
John Rutle;lgc WAS Governor of the
Colony, and ColonelAfoultrie, amidst |
the hurried preparations for defense.
was ordered to get the fort OF Sulli- |
vans lslausl-then in process ofcou-
structiofl-completed at the earliest
period. On the ninth of the month
General Lee made 4 tour OF inspec-
ton to the island, and expressed
much dissatisfaction with the char
acter and position of the work, re-
marking that il was no better than
slaughter pen" This opinion in
duced him to advise the Governor TO
abandon the post, alleging the i'm
possibility Of its being held for even
a half an hour against the fire of the
British fleet. When he failed. as he
did, u bring the Governor over to
his opinion, he directed Colonel
Moultrie TO construct bridges 10 So
cure his retreat To the main land
and few days later, he Withdrew
six hundred men from the garrison,
and removed also 4 large portion OF
! the ammunition. Notwithstanding
/ these diScourageme the gallant
and interchangeable Moultrie pushed
| forward the work with energy and
rapidity. The English commanders
/ felt sure of their prey. They arrang-
Ell a combined attack on the fort one
| by the icet, and another bV 4 land
| free IN the rear. Three thousand
troops were led by Sir Henry CIiu-
| tom who occupied a low, sandy Is
| land, called Long island, opposite
| the east end of Sullivan's island.
with which, at low water. IL was
supposed to commuuiea te. IhisIat-
| ter supposition, however. proved en-
roneous, and caused farther deliber-
| atoms on the part of the beSiegers,
which procrastinated the attack,
and gave time TO Colonel MOultrie to
| perfect his defences-
The attack was made on the morn
| ing of the twenty-eighth of June.
Much work had been done on the
| fort, but it was only partially COM
| pleted. The fort mounted thirty-one
guns, and the garrison consisted, in
| all, of only four hundred and thirty
/ five men, although Colonel ThomD-
son, with eight hundred men and
/ two pieces of artillery, was posted
| behind some hastily constructed
breast-works, for the purpose of re
sisting the landing OF Sir Henry
| Clinton, should he make the attempt.
| General Lee maintained his original
/ opinion To the last, and told Moultrie
| that the British fleet would knock
| the fort To pieces in half an hour
/ But Moultrie, nothing daunted, re-
piled, awe shall then fightthem be-
hind the ruins | am not at all UNI
| easy he added; eve shall beat
them off,"
/ At half past ten o'clock The Brit
/ ish fleet got under way, and shortly
afterward the Active. of twenty
.fight guns, the Bristol, Of fifty guns
/ lthis was the admirai's fiag-shfp)
| the Experiment, also fifty guns, and
the Soleboy OF twenty-eight guns
all anchored at about three hundred
and fifty yards from the fort, and
commenced against it furious can
nonade, which was aided by dis
charge of shells from the Thunder
bomb. To the amaZement Of the as
sailauts the broadsides from the fri
gates produced scarcely any visible
effect on the fort, in the soft and
Spongy wood of which the balls were
harmlessly buried. But the ships of
the enemy were not 50 fortunate
Moultrie. having on 4 short supply
of ammunition, determined To make
the most of it, and, therefore dis
charged his guns with such deIiber-
alton and accuracy, that every shot
told upon the ships of his over-couff-
dent assailants, damaging the hulls.
the rigging, and frequently sweep
ing the decks. Some OF the other
vessels of the British fleet ATTEMPTED
to take position, which, by enfiIad-
ing the fort, would have rendered ii
untenable but the attempt was frus-
trated by their grounding on q sand
bank. The fire between the main
fleet and the fort was kept up with
out interruption, and was witnessed
by thousands Of the residents of
Charleston, who 2nXiously watched
the conflict from the wharves and
from the roofs of the houses.
An interesting incident that occur
Ell during the day, was the temper
airy disappearance from view of the
American flag (which was a white
crescent on n blue grouud1. which
had been eat down by a ball from the I
enemy. The inhabitants thought
the fort had surrendered, but were
restored TO confidence and enthusi- /
asm when the galleut Sergeant VIII
IAN Jasper leaped through an en-
UraSGre 10 the ground, in the midst
OF = heavy fire, and returned in safe
" with the ensign. which he fixed .
on the summit OF the baStIGtl-ulal- /
.esl te she enemy.
Shortly after one o'clock Colonel
Mcultrie sent to General Lee fort
more powder, and was advised To
spike his guns and retire. but Rut
ledge sent him the requisite supply, .
which enabled him 10 continue his
defense until sunset. Up - tlat|
period hc had but one Of Iii, Etsn~
dismouuJed by the enemy. and an
that hour the enemy became de- .
spoudeut Undtueir fire began To slack .
en- Two OF their largest vessels P.
We're almost wrecks; thr40, of TWEEN /
tN-elEHt gums, We're aground. and all +
hope q cooperation with the land (
forces was nj an end. At about nine
o'clock at night the cables were slip +
ped, and the enemy dropped down F.
with the ebb tide To their previous .
moorinEs. Two Of the grounded vest
sels escaped. but the third was set
on fire and abandoned Tie Bri.iSL /.
loss IN this engagement was two.
hundred and TWENTY-FIVE in killed T.
and wounded, while the eolauls.s
suffer a loss ofouly eleven killed anal F.
tweuty-sIN wouu led. \ few weeks
after their discontinue the British P