Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1910-03-05

feared the whole garrison would De
slaughtered or captured Or th, ships
passed the fort Colonel william
Moultrie. who was in charge OF the
fort did not have Lees military eN-
periencc. but ho knew more about the
resisting force OF sand and palmetto
ana ho also had no end Of faith 800 the
fighting qualities OF the men with him.
The ships of the British were Of the
best Of the time. They threw a weight
Of metal sufficient TO crumlle any or
binary fort The troops under clinton
were British regulars Classci as the
best fighting men OF ,he world The
American fort, hastily put up, only
half finished and defended by men
whose experience In warfare was con-
fined principally 10 Indian warfare.
seemed but a scant shield for the city.
There was some hope that the marks
men under Thompson ana Muhlenberg
might hold Clintou's men back for %
time. but this was a hope only
ON balcony on roof and In church
stceple the people Of Charleston gath
cred To- witness so mucp OF the contest
as they could Above Fort sullivan
they could see the now South Carolina
flag Of Independence. 10 had "a blue
body and In the upper corner was q
crescent. The Stars ard stripes had
not come into service ut that time So
long as the people could see the flag ON
Fort Sullivan Charleston was safe
With beating hearts the watchers
saw the stately warships form in liIc
of hattie and move upon the fort The
Active. Bristol Experiment and -olebay
led. Then came the Actaeon. sphinx,
Syren, ThundorhOmh. Ranger and
Friendship They saw the ilarshio OF
the commodore, Sir Peter Parker. come
abreast Of the fort. and then r. seemed
in an instant as N fort and shius were
turned into volcanoes Flashes and
roars. thuuderous crashes and great
volumes Of smoke followed each
other az intervals Of only q few sec
onds Soon the smoke obscurcd most
Of the view and they could see only the
Flag Of Independence and the topmaSts
Of the Warships How the tide Of bat
tie went they could not tell but they
watched the flag Hour after hour
they heard the thunder Of the guns. So
long as IL lasted the city was safe. but
they relied more on the flag above the
fort once in "a while a cloud OF smoke
would hide il from view. but not for
long.
THE FALL OF THE FLAG
Higher ana higher rose the spirits Of
the watchers as the hours passed. sud
denly az the height of their Joy the flag
went forth the cry that the fort had
fallen. II was taken up and carried
throughout the city A sort OF panic
possessed many Of the people Tn.
thing they feared and expected had
happened and now that il had come 90
pass they were az "a loss what 10 do.
Some made hasty preparations 10
leave the city Others ran about aim
lessly To those who were alarmed the
fact that the thunder of the guns con
tinued increased their fright az first.
but then perpleXed them Why was tho
canuonading kept up if the fort had
surrendered We're the British $50
merciless as to continue the slaughter
Then there came the suggestion that
maybe the fort had not surrendered.
maybe the fight still was on While
they were in doubt there came first
from one steeplc and theu another n
cheer that told its own story. q cheer
that brought Joy to the hearts Of many
who had been deep iu despair The
Flag Of Independence was floating once
more above the fort
% was not until late that night. for
the battle lasted until nearly O'Clock
that they heard the story Of how the
Flagstaff. which had been the mast Of n
schooner. had been struck by a cannon