page_title: Sir Peter Parker, 1st Baronet
section_title: American War of Independence
hierarchical_section_title: Sir Peter Parker, 1st Baronet / American War of Independence
caption_attribution_description: English: John Blake White’s The Battle of Fort Moultrie “portrays in a spirited manner the famous battle . . . fought and won against a formidable British fleet . . . just six days prior to the Declaration of Independence,” wrote Octavius White, the artist’s son. Octavius White donated this work to the U.S. Senate in 1901. He gave it to the nation, he said, “that the sons may know how their fathers fought to secure the precious boon of liberty.”[1] The painting presents a view of the battle from inside the American fort, with the British fleet firing at full force in the background. The artist inserted portraits of William Moultrie and Francis Marion in the right center foreground. William Jasper is seen defending the fort’s flag. At the center background, along the perimeter wall of the fort, is the artist’s own father, Blake Leay White, who is thought to have participated in the battle. White based his portraits on existing likenesses in South Carolina family collections and on his memory. According to White family tradition, the artist’s father and General Marion, known as the “Swamp Fox,” owned adjoining plantations. The young artist, it was said, would sit on Marion’s knee during visits. In 1899 Octavius White had presented three other Revolutionary War paintings by his father to the Senate: Sergeants Jasper and Newton Rescuing American Prisoners from the British, General Marion Inviting a British Officer to Share His Meal, andMrs. Motte Directing Generals Marion and Lee to Burn Her Mansion to Dislodge the British. Although White drew inspiration for these works from a biography of Francis Marion as recounted by Parson Mason Locke Weems, the artist’s source for the Fort Moultrie painting is less clear.
context_page_description: Admiral of the Fleet Sir Peter Parker, 1st Baronet was a Royal Navy officer. As a junior officer, he was deployed with a squadron under Admiral Edward Vernon to the West Indies at the start of the War of Jenkins' Ear. He saw action again at the Battle of Toulon during the War of the Austrian Succession. As captain of the fourth-rate HMS Bristol he took part in the Invasion of Guadeloupe during the Seven Years' War.
  As a commodore, he was deployed to the North American Station, to provide naval support for an expedition led by General Sir Henry Clinton reinforcing loyalists in the Southern Colonies at an early stage of the American Revolutionary War. He led a naval attack against the fortifications on Sullivan's Island, protecting Charleston, South Carolina. However, after a long and hard-fought battle, Parker was forced to call off the attack, having sustained heavy casualties, including the loss of a ship. He subsequently served under Lord Howe in the invasion and capture of New York City and commanded the squadron that captured Long Island and Rhode Island.
context_section_description: Knighted in 1772, Parker was given command of the second-rate HMS Barfleur when he rejoined the service in 1773. Promoted to commodore, he was deployed to the North American Station, with his broad pennant in the fourth-rate HMS Bristol, in October 1775 to provide naval support for an expedition led by General Sir Henry Clinton reinforcing loyalists in the Southern Colonies at an early stage of the American Revolutionary War.
  In June 1776, Parker led a naval attack against the fortifications on Sullivan's Island (later called Fort Moultrie after their commander), protecting Charleston, South Carolina. At the fort, the American Colonel William Moultrie ordered his men to concentrate their fire on the two large man-of-war ships, HMS Bristol and HMS Experiment, which took hit after hit from the fort's guns. Chain-shot fired at HMS Bristol eventually destroyed much of her rigging and severely damaged both the main- and mizzenmasts. After a long and hard-fought battle, Parker was forced to call off the attack, having sustained heavy casualties, including the loss of the sixth-rate HMS Actaeon, grounded and abandoned. Lord William Campbell, the last British Governor of the Province of South Carolina, was mortally wounded aboard HMS Bristol. Parker was himself wounded by a flying splinter which injured his leg and tore off his breeches, an incident that occasioned much mirth in the newspapers.
  Parker subsequently served under Lord Howe in the invasion and capture of New York City and, with his broad pennant in the fourth-rate HMS Chatham, he commanded the squadron that captured Long Island in August 1776 and Rhode Island in December 1776.
caption: The Battle of Sullivan's Island: Parker's fleet (in the background) is shown attacking the American fortifications
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