The First Two Fort Moultries ― A Structural History, Fort Sumter National Monument

This publication was prepared to satisfy the research needs as enumerated in Historical Resource Study Proposal FOSU-H-4, The First Two Forts, 1776-1904, and so much of Historical Resource Study Proposal FOSU-H-1, Historical Base Maps, Fort Moultrie, as applies to the first two forts. This report documents the structural history of the Revolutionary Fort Moultrie and the 1794-1804 fort. Fort Moultrie is well-known to students of American History. On two occasions actions centering on the fort had important and far reaching repercussions for our country. On June 28, 1776, American Patriots posted behind the palmetto and sand parapets of the fort repulsed, with heavy losses, a formidable British naval squadron. This victory came at an important time for the Americans. Until this moment, General George Washington in 1176 had accomplished little beyond hurrying the British evacuation of Boston. The American army sent to overrun Canada had collapsed. Now word came of a victory in the South. News of the success reached Philadelphia shortly after the Declaration of Independence had been proclaimed. Now independence might become something beyond the bold statements set forth on parchment. Then in December 1860 Major Robert Anderson, when threatened by South Carolina Secessionists, evacuated Fort Moultrie and transferred its garrison to Fort Sumter. Three and one-half months later, South Carolina artillerists from Fort Moultrie participated in the bombardment of Fort Sumter, which sparked the Civil War. There have been three Fort Moultries. The first of these was the palmetto and sand fort of the American Revolution, which the South Carolina assembly named in honor of Col. William Moultrie, following the repulse of the British fleet. Fort Moultrie, No. 1, disappeared in the post-Revolutionary years. Tradition has it swallowed by the sea. In 1794, when war with Great Britain appeared imminent, the Congress appropriated money for coastal defenses. Construction was started on Fort Moultrie, No. 2. With the easing of tensions following the Jay Treaty, work was suspended. The fort, a typical First System work, was completed in 1798 during the Quasi-War with France. Fort Moultrie, No. 2, was battered by high tides in 1803 and wrecked by the hurricane of 1804. Four years later, in 1808, when war again threatened with Great Britain, the construction of Fort Moultrie, No. 3, was commenced. A masonry work of the Second System, the fort was completed and garrisoned in December 1809. This is the Fort Moultrie of today, although it was greatly modified during the Civil War, the years 1872-1876, and between 1897 and 1903. There are no surface remains of the first two Fort Moultries, and this study is designed to provide information as to the structural history of these two forts. The location of these two forts will be pinpointed in hopes that an archeological investigation will be undertaken and their foundations exposed.