Fort Moultrie
Fort Moultrie (1776-1947) - Fort Moultrie is the name of a series of forts on Sullivan's Island, South Carolina, built to protect the city of Charleston, South Carolina. The first fort, built of palmetto logs, inspired the flag and motto (Palmetto State) of South Carolina.
Revolutionary War
Fort Moultry was not yet complete and unnamed when when Adm. Sir Peter Parker and nine British warships attacked it on 28 Jun 1776, near the beginning of the American Revolutionary War. Legend has it that the soft palmetto logs did not crack under bombardment but rather absorbed the shot; in any case, Charleston was saved from capture, and the fort was named for the commander in the battle, William Moultrie.
As tensions hightened after Great Britain and France declared war in 1793, the United States embarked on a systematic fortification of important harbors. A new Fort Moultrie, one of 20 new First System forts along the Atlantic coast, was completed over the decayed original fort in 1798. Destroyed by a hurricane in 1804, it was replaced by a Second System brick fort by 1809.
During the Seminole War, Osceola, a chief, and 200 Seminoles were imprisoned in the fort; Osceola's tomb is there.
U.S. Civil War
Between 1809 and 1860 Fort Moultrie changed little; the parapet was altered and the armament modernized, but newly created Fort Sumter became the main component of Charleston's defense. Of the four forts around Charleston harbor, Fort Moultrie, Fort Sumter, Fort Johnson, and Castle Pinckney, it was Moultrie's defenders who chose to fight against the Confederacy; they retreated to the stronger Fort Sumter when in December 1860 South Carolina seceded from the Union. Three and a half months later, Confederate troops shelled Fort Sumter into submission and the U.S. Civil War began. In April 1863, Federal ironclads and shore batteries began a 20-month bombardment of Forts Sumter and Moultrie; the Confederates held the forts and the harbor until February 1865, when the army evacuated the city. By then, Fort Sumter was a pile of rubble, and Fort Moultrie had been pounded below a sand hill, which subsequently protected it against Federal bombardment. Rifled cannon had proved their superiority to brickwork fortifications, but not to the endurance of the Confederate artillerymen who manned the forts throughout.
Post U.S. Civil War
Fort Moultrie was modernized in the 1870s, with huge rifled cannon and deep concrete bunkers; further modernization in the 1880s turned all of Sullivans Island into a military complex, of which the old fort was just a part. Fort Moultrie was upgraded during the Endicott Period and again during World War II.
| Battery | No. | Caliber | Type Mount | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capron | 8 | 12" | Mortar Carriage | 1898-1942 |
| Butler | 8 | 12" | Mortar Carriage | 1898-1942 |
| Jasper | 4 | 10" | Disappearing Carriage | 1898-1942 |
| Thompson | 2 | 10" | Disappearing Carriage | 1906-1945 |
| Gladsen | 4 | 6" | Disappearing Carriage | 1906-1917 |
| Logan | 2 | 6" | Disappearing Carriage | 1906-1944 |
| Bingham | 2 | 4.7" British Armstrong | Pedestal Mounts | 1899-1918 |
| McCorkle | 2 | 3" | Masking Pedestal Mount | 1899-1943 |
| Lord | 2 | 3" | Pedestal Mount | 1899-1946 |
| Source: Coastal Defense Study Group | ||||
| Battery | No. | Caliber | Type Mount | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMTB #2 | 2 | 90 mm | Fixed Pedestal | 1943-1946 |
| #125 | 2 | 16" Navy Gun 1940 Program | Long Range Barbette Carriage | |
| #230 | 2 | 6" 1940 Program | Long Range Barbette Carriage | 1943 |
| Source: Coastal Defense Study Group | ||||
It was Charleston's chief harbor defense until 1947, when it was abandoned. Fort Moultrie is part of Fort Sumter National Monument
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Location: 1214 Middle Street, Sullivan's Island, SC 29482 Maps & Images Lat: 32.759382 Long: -79.857666 |
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