William Moultrie
Major General William Moultrie: The Shield of the Lowcountry
Moultrie was already a living legend by the time the war reached the Beaufort District. In 1776, his ragtag garrison at a half-finished palmetto-log fort on Sullivan’s Island famously repelled a massive British naval fleet. However, his leadership in 1779 was perhaps even more critical, as he was tasked with stopping the British from sweeping up the coast from Savannah.
The Victory at Port Royal Island
In February 1779, a British force under Major William Gardner landed at Laurel Bay with the intent of seizing the town of Beaufort. Moultrie was dispatched with a force of roughly 300 men, largely composed of the Charleston and Beaufort militias. Among his ranks were two signers of the Declaration of Independence: Thomas Heyward Jr. and Edward Rutledge.
At the Battle of Port Royal Island (Gray’s Hill), Moultrie displayed his trademark composure. When the two forces met in the open field, Moultrie’s militia did not break. He famously directed his artillery—commanded by Heyward—to devastating effect, forcing the British regulars to retreat to their ships. This engagement was a landmark moment: it was one of the first times in the war that American militia defeated British regulars in a conventional, open-field battle.
Governor and Historian
Moultrie’s service continued through the Siege of Charleston, where he was captured and spent two years as a prisoner of war. After the Revolution, he served two terms as the Governor of South Carolina. Perhaps his greatest gift to history was his two-volume memoir, Memoirs of the American Revolution, which remains one of the primary eyewitness accounts of the war in the South.
Legacy of the “Palmetto” Spirit
William Moultrie’s legacy is etched into the very identity of South Carolina. The “Liberty Flag” he designed—a blue field with a white crescent—evolved into the state flag used today. He was a man of quiet dignity who believed that a defensive, disciplined stand was the key to American survival.
