Ft Moultrie is not as well known as Ft Sumter but without
the first the second one is not important. It was from Moultrie the first shots
were fired at Sumter. It was the ‘rockets red glare’ that Moultrie put in the
sky towards Ft Sumter that inspired our national anthem song.
The Fort was not even complete before it was attacked in June 1776 by nine British warships. It was constructed by rising two palmetto logs 16 feet apart and filling in the space with sand. The spongy palmetto logs and yielding sand absorbed shots from the British artillery. Positioned on Sullivan’s Island it was unseen until ships had entered the harbor. In this position ships couldn’t fire on it until it was too late.
Moultrie III (MII) was made of brick and stone. Moultrie changed little after that but with the addition of Ft Sumter and Castle Pinckney in the SDS it now completed a three Fort ring around Charleston Harbor.
I stood on the battery’s highest point and tried to capture a picture of Ft Sumter far off in the bay. It was more than a stone’s throw. It was impossible to see the city of Charleston. I was humbled and yet amazed to see how these forts were built without cranes. Each of the original cannons weighed more than 1500 pounds and was placed on the battery ridges using a block and tackle system.
In the front of Ft Moultrie was the grave of Osceola and a monument
to the Patapsco American Natives who once lived here. The island that day was
covered by clouds as we walked the beautiful white sand beach. Most of the houses
on Sullivan’s Island are summer cottages raised on high water stilts. There
were a few fishing boats but most of the commercial water docks were built for
the novice fisherman. Then it was back across the bridge to the mainland…wait
the draw bridge is up? A small sailing craft had requested a port opening to
the sea. “Is he crazy” I said to Peggy because the rain was coming down pretty
hard now as he turned back inland to a small pier. The bridge clanged back into
place and the traffic started to slowly move. It was back across the large
Charleston bridge home to the RV camp for the night.
Happy RV travels to the next nearest Fort,
George (with Peggy & Coco)
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