Battle of Fort Sullivan

Front: On June 28, 1776, a British and Loyalist force seeking to capture Charleston advanced to Sullivan's Island with 9 ships and 2,500-3,000 infantry. The American defenders, 435 men under Col. William Moultrie of the 2nd S.C. Regiment, occupied a fort nearby, built from palmetto logs. Still unfinished when the fighting began, it is sometimes referred to as "Fort Sullivan" in contemporary accounts. Reverse: As Adm. Peter Parker's ships shelled the fort its log walls absorbed or deflected the British shells and the Americans lost only 37 men killed or wounded. Moultrie's shells damaged every ship, inflicted 219 losses, and forced Parker's withdrawal. A British land attack at Breach Inlet also failed. The first major Patriot victory of the war also gave S.C. its nickname, "The Palmetto State."