Cities across the Palmetto State will come alive this weekend with celebrations and commemorations for Carolina Day. You can join parades, festivals, lectures and reenactments to honor the 249th anniversary of the Battle of Sullivan’s Island, the first major naval victory of the American Revolution.
Charleston’s observance of the unofficial holiday begins downtown with several longstanding Palmetto Society events.
- 10 a.m.: Carolina Day service at St. Michael’s Church. 71 Broad St.
- 11 a.m.: Community gathering in Washington Park. 80 Broad St.
- 11:30 a.m.: Carolina Day Parade steps off from Washington Park, featuring more than 30 historic, military, civic and cultural units. The parade concludes at White Point Garden.
- Noon: S.C. 250 Commissioner Ben Zeigler of Florence will give remarks, followed by a wreath-laying ceremony at White Point Garden. 2 Murray Blvd.
Meanwhile, Fort Moultrie on Sullivan’s Island hosts a free family festival from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday to commemorate the holiday. The festival features musket and artillery demonstrations, colonial games, indigo-dyeing, authors’ talks and more. Key moments include a flag-raising at 10 a.m. and a dramatic reenactment of Sgt. William Jasper’s flag rescue at 3 p.m.
The Holy City’s celebrations conclude at Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park, where gates open at 5 p.m. for a Charleston RiverDogs game against the Lynchburg Hillcats. Revolutionary War interpreters will greet fans, fire ceremonial cannons and lead colonial children’s games between innings. Finally, a 250-drone light show of Revolutionary imagery will follow the final out. Tickets are available at riverdogs.com.
A historic victory
South Carolina is at the heart of the American Revolution. Nearly a third of all battles and skirmishes took place in South Carolina. And on June 28, 1776, South Carolina patriots defended a makeshift fort on Sullivan’s Island. Built with palmetto logs that absorbed the shock of British cannons, it repelled a powerful British fleet offensive, preserving Charleston and boosting colonial morale days before the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
The unfinished fort boasted only 31 cannons with which a garrison of soldiers repelled nine man-of-war ships with nearly 300. The victory is a tale of underdog victory that showed leaders in the American colonies that the fight for freedom from British tyranny was winnable.
According to the S.C. Encyclopedia, the fort would have been a square with 500-foot-long walls with a bastion at each corner. Builders placed thousands of palmetto logs in two parallel walls 16 feet apart. Between the walls were tons of sand. By the time of the battle, only two walls and bastions were complete, and only 400 soldiers were stationed at the fort. Another 300 stood at the north end of the island to keep British marines from crossing Breach Inlet.
On June 8, the British fleet demanded surrender, which was rejected. And on June 28, warships advanced on the fort and began firing just before noon. The fort’s guns responded, and the cannonfire continued through the evening. Despite taking heavy fire, the fort survived with little damage. The interwoven fibers of the palmetto logs and the thick berm of sand between them absorbed the shock of British volleys.
The less-pliable ships, however, did not. Patriot cannons severely damaged two British ships and moderately damaged two more. A fifth was scuttled after it ran aground in the mud.
British troops ultimately saw more than 200 casualties, compared to only 40 among patriots. It wasn’t long before the Royal Navy withdrew, and the unnamed fort was named to honor its commander, Col. William Moultrie. Now, the site is part of Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park.
Learn more: scmuseum.org
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