I visited Sullivan's Island on the day of my departure from Charleston,Jan. 29, 1849 and sauntered for an hour upon the beach where the old Palmetto Fort once stood.
Nothing of it now remains but a few of the logs imbedded in the drifting sand. The modern Fort Moultrie is not a large, but a well-constructed fortification. The island is sandy, and bears no shrub or tree spontaneously except the Palmetto, and these are not seen in profusion. On the northwestern
* See page 738.
** Moultrie, i., 182. One of them was of fine blue silk, and the other of fine red silk, richly embroidered.
*** Journals, ii., 260.
**** Johnson (page 189) relates that on that occasion (fifth of August, 1776) the people of Charleston, young and old, of both sexes, assembled around Liberty Tree (see page 748) with all the military of the city and vicinity, drums beating and flags flying. The ceremonies were opened with prayer. The Declaration was then read by Major Bernard Elliot (whose lady presented the flags, mentioned on page 756), and were closed by an eloquent address by the Reverend William Percy, of the Protestant Episcopal Church It was a hot day, and Mr. Percy's black servant held an umbrella over his head and fanned him during the delivering of his address. Alluding to this, a British wag wrote: "Good Mr. Parson, it is not quite civil To be preaching rebellion, thus fanned by the devil."
* (v) This view is from the southwestern angle of Fort Sullivan, looking toward James's Island. That angle, with cannons, a portion of the barracks, and the flag-staff, are seen on the right. The small building toward the left marks the center of the old Palmetto Fort. In the distance is seen Fort Sumter, and in the extreme distance, close by the angle of the fort, is seen the village upon the site of old Fort Johnson. Charleston bar, at the entrance of the harbor, is about six miles from the city. The width of the inner harbor, at its mouth, is about a mile wide. This is guarded by Forts Moultrie, Sumter, and Johnson, and by Castle Pinckney, a handsome work in front of the city, within the inner harbor.
The British Lazaretto—Formation of an Army under Lincoln.—Major Thomas Pinckney.
side of the island are the remains of an old causeway or bridge, extending to the main, nearly upon the site of a bridge of boats, which was used during the battle in 1776. It was constructed after that conflict, at the cost of Christopher Gadsden, and was called Gadsden's Bridge. The British, when they afterward possessed Charleston, used it to pass over to their lazaretto, which they erected on Sullivan's Island. This lazaretto was upon the site of the present Episcopal church in Moultrieville. A part of the old brick wall was yet standing when I visited the spot in 1849.
We have already considered the demonstration made by the British at the South, in the capture of Savannah at the close of 1778, and also the events in Georgia after the arrival of General Lincoln as commander-in-chief of the Southern army.