Sir:—You are hereby directed to put to sea in your ship at the earliest possible moment, and proceed with all despatch to Charleston, South Carolina, where your vessel will join the fleet of Commodore Whipple, now gathering there for the defense of that town. On your arrival there you will take all further orders from him.
By order of
The Naval Committee.”
The reason for this order was already known to us. Sir Henry Clinton, taking advantage of the withdrawal of the French fleet under the command of Admiral D’Estang from Savannah, in the previous October, to the West Indies for winter quarters, had despatched a large land and naval force from New York to besiege that town. Rumors were already multiplying that its fall was certain, and would be followed by an immediate attack on Charleston. Hoping to save the latter place Congress had directed General Lincoln, who was in command of the Continental army in the south, to hasten to its defense, and meantime was collecting a fleet there to aid the land forces.
In five days we were ready to sail, and on Christmas day entered the harbor of Charleston. In order for the reader to understand the events which transpired there during the next three months, it will be necessary for him to have certain facts clearly in his mind. He should remember that the town lies on a neck of low land, a peninsula, formed by the junction of the Ashley and Cooper rivers, whose confluence makes a harbor two miles wide, and seven miles long, facing south-east to the ocean. The width of the Ashley river at its mouth is about twenty-one hundred yards, and the width of the Cooper not far from fourteen hundred. Down the harbor, and bounding it on its sea side, are the Sullivan and James islands, the former being the site of Fort Moultrie, and the latter that of Fort Johnson.
At the time of our arrival the British had not yet appeared, but during the next five weeks they came in constantly increasing numbers, until there was a land force of ten thousand men, and a naval force consisting of a ship of fifty guns, two of forty-four guns each, and four of thirty-two guns each, besides numerous transports and smaller vessels, ranging from six to twenty-four guns.
To oppose these formidable forces General Lincoln could rely upon only fifteen hundred regular troops, and such militia as could be drawn from the surrounding country—in all less than four thousand men; while the armed vessels numbered five: the schooner Providence, Commodore Whipple’s flagship, mounting eighteen guns; the frigate Ranger, Captain Thomas Sampson, carrying twenty-four guns; the frigate Boston, Captain Samuel Tucker, with twenty-four guns; the frigate Queen of France, Captain John Peck Rathbone, with twenty guns; and the state brig, Notre Dame, with twelve guns.
To check the advance of the enemy up the harbor our ships were stretched across the channel between Fort Moultrie and Fort Johnson, while in the former garrison there was a force of three hundred picked men, and in the latter one hundred.
Up to the first of February, though there had been some slight skirmishing, the British still remained in the outer harbor, while we held possession of the inner harbor and the town. But early in that month active operations were begun to dislodge us, or compel our surrender.
Early one morning our lookout forward noticed that all of the British transports and some of the men-of-war were hoisting their anchors, and preparing to sail. He reported his discovery to the officer of the deck, who promptly notified Captain Tucker. He came up from the cabin, and signalled the movement to the Commodore, who sent a man into the cross-trees of the flagship to watch the enemy. When the departing vessels had disappeared behind Morris island, Commodore Whipple ran up a signal for the Boston to send out a yawl to watch the mouth of Wappoo creek, and in case the British attempted to land in that vicinity to announce the fact by firing three swivel guns. He added:
“I will send a boat along with yours.”