A418 - A Plan of the Attack of Fort Sullivan

William Faden

h18" x w14"

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This print is from a very rare 1st edition of this historic publication of events near Charleston South Carolina on July 28th 1776. It was printed and sold by William Faden, Geographer to the King..."

 

The original document was a copper-engraved map, with a one-line dedication to Sir Peter Parker and it includes letterpress text in two columns beneath the map, giving a full account of the events which took place from the 1st to the 28th July, taken from correspondence from Commodore Sir Peter Parker and Lieutenant-General Clinton to the Lords of the Admiralty.

 

It was William Faden's first Revolutionary war battle plan to be published and the text in the two columns is found only on this issue. Later issues, without text, appeared in Faden's North American Atlas.

 

Having lost control of Charleston to the American forces in the Spring of 1776, the British were in danger of losing control of the whole of South Carolina and their 'southern strategy' was in jeopardy so a fleet of twenty ships, under the command of Commodore Sir Peter Parker was dispatched from Cape Fear on the 1st June 1776.

 

Parker's squadron included troop carriers full of marines, with the mission under the overall command of Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Clinton. By the 4th July the squadron was anchored off Charlestown bar and by the 9th July Clinton had landed somewhere between four and five hundred marines on Long Island, to the North of Sullivan's  Island.

 

The American's defending Charleston, led by Colonel Moultrie, were ill prepared with inexperienced troops and inadequate supply of ammunition. Adding to the problem faced by the American defenders was the uncertainty that the Fort on the southern end of Sullivan's island would stand the test to which it was about to be put.

 

The fort was not of stone standard construction, instead, it's walls were constructed from earth and palmetto logs. With little more than 1,000 men, a mere 26 guns with 28 rounds on ammunition apiece, Moultrie was facing a British force nearly three times its number with over 250 well stocked guns.

 

As events turned out the British proceeded to make a series of strategic errors including relying on information given by American harbour pilots who were press-ganged into service. As it happened, it had taken the British three weeks to finally settle on a plan and time-frame for the final attack the Americans, under Colonel William Thompson who, given the  time had been able to fortify the northern tip of the island with Redoubts as marked on the map.

 

The inset plan shows the British naval assault of the fort, as indicated on the map by the ships shown grouped together just off of the fort. Each ship is named and detailed with its number of guns.

 

For his part Moultrie rationed and synchronized the use of his limited firepower, to make the best of his situation. The Palmetto log and earth construction of the fort as it turned out proved to be a major factor in the eventual American success as the British cannon balls were unable to shatter or break the walls. Indeed, the soft and spring-loaded wood harmlessly absorbed the impact.

 

British difficulties with navigation within the harbour continued as Parker's ships struggled with the tidal shoals that lay near the fort which meant that the British were unable to sail in close enough to the fort to deliver lethal blows, while remaining in range of the American guns.

 

On the 28th, the day of the major assault no less than three British frigates were run aground 'owing to the ignorance of the pilot'. The British flagship HMS Bristol took heavy losses and the Faden's plan lists 40 killed with 71 wounded on her alone.

 

A final attempt to storm Thomson's northern redoubts was easily repelled and the British were forced to completely withdraw. This engagement is widely regarded as being one of the most significant actions of the revolutionary war and this plan is accoringly accredited with being a bench-mark in reporting. 

A Plan of the Attack of Fort Sullivan near Charles Town in South Carolina.