British General Sir Henry Clinton and Commodore Sir Peter Parker (no relation to Spiderman) led a combined army/navy attack on Fort Sullivan, at the entrance to Charleston Harbor. That is, it would have been a combined attack, but Clinton was unable to get his troops onto Sullivan’s Island, and Parker was left more or less on his own. Half a dozen of his warships pummeled the fort from late morning until after dark, but to no avail. Colonel William Moultrie and his South Carolinians gave even better than they got. The walls of the fort were made of palmetto logs and earth, which absorbed most of the enemy shot; but the American cannonballs took a heavy toll on the ships. When Parker’s vessels finally limped away late that night, they had suffered over 260 casualties, as well as damaged hulls, masts, and rigging (the Americans had only about three dozen killed and wounded). The British were sorely disappointed in their plans for conquering the rebels in the South; before long, they headed north to join the British forces amassing in New York.
Here are some firsthand accounts of the battle:
Colonel (later General) William Moultrie, who commanded the American troops in the fort:
On the morning of the 28th of June…I saw the men-of-war loose their topsails; I hurried back to the fort as fast as possible; when I got there the ships were already under sail; I immediately ordered the long roll to beat, and officers and men to their posts: We had scarcely manned our guns, when the following ships of war came sailing up, as if in confidence of victory; as soon as they came within the reach of our guns, we began to fire… It being a very hot day, we were served along the plat-form with grog in firebuckets, which we partook of very heartily: I never had a more agreeable draught than that which I took out of one of those buckets at the time; it may be very easily conceived what heat and thirst a man must feel in this climate, to be upon a plat-form on the 28th June, amidst 20 or 30 heavy pieces of cannon, in one continual blaze and roar; and clouds of smoke curling over his head for hours together; it was a very honorable situation, but a very unpleasant one.
A British naval surgeon:
It is impossible to pretend to describe what our shipping have suffered. … Our ships, after laying nine hours before the battery, were obliged to retire with great loss. … This will not be believed when it is first reported in England. I can scarcely believe what I myself saw on that day — a day to me one of the most distressing of my life.