Sergeant Jasper, William Moultrie, and the Palmetto Flag Vol. 2, No. 2
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Items of recent and historical interest from members of The Heritage Library Vol. 2, No. 2 April 2010 ELSEWHERE IN THE CAROLINAS HILTON HEAD AND THE DURING THE REVOLUTION AMERICAN REVOLUTION Sergeant Jasper, William Moultrie, A Cycle of Vengeance and Bloodshed by Lyman D. Wooster* and the Palmetto Flag The 1776 battle of Charleston produced two men South Carolina’s role in still famous today. America’s War for Indepen- dence tends to be overlooked William Moultrie was acclaimed as the hero of the by many when in actuality battle where he defended Charleston from Sullivan it profoundly influenced the Island in a ten-hour battle with the British. The fort outcome in the final months was incomplete at the time, had only 30 cannon and 30 of the Revolution. rounds of ammunition. As the day and the battle wore on, more gunpowder was delivered, while the bulwarks In the late 1770s, the com- of palmetto logs protected the fort by absorbing or de- mander of British forces in flecting the British cannon shot. America opted to concentrate his military strength in the south where, he believed, a But some cannon majority of the population was supportive of the Crown. shot got through, and Savannah had fallen to the British in 1778; by the time one splintered the mast Charleston fell in 1780, all of Georgia and South Carolina supporting the flag. were controlled by the British, and General Cornwallis es- As the flag tumbled, tablished his Headquarters in Camden, South Carolina. watchers gasped, think- ing the fort was sur- But in the autumn of 1780 and early 1781 the Patri- rendering. In the midst ots’ cause began to improve, partly because the harsh and of the noise and smoke sometimes cruel treatment by the occupying forces turned and enemy fire, Ser- backcountry Carolinians against the British. Military ac- geant William Jasper tion at King’s Mountain in October 1780, at Cowpens in The SC flag at that time consisted of January 1781, and at Guilford Courthouse (in North Car- leapt into the fray and white crescents on a blue background. held the flag aloft until The palmetto was added later in a olina) in March 1781 advanced significantly the Ameri- it could be attached to a tribute to the role the palmetto logs can cause; the struggle at those three sites combined to new mast. played in defending the fort. create what was in effect a turning point in the lengthy war. Great Britain’s southern strategy had become a major The fort on Sullivan Island was later named Fort blunder. Moultrie in honor of our William, who was later to become a prisoner of the British when Charleston fell Those battles plus the American guerilla tactics of ha- in the second battle of Charleston in 1780. rassing British lines of communication prompted Corn- wallis and his forces to retire from the Carolinas. They Sgt. Jasper was mortally wounded in a failed at- moved into Virginia and there the weakened British army tempt to recapture Savannah in 1779, but his name met General Washington’s army and the French fleet at lives on in Jasper County, created from land that was once in the Beaufort District. *See page 4 Cont’d on Page 2 Glimpses: A Publication of the Heritage Library April 010 Cycle of Vengeance: Cont’d from Page 1 Pendarvis and Patterson: Shot in Yorktown, and in October 1781 Cornwallis surrendered. The British defeat there effectively ended the Revolution- Revenge for Doherty’s Death ary War, although the peace treaty was not concluded for Soon thereafter, Pendarvis married Margaret Marti- another two years, on September 23, 1783. In the interim nangele and they were on their honeymoon at Stephen- the countryside continued to be marred by bitter clashes ville Plantation on the banks of South May River (Pal- between Patriots and Loyalists. metto Bluff). On April 17, as they were preparing to leave for Florida, a house servant informed them that a rebel From the outset, the War for Independence created scouting party, led by the vengeful Leacraft, was coming divisions among the American people; communities, down the road. Margaret wanted Richard to hide but neighbors, and even families split, some becoming Patri- Pendarvis replied, “I will immediately go out to them and ots or Whigs, supporting the Revolution, while others, the deliver myself up as a prisoner of war and in a very short Loyalists or Tories, remained faithful to the Crown. The time I will be exchanged.” However, instead of taking him plantation owners on Hilton Head were for the most part prisoner Leacraft shot and killed Pendarvis. Patriots, while on neighboring Daufuskie Island the peo- ple were Loyalists. And the divided loyalties led to severe Another source reports that when Leacraft learned altercations, guerilla-style and localized clashes, between that Pendarvis and his fellow Tory, Lt. William Patter- the Hilton Head and the Daufuskie militias. son (the two men who had been involved in the wound- ing and then the killing of Captain Doherty) were in the The Slaying of James Doherty Palmetto Bluff area, Leacraft rode posthaste, to Palmetto One deadly confrontation that led to another, equally Bluff from Ft. Balfour, which had just surrendered to the deadly, occurred in January 1781 when a Captain Rich- Patriots. There at Palmetto Bluff he found Pendarvis, shot 1 ard Pendarvis, a Daufuskie Tory, went to Bear Island in and killed him, then drew his sword and ran Patterson search of his one-time friend and neighbor, Captain James through. Doherty. 2 Pendarvis had developed a dislike, even a hostile hatred, for Doherty because of the latter’s vigorous support Destruction in Revenge for of the Revolution, and he took along a group of militiamen Patterson and Pendarvis to Bear Island including one Lt. William Patterson.3 The Loyalists of Daufuskie chose to retaliate for those When they found Doherty, who was accompanied by two Tory deaths, by sending a unit to Hilton Head to destroy the homes of Patriots on plantations along Skull Hilton Head’s John Leacraft and cohorts, gunfire was ex- changed and Doherty was wounded. Then, while Doherty Creek, including those of John Leacraft and John Talbird, was lying on the ground, he was shot again, this time fa- an avid Patriot who was at that time a wounded prisoner- tally. His two companions, however, managed to escape. of-war. Doherty’s nephew, John Leacraft, witnessed the shooting As it happened, the young officer commanding the and vowed to avenge his uncle’s death. Tory unit assigned the task of setting fire to the houses was married to the sister of Mrs. John Talbird and before 1. Near what is now Moss Creek putting torch to the place he allowed the servants, with 2. Sometimes spelled Dougherty. some assistance from his soldiers, to remove the furni- 3. Billie Burn, An Island Named Daufuskie. The Reprint Com- pany, Spartanburg, South Carolina. 1991 [Burn cites the family ture and other belongings. He may have had in mind as account of the Bloody Legion’s invasion which is in: “Record of an explanation for his action—in the event he was ques- the Martinangele Family Connection with the Mongins of South . Burn, 233. Carolina. Copied 1899.” Transcript. In the possession of Mrs. Talbird Family Letter, May 18, 1888. Filed at the Heritage Charles (Kathrine) Ellis II. Library, Hilton Head Island, S. C. Glimpses is published by The Heritage Library. • 8 2 Wm Hilton Parkway Suite 2A • Hilton Head Island SC 29926 • 83-686-660 • www.heritagelib.org President: Robert P. Smith 83-686-660 • [email protected] Editor: Barbara Muller • 83-71-013 • [email protected] April 010 Glimpses: A Publication of the Heritage Library tioned by his superior about his decision—that “furniture” they returned to their homes after serving all night as had not specifically been included in the order to set fire to members of the lookout, and as Davant leaned from his the dwellings. Anyway, the furniture was carried out and horse to open the gate he was shot; at the same moment stored under a great oak tree in a nearby field. That large he spotted the Martinangeles, father and son. His startled tree, a huge sheltering umbrella, still exists well over 200 horse sped for home with Charles hanging on the saddle, years later, now known locally as the Talbird Oak. On that home being the Two Oaks Plantation10; there he fell from particular raid of Hilton Head, the Tories burned a num- his horse and lived only long enough to tell his four-year ber of plantation homes along Skull Creek and carried off old son that the Martinangeles were the persons who had captured slaves for sale to the West Indies.6 shot him. The son, also named Charles, many years later That story would not be complete without noting that as an elderly man, told the Rev. Henry Talbird that “stand- on October 19, 1781 -- the day Cornwallis surrendered ing over his dead body, I, as a boy, vowed that I would kill 11 to Washington and about the time the Talbird house was those men if I lived to be a man.” torched --John Talbird’s wife gave birth in a hastily-con- Revenge for the Killing of Davant structed shelter to a son who was named for his grandfa- According to this version, it was two months later, at ther, Henry. Christmastime, that the killing of Charles Davant was The Ambush of Charles Davant avenged by a group from Hilton Head. As reported The next episode in this account of retaliation followed on January 30, 1782, by the Royal Gazette of Charles by retaliation has two different dates for a single event: Town, S.C.