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1775: Key Events in the Charleston Area

While many eyes on both sides of the Atlantic were focused on Massachusetts, Charleston in 1775 was also a place of escalating tension and revolutionary crisis. 

January 11: The first session of the South Carolina Provincial Congress convenes in Charleston*.  Charles Pinckney is elected president.  The South Carolina Provincial government becomes the Patriot’s shadow government.  Francis Salvador, one of the delegates, is the first identified Jew to be elected to public office in the American colonies.
January 17:  The South Carolina Provincial Congress resolves that “That it be recommended by this Congress, to all inhabitants of this colony, that they be diligently attentive in learning the use of arms; and that their officers be requested to train and exercise them at least once a fortnight.”
February 27:  British salt, coal, and tiles aboard the merchant ship Charming Sally are dumped into Hog Creek.  This is one of the first enforcements of the newly enacted import ban agreed to at the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia and later ratified in Charleston.
March 29:  Denied permission to land furniture and horses brought from England, Charleston resident Robert Smyth sails back to London with his son.   Smyth’s request to land his personal property roiled the Provincial Congress and local population.
William Henry Drayton
April 19:  Patriots intercept and read the Royal mail recently arrived in Charleston.  In the letters, the patriots learned of King George III’s intention to ensure that the rebellious colonists understood Parliament’s supremacy and to use military force as necessary.  This news did much to squash the camp hoping for a peaceful reconciliation. 
April 21:  Arms & Powder Raids – empowered by the new Committee of Safety, patriots raid three arms and powder storage sites in and around Charleston.
May 9: Charleston learns the news of the April 19, 1775 Battle of Lexington and Concord.
  • The New England Quarterly:“The Newspaper Coverage of Lexington and Concord.” by Frank Luther Mott
May 10:  South Carolina’s delegates to the Second Continental Congress meet their counterparts in Philadelphia.  Those present in 1775 include:
  • Edward Rutledge (1775-1776)*
  • John Rutledge (1775-1776)
  • Thomas Lynch Sr. (1775-1776)
  • Thomas Lynch, Jr. (1775-1776)* – traveled to Philadelphia to attend to his ill father. Elected to the Congress on March 23, 1776.
  • Christopher Gadsden (1775-1776)

    * Signed the Declaration of Independence

  • Carolana.com: South Carolina Delegates to the Continental Congress 1774-1789

May 29: One of Charleston’s newspapers included a story that a ship was preparing to leave England carrying “seventy-eight thousand guns and bayonets, to be sent to America, to put into the hands of N[egroe]s, the Roman Catholics, the Indians and Canadians; and all the wicked means on earth used to subdue the colonies.”  The story is false, but it does much to stir the passions of many South Carolinians.
June 1:   The second session of South Carolina’s Provincial Congress begins.  Henry Laurens is elected president of this session.
June 3:  The South Carolina Provincial Congress forms an Association that pledges to use lethal force to defend American liberties against British oppression – to “unite ourselves, under every tie of religion and honour, and associate, as a band in her defence, against every foe.”  Local Catholics are seen as one of those foes. 
1775 South Carolina Five Pound Note
June 4:  South Carolina’s Provincial Congress authorizes the issue of one million pounds in paper currency for military defense of the province, and appoints thirteen new members to the Council of Safety, with power to command all soldiers and to use all public money in the province.
June 6:  South Carolina’s Provincial Congress resolves that two regiments of infantry (1st and 2nd South Carolina Regiments) and a third regiment of mounted riflemen (Ranger Regiment) be raised.  The 2nd South Carolina and the 3rd South Carolina Ranger regiments will play a significant role in the June 28, 1776 Battle of Sullivan’s Island the following year. 
June 8:  Two Catholic men – Laughlin Martin and James Dealey – are tried by a vigilante court near the South Carolina State House in Charleston. They are convicted, then tarred and feathered.
William Campbell
June 18:  Royal Governor Lord William Campbell arrives in Charleston.  He refused to recognize the Provincial Congress.   He will dissolve the General Assembly in September and escape Charleston aboard a British warship.
July:  The South Carolina Navy came into existence in July 1775 when the Provincial Congress’ Council of Safety authorized two captains to outfit a ship to assist neighboring Georgia to seize British gunpowder in Nassau, Bahamas. Before the ship  Commerce sailed from Charleston, word was received that the British ships were headed to nearby Savannah. The action netted 25,000 pounds of gunpowder which was an enormous amount and desperately needed by the patriot cause.

Other Ships Added to the South Carolina Navy

  • October: Defense (Captain Simon Tufts)
  • November: Prosper
  • December: Comet
July 23:  The Council of Safety resolves to send Chief Justice William Henry Drayton and Rev. William Tennant to the Backcountry to persuade those citizens to sign the “Continental Association” (export/import bans).  They are escorted by Lt. Col. William Thomson.
August 7-8:  Elections held in South Carolina for delegates to the next Provincial Congress which is to be held in Charleston in December 1775.
August 18: Thomas Jeremiah, a free black  harbor pilot and successful businessman, was hanged and burned in Charleston after being accused of plotting with the British to employ enslaved people against the patriots.  Henry Laurens strongly advocated for Jeremiah’s conviction while Lord Campbell, the Royal governor, believed Jeremiah to be innocent. 
September 15:  Patriots capture Fort Johnson – a strategic position guarding Charleston harbor.
September 18:  Patriots attack and seize a small vessel that was to take supplies to two British warships anchored in Charleston harbor.
The Moultrie Flag Design
Late September/Early October:  Col. William Moultrie creates the “Moultrie Flag” and flies it above Fort Johnson.  In time, this flag, with its blue field and white crescent in its corner, will become the basis of South Carolina’s state flag.
November 1775: After hearing rumors that Loyalist Col. Schofield was preparing to seize munitions in the Charleston area, the Council of Safety orders the establishment of a military depot at Dorchester.
November 1:  South Carolina’s Provincial Congress’s second session convenes in Charleston.  William Henry Drayton is elected president.
November 1:  Loyalist Captain Robert Cunningham is charged by the Provincial Congress for failing to pledge allegiance to the patriot cause and is placed in jail. His brother, with other loyalists, will try to break him out of jail in February 1776.
November 9:  The Royal Navy sloop Tamar seizes a ship in Charleston Harbor.  The captured ship was carrying apples and cider bound for Georgia. 
November 11-12:  The naval Battle of Hog Island is fought in Charleston Harbor. William Henry Drayton, president of the Provincial Congress, was onboard the Defense, superivising the sinking of hulks in the Hog Island channel.  Lord William Campbell, the Royal governor of South Carolina, was aboard the British warship, Cherokee during the battle. 
November 13:  The 4th South Carolina Regiment (South Carolina Artillery Regiment) is authorized by the South Carolina Provincial Congress.  Artillerists from the 4th regiment would play a key role in the June 28, 1776 Battle of Sullivan’s Island. 
November 16:  The South Carolina Provincial Congress elects new Council of Safety members.
November 18-21: Battle of Ninety-Six.  William Henry Drayton helped organize the Patriot forces that arrived. 
December 5:  Royal Navy warship Scorpion captures two Patriot ships at the mouth of Charlestown harbor.
December 19: Patriots attacked British troops encamped on Sullivan’s Island, killing some and capturing others.

* In 1775, Charleston was spelled Charlestown or Charles Town

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If you have questions about these historical events or have edits to propose, please write us at [email protected]

Map of North and South Carolina in 1775. London, Printed for Robt. Sayer and J: Bennett, 1775 (Library of Congress)  see larger file

 
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