Page 64 - JM Book 9/2020

stuck in the shallow sandbars. Two ships managed to get free, but the third remained grounded and had to be abandoned.
While the three ships were attempting to get out of the sandbars, British Major General Sir Henry Clinton tried to move his troops from Long Island to Sullivan’s Island. The troops had been stationed on Long Island several days before the battle began. Clinton did not realize the water was too deep for his men to cross on foot – the water between the two islands was six to seven feet deep, instead of the eighteen inches he had expected. During this failed attempt to cross to Sullivan’s Island, the Americans fired at point-blank range killing and wounding many Redcoats.
Fortunately for the Americans, the British cannonballs had little effect on Fort Sullivan because the walls were constructed of Palmetto logs and sand. Palmetto trees are very soft and spongy and with the sand, they were able to absorb the cannonballs before they could explode.
Around sunset, the British set fire to the ship that ran aground and then sailed out of Charleston Harbor. While the ship burned, patriots used small boats to remove some of the cannons and other supplies. The fire eventually caused the ship’s powder magazine to explode.
Despite the heavy odds against them, the American forces emerged victorious with only seventeen killed and twenty wounded. The British losses totaled sixty-three killed, one hundred forty-three wounded and one ship lost.
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