The British had hoped to quell the Colonial uprising by seizing control of major coastal cities, but Col. William Moultrie’s successful command of his 400 fighters resulted in heavy damage to the warships at Charleston Harbor’s entrance, causing the fleet to retreat.
It would be nearly three years before the British tried again in the South. They were determined to take Charleston but by a less direct path.
That second attempt would succeed but not before an important land battle the Battle of Beaufort at Port Royal Island pitted British forces against their old nemesis, Col. Moultrie. This was the first serious land battle of the war in South Carolina and its first American victory.