William Moultrie
Major General, Continental Army

William Moultrie was born on 4 December 1730 in Charleston, SC.

Moultrie fought in the Anglo-Cherokee War in 1761 and served in the Colonial Assembly before the advent of the American Revolution.

In 1775, he was commissioned Colonel of the 2nd South Carolina Regiment. In December of 1775, he led a raid on an encampment of runaway slaves on Sullivan's Island, killing 50 and capturing the rest.

In 1776, his defense of a small fort on Sullivan's Island (later named Fort Moultrie in his honor) prevented Sir Henry Clinton and Sir Peter Parker from taking Charleston, SC. The Continental Congress passed a resolution thanking Moultrie. He was promoted to Brigadier General and his Regiment was taken into the Continental Army.

Moultrie's skill failed to prevent the fall of Savannah, GA, to the British in 1778. He was captured in the fall of Charleston to the British in 1780, and later exchanged. He was promoted to Major General in 1782, the last person appointed to that rank by Congress in that time period.

After the war, Moultrie served as the 35th Governor of South Carolina (1785-87 and 1795-97). He wrote Memoirs of the Revolution as far as it Related to the States of North and South Carolina (1802).

Death and Burial

Major General William Moultrie died on 27 September 1805 in Charleston, SC. His body was moved in 1978 and re-interred on the grounds of Fort Moultrie.