eral Lee crossed
over in a boat, to determine whether he should withdraw them; and was
enraptured with the ardour they displayed. They assured him they would
lose the fort only with their lives; and the mortally wounded breathed
their last, exhorting their fellow soldiers to the most heroic defence
of the place.

{July 15.}

The engagement continued until night. By that time, the ships were in
such a condition, as to be unfit to renew the action on the ensuing
day. The Bristol lost one hundred and eleven men, and the Experiment
seventy-nine. Captain Scott, of the one, lost his arm; and Captain
Morris, of the other, was mortally wounded. Lord Campbell, late
Governor of the province, who served as a volunteer on board one of
these vessels, was also mortally wounded; and both ships were so
shattered, as to inspire hopes that they would be unable to repass the
bar. About nine, they slipped their cables and moved off. A few days
afterwards, the troops were re-embarked, and all farther designs
against the southern colonies being for the present relinquished, the
squadron sailed for New York.[33]

[Footnote 33: Annual Register--Gordon--Ramsay--Letters of
General Lee.]

The attack on fort Moultrie was supported by the British seamen with
their accustomed bravery; and the slaughter on board the ships was
uncommonly great. The loss of the Americans, in killed and wounded,
was only thirty-five men.

Great and well merited praise was bestowed on Colonel Moultrie, who
commanded the fort, and on the garrison, for the resolution displayed
in defending it. Nor was the glory acquired on this occasion confined
to them. All the troops that had been stationed on the island partook
of it: and the thanks of the United Colonies were voted by congress to
General Lee, Colonel Moultrie, Colonel Thompson, and the officers and
men under their command.

This fortunate event, for such it may well be termed, though not of
much magnitude in itself, was, like many other successes attending the
American arms in the commencement of the war, of great importance in
its consequences. By impressing on the colonists a conviction of their
ability to maintain the contest, it increased the number of those who
resolved to resist British authority, and assisted in paving the way
to a declaration of independence.

{April.}

[Sidenote: Transactions in New York.]

Even before the evacuation of Boston, it had been foreseen that New
York must be