tteries on
Long Island, to oppose those of Thompson, and cover the passage of his
troops by boats or by the ford. Thus time was consumed, and the enemy
were, from the 1st to the 28th of June, preparing for the attack.

At length on the 28th of June, the Thunder Bomb commenced the attack,
throwing shells at the fort as the fleet, under Sir Peter Parker,
advanced. About eleven o'clock the ships dropped their anchors
directly before the front battery. ["They commenced," says Lee, "the
most furious fire I ever saw." The garrison, however, according to
British authority, stuck with the greatest constancy and firmness to
their guns; fired deliberately and slow, and took a cool, effective
aim. The ships suffered accordingly, they were torn almost to pieces,
and the slaughter was dreadful. The fire from the ships did not
produce the expected effect.] The fortifications were low, composed of
earth and palmetto wood, which is soft, and makes no splinters, and
the merlons were extremely thick. At one time there was a considerable
pause in the American fire, and the enemy thought the fort was
abandoned. It was only because the powder was exhausted. As soon as a
supply could be forwarded from the mainland by General Lee, the fort
resumed its fire with still more deadly effect. Through unskilful
pilotage, several of the ships ran aground, where one, the frigate
Actaeon, remained; the rest were extricated with difficulty. Those
which bore the brunt of the action were much cut up. One hundred and
seventy-five men were killed, and nearly as many wounded. Sir Henry
Clinton, with two thousand troops and five or six hundred seamen,
attempted repeatedly to cross from Long Island, and co-operate in the
attack upon the fort, but was as often foiled by Colonel Thompson,
with his battery of two cannons, and a body of South Carolina rangers
and North Carolina regulars.

The combat slackened before sunset, and ceased before ten o'clock. Sir
Peter Parker, who had received a severe contusion in the engagement,
then slipped his cables, and drew off his shattered ships to Five
Fathom Hole. The Actaeon remained aground. On the following morning Sir
Henry Clinton made another attempt to cross from Long Island to
Sullivan's Island; but was again repulsed, and obliged to take shelter
behind his breastworks. Sir Peter Parker, too, giving up all hope of
reducing the fort in the shattered condition of his ships, ordered
that the Actaeon should be set on f