| Battle of Beaufort | |||||||
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| Part of the American Revolutionary War | |||||||
A 1736 nautical chart of Port Royal Harbor. |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| Great Britain | United States | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| William Gardner | William Moultrie | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 200 infantry, militia, 1 artillery piece |
300 militia, 20 infantry, 3 artillery pieces |
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 40 killed or wounded, 7 captured[1] |
8 killed, 22 wounded[1] |
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The Battle of Beaufort or the Battle of Port Royal Island was a battle of the American Revolutionary War that took place on February 3, 1779 near Beaufort, South Carolina. The British commander of forces at Savannah, Georgia, General Augustine Prevost, sent 200 British regulars to seize Port Royal Island at the mouth of the Broad River in South Carolina. American General Benjamin Lincoln, the American commander in the south, sent General William Moultrie from Purrysburg, South Carolina with a mixed force composed mainly of militia, but with a few Continental Army men, to meet the British advance. The battle was largely inconclusive, but the British withdrew first, eventually returning to Savannah.
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The British began their "southern strategy" by taking Savannah, Georgia in December 1778. The British commander there, General Augustine Prevost, detached 1,000 men out of his 4,000-man army to capture Augusta in late January. American General Benjamin Lincoln had gathered a force of 3,500 men at Purrysburg, South Carolina, about 12 miles (19 km) up the Savannah River from Savannah.
Prevost decided to stage a diversion to distract Lincoln while Campbell was en route to Augusta, so he sent 200 men (mostly light infantry from the Florida Rangers militia) and a field piece under Major Valentine Gardiner, 16th Regiment of Foot, to take control of Beaufort, South Carolina, just up the coast. The expedition, as with many British operations in the South, was based on the expectation that these troops would receive support from local Loyalists. These men sailed up the coast, landed at Beaufort, and occupied the highest ground on Port Royal Island, a rise about 7 miles (11 km) inland known as Gray Hill.
Lincoln sent General William Moultrie, who had distinguished himself in the 1776 Battle of Fort Sullivan, and 300 men, mostly militia, but accompanied by a few Continentals, to counter this move. This force, which brought three field pieces, crossed onto Port Royal Island at the main ferry crossing.
Gardner lined his men up at the edge of some woods at the top of the hill. The Americans approached, lined up, and opened fire, at first with the artillery, and then with musket volleys. The battle continued until both sides began to run short of ammunition, at which point Gardner decided to withdraw, leaving the field to the Americans.
Gardner was criticized by Prevost for the mauling his detachment received because he left his escape boats too far away. But it was not Gardner's fault that no Loyalists came to join the British expedition.[2]
The victory of a largely militia force over British regulars was a boost to the Americans' morale. However, severe losses incurred about ten days later at Brier Creek put a damper on American plans to move against Prevost's forces in Georgia.