The 2nd South Carolina Regiment was raised on June 6, 1775, at

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

, for service with the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...

History

At organization the regiment consisted of 10 companies from eastern South Carolina and was part of the South Carolina State Troops. On November 4, 1775 the regiment was adopted by the

, and on February 27, 1776 it was assigned to the Southern Department. On November 23, 1776 the regiment was assigned to the 2nd South Carolina Brigade, Southern Department, and was relieved on 26 August 1778 and placed in the 1st South Carolina Brigade, and again moved to McIntosh's Brigade on June 15, 1779 and then moved to Huger's Brigade on September 14, 1779. On February 11, 1780 it was consolidated with the

6th South Carolina Regiment The 6th South Carolina Regiment (2nd Rifle Regiment) was authorized on 28 February 1776 in the South Carolina State Troops and was organized during the spring of 1776 as five companies of volunteers from the northwestern region of the colony of Sou ...

. It was the main unit involved in the successful defense of

Fort Moultrie Fort Moultrie is a series of fortifications on Sullivan's Island, South Carolina, built to protect the city of Charleston, South Carolina. The first fort, formerly named Fort Sullivan, built of palmetto logs, inspired the flag and n ...

at the

Battle of Sullivan's Island The Battle of Sullivan's Island or the Battle of Fort Sullivan was fought on June 28, 1776, during the American Revolutionary War. It took place near Charleston, South Carolina, during the first British attempt to capture the city from American ...

. This battle saved Charleston from invasion for the next several years, and handed the British fleet their first loss in over a century. When the flag designed by the fort's commander, Colonel

William Moultrie William Moultrie (; November 23, 1730 – September 27, 1805) was an American planter and politician who became a general in the American Revolutionary War. As colonel leading a state militia, in 1776 he prevented the British from taking Charle ...

, was shot down, one of the regiment,

William Jasper William Jasper (''c.'' 1750 – October 9, 1779) was a noted American soldier in the Revolutionary War. He was a sergeant in the 2nd South Carolina Regiment. Jasper distinguished himself in the defense of Fort Moultrie (then called Fort Sulliv ...

, grabbed it and held it aloft, rallying the troops until a stand could be provided. This battle was vital to the entire war, and became symbolic of liberty in South Carolina. Its date is known as Carolina Day in the state, and the palmetto logs the regiment used for the fortress were added to the Moultrie Flag used to rally the troops, creating the

Flag of South Carolina The flag of South Carolina is a symbol of the U.S. state of South Carolina consisting of a blue field with a white palmetto tree and white crescent. Roots of this design have existed in some form since 1775, being based on one of the first Re ...

. The regiment saw action at the

Siege of Savannah The siege of Savannah or the Second Battle of Savannah was an encounter of the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) in 1779. The year before, the city of Savannah, Georgia, had been captured by a British expeditionary corps under Lieutenan ...

, where elements from the British

60th Royal Americans The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United St ...

captured their regimental

Colour Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associ ...

, and the

Siege of Charleston The siege of Charleston was a major engagement and major British victory in the American Revolutionary War, fought in the environs of Charles Town (today Charleston), the capital of South Carolina, between March 29 and May 12, 1780. The Britis ...

. The regiment was captured by the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

at Charleston on May 12, 1780, together with the rest of the Southern Department. The regiment was disbanded on November 15, 1783.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control South Carolina regiments of the Continental Army

History

See also

References

External links