If At First You Don't Succeed...

Three years after the British had tried unsuccessfully to enter Charles Town by sea, they returned to try again - but this time by land. They marched to the city's gates in May 1779. At the urging of wealthy citizens who feared economic losses from a lengthy military altercation, the "president" of South Carolina (now a sovereign entity) proposed a surrender of all of South Carolina if the British troops would refrain from attacking Charles Town. But General William Moultrie, the American military commander in Charles Town, opposed the plan and insisted that his men were ready to defend the city. The British officers explained they did not have the authority to make such a pact and withdrew without firing even a shot. Moultrie had called their bluff with his threat of a lengthy engagement, and the city once again had turned back the British.