Sullivan's Island

“ The winters in the latitude of Sullivan’s Island are seldom very severe, and in the fall of the year it is a rare event indeed when a fire is considered necessary. About the middle of October, 18—, there occurred, however, a day of remarkable chilliness. Just before sunset I scrambled my way through the evergreens to the hut of my friend, whom I had not visited for several weeks—my residence being at that time in Charleston, a distance [99] of nine miles from the island, while the facilities of passage and re-passage were very far behind those of the present day. ”

“ The water in the harbour, however, is very much deeper, and the work of increasing the depth of the entrance is in progress. Fronting the Atlantic, and extending northwards, is Sullivan's Island, about six miles long; and on the other side of the entrance is Morris Island which stretches to the southward. Both islands are penetrated by channels. The harbour is well defended,—at its entrance by Forts Sumter and Moultrie, and inside by Castle Pinckney and Fort Ripley. ”

“ Great sufferings have already consecrated Magnolia Cemetery as a resting-place.
Mrs. W. H. and myself made the journey to Sullivan's Island alone. It was pleasant to me to make this last excursion in South Carolina alone with her; and with her for the last time to feel the sea breezes in the palmetto and myrtle groves of the island. A steam-boat conveyed us thither, and here we took a carriage to drive along the sands. Our driver was a Yankee of fifteen, good-natured and lively, who had come from Boston to Charleston to seek his fortune. ”

“ Pleasant and James Island are quite high land,—high at least for the coast of South Carolina,—and are separated from the mainland, the one by the Wando River, the other by Wappoo Creek; while Sullivan's Island, where stand Fort Moultrie and other Rebel batteries, corresponds almost precisely to Morris Island, both being low and sandy, and being, as it were, bent inland from the sea, with sharp points looking toward the city, their convex shores forming a rounded entrance to the harbor. Extending southward from Morris Island, and separated from it by Lighthouse Inlet, is Folly Island ”

“ To avoid the mortification consequent upon his disasters, he left New Orleans, the city of his forefathers, and took up his residence at Sullivan's Island, near Charleston, South Carolina.
This island is a very singular one. It consists of little else than the sea sand, and is about three miles long. Its breadth at no point exceeds a quarter of a mile. It is separated from the mainland by a scarcely perceptible creek, oozing its way through a wilderness of reeds and slime, a favorite resort of the marsh-hen. The vegetation, as might be supposed, is scant, or at least dwarfish. ”

“ Sullivan seeing that the British commander had abandoned his strong works at the head of the island, thought that no time was to be lost in securing them, and without waiting for the day agreed upon with the French admiral, set his right wing under Greene, in motion on the morning of the 9th and began to cross over to the island. D’Estaing felt the breach of etiquette, but had little time to dwell upon it. For about two in the afternoon a fleet of nearly twenty-five sail came in sight, standing in for Newport. ”

“ John Sullivan, son of the Irish schoolmaster, commanded the Rhode Island Department for a considerable period, and was in command of the patriot forces at the siege of Newport and the battle that ensued. His brother James, the Governor of Massachusetts, received in after years the degree of LL.D. from Brown University.
You see, therefore, gentlemen, that Rhode Island is rich in historic material for your society. The shaft needs but be sunk to bring the treasures to the surface. ”

“ On shore there seemed to be no population aside from the volunteers, Sullivan's Island is a summer resort, much favored by Charlestonians in the hot season, because of its coolness and healthfulness, but apparently almost uninhabited in winter, notwithstanding that it boasts a village called Moultrieville. Its hundred cottages are mostly of one model, square, low-roofed, a single story in height, and surrounded by a veranda, a portion of which is in some instances inclosed by blinds so as to add to the amount of shelter. ”

“ The departure of the fleet from Grande Mignon was a sad day in the history of the island.
The sun had hardly shown red and dripping from the sea when all the inhabitants were astir. Men from as far south as Seal Cove and Great Harbor clattered up the King’s Road in rickety vehicles, accompanied by their families and their dunnage.
In Freekirk Head alone less than ten men would be left ashore. Of these, one was Bill Boughton, the storekeeper, who was to arrange for the disposal of the catch ”

“ IN the year 1778, a plan was formed for the recovery of Rhode Island from the hands of the British, by the cooperation of a French fleet of twelve sail of the line, commanded by the Count D'Estaing, and a body of American troops, commanded by General Sullivan. The fleet arrived off New York early in July, and in August sailed for Rhode Island. I seized this occasion to gratify my slumbering love of military life, and offered my services to General Sullivan, as a volunteer aid-du-camp. ”

“ The dulce-pickers on the back of the island reported a good yield from the rocks at low tide, but outside of these few there was wretchedness from Anthony’s Nose to Southern Cross.
The fish had failed.
A hundred years and more had the Grande Mignon fishermen gone out with net and handline and trawl; and for that length of time the millions in the 12 sea had fed, clothed, and housed the thousand on the island. When prices had been good there were even luxuries, and history tells of men who, in one haul from a weir, have made their twenty-five thousand dollars in an hour. ”

“ The resolution being taken to proceed against Rhode Island, the fleet got under way and on the 25th of July (1778) appeared off Newport and cast anchor about five miles from that place; soon after which General Sullivan visited D'Estaing and concerted with him a plan of operations. The fleet was to enter the harbor and land the French troops on the west side of the island, a little to the north of Dyer's Island. The Americans were to land at the same time on the opposite coast under cover of the guns of a frigate. ”

“ Among the Grande Mignon boats there was intense rivalry. In the holds the layers of salted fish rose steadily under the phenomenal fishing. The salt-barrels were emptied and crowded out by the cod, hake, and pollock. It was these boats that Ellinwood watched with the eye of a hawk, for back in Freekirk Head he knew that Bill Boughton stood ready to pay a bonus for the first cargo to reach port. Now was the time when the advance orders from the West Indies were coming up, and, because of the failure of the season on the island itself, these orders stood unfilled. ”

“ These orders were received by General Sullivan, who had been encamped about Hanover, in Jersey, on his return from an expedition to Staten Island. The British force on that island amounted to between two and three thousand men, of whom nearly one thousand were provincials, who were distributed along the coast, opposite the Jersey shore. The Europeans occupied a fortified camp near the watering place; and General Sullivan thought it practicable to surprise the provincials, and bring them off before they could be supported by the Europeans. ”

“ Day after day you men have gone forth with nets and lines like the fishers of old; day after day, also like some of the fishers of old, you have returned 52 empty-handed. The salting-bins are not filled, the drying-frames are bare, the shipments to St. John’s have practically ceased.
“I do not need to tell you that this spells destitution. This island depends on its fish, and, since cod and hake and pollock have left us, we must cast about for other means of support. ”

“ In about twenty-two hours from the time we left Chinik we were in St. Michael harbor, climbing down upon a covered barge which took us ashore.
It was nearly two years since I had first landed at this dock,—then in a snow storm, now in the rain,—then with my brother, now alone. Not at all like Nome is this quiet little hamlet of St. [Pg 380] Michael by the sea. Neither saloons nor disorderly places are allowed upon the island. What was formerly a canteen for soldiers was now a small but tidy restaurant, where I ate a good dinner of beef-steak with an appetite allowable in Alaska. ”

“ It was near evening of the second day after the mysterious schooner had hailed them and sailed away. Since that time they had forged steadily northeast, along the coast of Nova Scotia. At last they had left Cape Breton at the tip of Cape Breton Island behind them and approached the southern 97 shores of Newfoundland and that wonderful stretch of shoals called the Grand Banks.
Southeast for three hundred miles from Newfoundland extends this under-sea flooring of rocky shelves, that run from ninety to five fathoms, being most shallow at Virgin Rocks. ”

“ The most sanguine expectations had been entertained throughout the United States of the reduction of Rhode Island and the capture of the British force which defended it, so that the disappointment and mortification on the failure of the enterprise were exceedingly bitter. The irritation against the French, who were considered the authors of the miscarriage, was violent. Sullivan was confident of success; and his chagrin at the departure of the French fleet made him use some expressions, in a general order, which gave offense to D'Estaing. ”

“ Sullivan’s regiments contained a large number of Irish soldiers, but as we are concerned only with the Irish in Rhode Island it is not necessary to mention all their names here.
Sullivan was given command of the army in Rhode Island in 1778. Under him were Generals Lafayette and Greene, each commanding one-half of the army, with Sullivan Commander-in-Chief. The object of Washington was to emphasize the alliance with France by making a successful attack on the British forces, military and 378naval, aided by the French fleet. Every schoolboy knows the result of that campaign. ”

“ On a chart the island of Grande Mignon bears the same relation to surrounding islands that a mother-ship bears to a flock of submarines. Westward her coast is rocky and forbidding, being nothing but a succession of frowning headlands that rise almost perpendicularly from the sea. It is one of the most desolate stretches of coast in moderate latitudes, for no one lives there, nor has ever lived there, except a few hermit dulce-pickers during the summer months. ”

“ These letters were written when Sullivan was restless under charges brought against him in connection with the defeat at Brandywine—charges which were properly dropped, however—and are not conclusive as to the Long Island affair. His statements are no doubt strictly true, but they in no way affect the main point, namely, did we or did we not have a patrol out on the Jamaica Road on the night of the 26th? We have seen that there was such a patrol, and probably the best that had yet been sent out, and sent out, according to Lieutenant Van Wagenen, by General Sullivan himself. ”

“ Now that the bearings of the Dolphin were set, James Playfair had but one thing to do, to decide by which channel he would run into Charleston Bay.
"If we meet with no obstacles," said he, "before three o'clock we shall be in safety in the docks of the port."
The town of Charleston is situated on the banks of an estuary seven miles long and two broad, called Charleston Harbour, the entrance to which is rather difficult. It is enclosed between Morris Island on the south and Sullivan Island on the north. ”

“ The mutineers of the ship Bounty having arrived at Pitcairn's island, and landed all their effects, set fire to the vessel and destroyed every vestige that could lead to the discovery of their retreat. The island was then divided into nine equal portions between them, and the natives were reduced to the condition of slaves. (See Oct. 3.)
1795. John Sullivan, a distinguished general in the revolutionary army, died. He was of Irish descent, and before the revolution practiced law in New Hampshire. He was among the first to take an active part in the contest ”

“ Young Captain Code Schofield sprang out of the deep, luxurious chair and began to pace up and down before the fire. He did not cast as much as a glance at the woman near him. His mind was elsewhere. He had heard strange things in this talk with her.
“Well, captain, you know how it is on an island like this. The tiny thing of everyday life becomes a subject for a day’s discussion. That affair of six months ago was like dropping a tombstone in a mud-puddle––everything is profoundly stirred, but no one gets spattered except the one who dropped it. ”

“ They’ve got my Rosan, too, though I wish mightily now that they hadn’t. This feller is the private secretary to the president, an’ the other two are clerks or something in the office. They may have been up to something crooked, and then again they may have just been talkin’ things over as young fellers often do when they’re interested in their work. Anyway, there’s enough in what they said to set you thinkin’, I cal’late.”
“Yes,” said Code slowly and grimly, “it is. I’ve only known that the island was talking since last night, and now I find St. John’s is, too. ”

“ Grande Mignon is in too bad a hole. She needs every man who owns a schooner or a sloop or a dory to go out and catch fish and bring ’em home. The old island’s got her back against the wall, and I felt that when all the trouble and danger were over for her I would go to St. John’s, and let those people try and prove their case. ”