On this day 250 years ago in Charlestown harbor, South Carolina, the British sloop HMS Tamar, captured a sloop that was headed to Georgia with a load of apples and cider bound. Gunner George Walker was given command of the newly-captured sloop and was supplied with two trunks of pistols and cutlasses, two chests of arms, and one other sailor from the HMS Tamar. His orders from Royal Governor Lord William Campbell were to sail to St. Augustine and bring back 20 soldiers to retake Fort Johnson from the South Carolinians. Rather foolishly, the British navy did not remove the crew from the captured sloop but expected them to follow Gunner Walker’s commands.
As soon as the HMS Tamar was out of sight, Capt. John Wanton and his men seized Gunner George Walker and his mate and placed them in the hold. Capt. Wanton sailed to Savannah and turned over the two men to the Committee and collected £200 for the boxes of arms.
Also on that day, two newly commissioned pilot boats of the South Carolina Navy, the Hawke under Capt. Joseph Vessey and the Hibernia under Capt. Thomas Smith, patrolling in the Atlantic chased the British boat Shark back to the safety of protective guns of larger British ships anchored in Charlestown harbor. This was the first offensive action taken by the South Carolina Navy.
And on this day in Boston Harbor, Massachusetts, a British foraging party of 9 infantry companies and 100 grenadiers landed at Lechmere’s Point to seize cattle needed for the British garrison. Col. William Thompson and his Pennsylvania riflemen, supported by Col. Benjamin Woodbridge and part of his and Col. John Patterson’s regiment drove off the British foragers, who were able to capture only 10 head of cattle. The Americans suffered 2 wounded.
On This Day In The Revolution 