Combat· American Revolutionary War
South Carolina Marines at Hog Island Creek
On November 11, 1775, Marines of the South Carolina Navy were engaged with British warships at the Bar of Hog Island Creek near Charleston.
The action came the day after the Continental Congress authorized the raising of Continental Marines. Captain Simon Tufts, commanding the South Carolina Colony schooner Defence, was ordered to cover the sinking of four sand-laden hulks on the bar to obstruct the passage of British war vessels to Charleston. The thirty-five Marines of the Defence were commanded by Captain William Scott, who acted as a volunteer. Three of the hulks were sunk under fire of the British warships Tamar and Cherokee, which were within gunshot. The Defence stayed on station that night and at daylight on November 12 sank the fourth hulk as the two enemy vessels fired their broadsides. Tufts reported no American casualties. That day the South Carolina Provincial Congress voted its thanks to Tufts, Scott, and the officers and men under them, the first resolution of thanks voted to Marines by a Congress.
Record no. 126