oldier, who had seen long service in the British army,
looked over the rudely built affair, and saw that it was not even
finished, he gravely shook his head.

"The ships will anchor off there," said he to Moultrie, pointing to
the channel, "and will make your fort a mere slaughter pen."

{40} The weak-kneed general, who afterwards sold himself to the
British, went back and told Governor Rutledge that the only thing to
do was to abandon the fort. The governor, however, was made of better
stuff, and, besides, had the greatest faith in Colonel Moultrie. But
he did ask his old friend if he thought he really could defend the
cob-house fort, which Lee had laughed to scorn.

Moultrie was a man of few words, and replied simply, "I think I can."

"General Lee wishes you to give up the fort," added Rutledge, "but
you are not to do it without an order from me, and I will sooner cut
off my right hand than write one."

The idea of retreating seems never to have occurred to the brave
commander.

"I was never uneasy," wrote Moultrie in after years, "because I never
thought the enemy could force me to retire."

It was indeed fortunate that Colonel Moultrie was a stout-hearted
man, for otherwise he might well have been discouraged. A few days
before the battle, the master of a privateer, whose vessel was laid
up in Charleston harbor, paid him a visit. As the two friends stood
on the palmetto walls, looking at the fleet in the distance, the
naval officer said, "Well, Colonel Moultrie, what do you think of it
now?"

Moultrie replied, "We shall beat them."

{41} "Sir," exclaimed his visitor, pointing to the distant
men-of-war, "when those ships come to lay alongside of your fort,
they will knock it down in less than thirty minutes."

"We will then fight behind the ruins," said the stubborn patriot,
"and prevent their men from landing."

The British plan of attack, to judge from all military rules, should
have been successful. First, the redcoat regulars were to land upon
Long Island, lying to the north, and wade across the inlet which
separates it from Sullivan's Island. Then, after the war ships had
silenced the guns in the fort, the land troops were to storm the
position, and thus leave the channel clear for the combined forces to
sail up and capture the city.

If a great naval captain like Nelson or Farragut had been in command,
probably the ships would not have waited a month, but would at once
have made a bold dash pas