About the Collection
The William Moultrie Correspondence, 1781 collection consists of two letters written by Lord Charles Montagu and General William Moultrie. In the first letter, Montagu writes to Moultrie at Haddrell’s Point, S.C., and offers him a commission in a British regiment. In his reply, Moultrie turns down Montagu’s offer and calls it a “dishonorable proposal.” William Moultrie was a South Carolina Revolutionary War general and politician. Well known for his successful defense of Fort Sullivan (later renamed Fort Moultrie in his honor), Moultrie was taken prisoner at Charleston when the city fell to the British in May 1780. He was paroled to the barracks at Haddrell’s Point and eventually sent to Philadelphia in 1782, where he was exchanged for General John Burgoyne. He later became governor of South Carolina in 1785.
