Battle of Beaufort

Battle of Beaufort
Part of the American Revolutionary War
General William Moultrie, portrait by Charles Willson Peale
Date February 3, 1779 Location Port Royal Island, South Carolina 32°30′1″N 80°44′37″W / 32.50028°N 80.74361°W / 32.50028; -80.74361 Result American victory
Belligerents
Great Britain	United States
Commanders and leaders
William Gardner[1]	William Moultrie
Strength
200 infantry 1 artillery piece	300 militia 20 infantry 3 artillery pieces
Casualties and losses
40 killed or wounded 7–12 captured[2][3]	8 killed 22 wounded[2]

The Battle of Beaufort, also known as the Battle of Port Royal Island, was fought on February 3, 1779, near Beaufort, South Carolina, during the American Revolutionary War. The battle took place not long after British forces consolidated control around Savannah, Georgia, which they had captured in December 1778.

Brigadier General Augustine Prevost sent 200 British regulars to seize Port Royal Island at the mouth of the Broad River in South Carolina in late January 1779. Major General Benjamin Lincoln, the American commander in the south, sent South Carolina Brigadier General William Moultrie from Purrysburg, South Carolina with a mixed force composed mainly of militia, but with a few Continental Army men, to meet the British advance. The battle was inconclusive, but the British withdrew first and suffered heavier casualties than the Americans.