1712-Fortifications

The Assembly passed an act to build a powder magazine “within Twenty yards of the Redoubt [redan] on the North part of Charles Town.” This powder magazine, completed in 1713, still stands on the south side of modern Cumberland Street in downtown Charleston.

Two views of the Powder Magazine.

1757-French and Indian War

The First Royal Highland Battalion of over 1000 Irish officers and men arrived to supplement the 700 British troops under the command of Lt. Col. Henry Bouquet already in the city. The troops were quartered in an encampment on the northwestern edge of the city until Gov. Lyttleton ordered that the officers be given rooms in private homes. The enlisted men were housed in “a half-finished Church without Windows (St. Michael’s) where most of the Men were obliged to lye upon the Ground without Straw …”

1780

The loyal citizens of Charlestown presented formal addresses of congratulations to General Clinton. Those who signed these addresses later had their property confiscated after the war.