1813 – Aug 27-28, hurricane, Charleston, storm surge overruns Sullivan’s Isl., SC –23-24

— 9-24 Nine known and 15 believed drowned at Sullivans Island. USACE, p.15.
— >23 Fraser, Walter J. Jr. Lowcountry Hurricanes: Three Centuries of Storms… 2006, p. 66.
–15-20 Letter to Philadelphia newspaper, in Rubillo. Hurricane Destruction in [SC], 2006.
— 15 Jordan, Dukes, and Rosengarten. A History of Storms on the South Carolina Coast. P.22.

Narrative Information

Dunn and Miller: “1813 Aug 27-28 S.C. …Extreme [intensity]…Tides very high, many drowned.” (Dunn, Gordon E. and Banner I. Miller. Atlantic Hurricanes (Revised). 1964, p. 311.)

Fraser: “….At the opposite end of the harbor, on Sullivan’s Island, where Fort Moultrie was located, the ocean surged over the sand dunes and covered the island in four to five feet of seawater. Swirling waters swept furniture out of dwellings. Fierce winds knocked over twelve houses that were carried away into the ocean. Four Moultrie was the only place of refuge that was not awash or threatened with inundation. Soldiers hurried to save families in danger of being swept away. But they could not rescue everyone needing assistance. Nineteen people drowned, among them five of six young white women in one house and ‘seven or eight negroes.’ The bodies of some were strewn among the wreckage of homes, furniture, and small boats. They provided ‘an awful remembrance of the horrors the [survivors] had escaped.’ Deaths on Sullivan’s Island and in the city reached at least twenty-three, but this was only a ‘reckoning’ of the minimum number of fatalities from the tropical cyclone at sea and ashore….” (Fraser, Walter J. Jr. Lowcountry Hurricanes: Three Centuries of Storms at Sea and Ashore. 2006, p. 66.)

Jordan: “1813 Aug. 27-28 (3) …Landfall near Charleston, where tide surged beyond 12 feet; Sullivan’s Island virtually submerged; 15 lives lost; damage to property in Charleston estimated at $2 million – buildings, wharves, and ships: [lists over 29 vessels – ships, schooners, barges, sloop, tender, and boats].”

Naval History and Heritage Command:
“Charleston, South Carolina, Hurricanes of August and September 1813.

“Hurricane Damage to the Southeastern Stations

“Over a three-week period in August and September 1813, in the middle of a war against Great Britain, two successive hurricanes rocked the naval stations at Charleston, South Carolina, and St. Marys, Georgia. . Damage these gales caused would hamper naval operations along the southeastern coast well into the new year.

“Captain John H. Dent to Secretary of the Navy Jones

The Honorable William Jones Charleston 28 Augt 18

Sir,

It is with regret, I have to inform you, that the weather for some time past has indicated a gale–which came on yesterday about noon from the N.E. and by 9. P.M. increased to a hurricane, which blew with greater violence until 12, than I have ever recollected, to have experienced; the City and wharves present this morning a melancholy aspect; it is impossible as yet to give any idea of the damage, but it has been greater than that Sustained in 1804, the Nonsuch, Carolina, and Hospital Ship, are the only vessels safe, the latter dismasted, some of the barges in seeking safety in the docks were carried in the streets, with the general Wreck, and are much damaged, the tide rose so high that Ships are now on the wharves–the beautiful new Bridge over Ashley river is entirely destroyed, and washed away. the Prison Ship parted her cable and is now on shore at James Island, a wreck of a vessel on fort reef–not Known whether the people on board were saved….

Rubillo: “The storm of August 1813

“….the ‘dreadful storm’ of August 27 and 28, 1813…was one of the most destructive storms to hit post-Columbian South Carolina to its date. As described by one eyewitness writing after the storm from Charleston to a newspaper in Philadelphia

The very foundations of the houses shook. My bedstead had so much motion, that it was not till morn and with incessant fatigue that I got to sleep. In the morning I made a sortie from my lodgings to survey the ravages the storm had made, and the sight was distressing. The trees which afforded a shelter from the scorching rays of the sun were blown down, and lay in every direction in the streets. Slates, tiles, window shutters, signs &c. were scattered over the pavements in quantities.

When I reached the wharves the sight was distressing beyond expression. Every wharf was tore up and at least, one half destroyed. Some were entirely washed away, the logs and timbers washed up into the streets and against the stores; where shallops, boats, shingles, hogsheads, spars, and every individual article that was in or near the wharves was washed promiscuously one over the other, and crushed to pieces.

Every vessel appeared to be more or less damaged, some were thrown partly in the wharves, some sunk in the river, others at the wharves, some were up in the very streets; one large ship was driven against the market and stove part of it in, the smaller vessels were all either up on top of the wharves, or sunk along side.

The guard ship and prison ship drove ashore in James Island, high and dry. I have not heard yet whether any prisoners escaped. Nearly half a mile of Charleston bridge washed away, and drifted on James Island. For want of boats there is no information from Sullivan’s Island till the afternoon. I learned that 12 dwelling houses have been blown down and washed away, and 15-20 persons drowned. The whole Island was completely inundated four to five feet – the furniture was washed out of many houses. The soldiers from the fort were sent out to afford assistance to some families who were in danger of being washed away. A great many ladies were rescued and taken to the fort, which was the only place of security that was not under water.

Fort Johnson is very much injured; considerable part of it is destroyed. The men’s barracks were washed to sea. Many stands of arms, clothing, provisions &c. were also lost. One of the officers told me last evening that they were up to their breasts in water several hours during the night, saving men, women, and children, who were in the barracks, and it was only at the point of the bayonet that they were forced to seek other shelter, although the barracks were then washing away by the sea. To repair the damages and losses sustained at the Fort will require $150,000.

The damage sustained by this city and shipping in rough calculation estimated at near two million.

(Rubillo, Tom. Hurricane Destruction in South Carolina: Hell and High Water. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2006.)

USACE (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers): “34 [paragraph]. Loss of life.

“Storm Date Associated Deaths
….
27 August 1813 9 known, 15 believed drowned at Sullivans Island.”

(U.S. Army Engineer District, Charleston. Corps of Engineers. Subject: Interim Report on Hurricane Survey, Isle of Palms, Sullivans Island, and Charleston, South Carolina.)

Sources

Dunn, Gordon E. and Banner I. Miller. Atlantic Hurricanes (Revised Edition). Baton Rouge LA: Louisiana State University Press, 1964, 377 pages.

Fraser, Walter J. Jr. Lowcountry Hurricanes: Three Centuries of Storms at Sea and Ashore. Athens and London: The University of Georgia Press, 2006.

Naval History and Heritage Command, US Department of the Navy. Hurricanes and the War of 1812: Documents on Selected Storms Affecting Naval Operations; cites Dudley, William S., et al. The Naval War of 1812: A Documentary History, Vol. II, 1813 (Washington, DC: Naval Historical Center, 1992): 399-408.) Accessed 8-17-2022 at: https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/h/documents-on-selected-storms-affecting-naval-operations.html

Rubillo, Tom. Hurricane Destruction in South Carolina: Hell and High Water. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2006. Accessed 8-17-2022 at: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Hurricane_Destruction_in_South_Carolina/Rw9_CQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=dreadful+storm+of+1813&pg=PA6-IA9&printsec=frontcover

U.S. Army Engineer District, Charleston. Corps of Engineers. Subject: Interim Report on Hurricane Survey, Isle of Palms, Sullivans Island, and Charleston, South Carolina. To: Division Engineer, U.S. Army Engineer Division, South Atlantic, Atlanta, Georgia.