Carolina Navy Reenactors

08/02/2026

Now that Carolina Day 250 is over, and the Carolina Coast is free of 1770s British threats (for now), the Crew of the Carolina Navy Reenactors will be going back five decades, and joining our friends at the Historic Camden Foundation Pirate's Parley and Eventitde, 18-19 Sep! We haven't done a Golden Age of Piracy event in some time, so this shall be fun! We will portray sailors of SC's Provincial Navy (who hunted pirates down!), and will have oaths of clemency for those dastardly seafarers who wish to accept His Majesty's pardon! While our main interpretive focus is Rev War, this is a fun "toe in the water" to get us back into some pirate-era stuff too!

Parley of Pirates & Scalawags – Historic Camden, Sat Sep 19, 2026 -

07/08/2026

Over the last couple of weeks, we have portrayed sailors of the SC State Navy alongside our comrades in Leviathan Nautical Living History! On 4 July, two of us volunteered on the schooner Spirit of South Carolina and portrayed sailors again amidst the amazing fireworks commemorating the
of our independence! If you want to join in the fun, please consider giving living history a try. Sailors are among the easier Reenactor impressions to assemble. Our last summer event before a much needed break will be Historic Bath NC’s Patriots at Sea event 25 July. We will then have an autumn event at Colonial Fort Dorchester in Summerville, SC. Dates TBA.

If you want to join the crew, all are welcome. Send an email to [email protected] or DM us here and we can add you to the group chat.

06/29/2026

I'm so grateful to the members of the Carolina Navy and our friends from the Leviathan Crew of NC that showed up in the brutal heat to help commemorate the sacrifices and services of the men of the South Carolina State Navy. Their oft-ignored role in the Battle, including a June 29 raid led by Capt Milligan on the HMS Actaeon, have never gotten much press coverage. This was one of our largest turn outs for a naval living history in Charleston in years!

We will continue to muster at Bath, NC on July 25 (for their Patriots at Sea event), and at some point in the autumn for an early colonial timeline event at Fort Dorchester (think 1700s-40s era provincial navy). We haven't done a good Golden Age of Piracy-era event in a while, so that is in the works. I want to thank the National Park Service for hosting us, and for all the many adults/kids from all around the US and even UK who were enthusiastic spectators.

If you wish to join our group, we are a non-profit collective and not a traditional reenactment unit. What does this mean? Though I dress like a captain on occasion (I like the fit I can't help it!), we have no real officers or folks screaming or shouting orders, and are a team who sets up at living history events and educates the public on living history. We all have different niches, some medical, some navigational, some both. If this sounds like your speed (rather than battle demonstrations), please let me know. We are happy to help with loaner gear/etc. All welcome, regardless of sex/gender/age/orientation/religion. You just have to be willing to wear funny clothes and be willing to do some research on the past! Please email me at [email protected] to join in.

06/15/2026

Come out and see us on June 26-8 at on Sullivan's Island, SC for Carolina Day. We will be portraying a naval landing party of the SC state navy. We will be distinct from the British Royal Navy present, and we are representing the sailors of the schooner 'Defence' which ferried gunpowder to the defenders of the fort!

06/03/2026

On this date, 250 years ago, the British Royal Navy squadron led by Sir Peter Park anchored off of Bull's Island (a great place to visit if you get the chance, it hasn't changed much in 250 years). By 3 June, Col. William Moultrie of the 2nd SC told President Rutledge that British sailors had been sounding the area around Long Island (the Isle of Palms), and "It seems as though they intended a descent somewhere hereabout." On 4 June, the King's birthday, the British fleet was off the bar. The SC state navy was busy running gunpowder to the defenders of the still-unfinished fort Sullivan on Sullivan's Island!

The year 1776 was not only the year in which the united colonies declared their independence from Great Britain, but it was also the year in which the war came to Charleston’s doorstep. Learn more about the key events of this most important year during the American Revolution.

05/21/2026

What do a Parking Garage, this date in 1776, and the SC state navy have in common!? Read on to find out! Also, a shameless plug before we continue: continue joining our living history group that portrays the men/women who made the SC state navy possible (we'll be at Fort Moultrie June 26-8)

250 years ago Today in history, Captain Joseph Turpin and the crew of the SC state navy brigantine "Comet" prevented the crews of HMS Pensacola Pakcet and Sphinx from sounding Charles Town harbor. While the British crews successfully captured a few small prizes, they were not able to catch up with the American vessels, and were not able to do much in Charleston harbor beyond their initial foray.

Turpin was a 50-ish year old New England native. And like other New England merchant captains, Turpin had settled in Charles Town, and had became a major merchant in the city by the time of the Revolution. The elder captain would resign his commission in September of 1776 when concerned over pay, and died in 1784. He is buried the Quaker Friend's Burying Ground...which sadly was paved over and turned into a parking garage in the 1960s (at least the ghosts are nonviolent). His obituary was pretty interesting: "Last Monday morning died, in this City, in the 55th year of his age, Capt.ainJohn Turpin, who was a good husband, tender parent, and a steady friend to the true interest of America. His remains were decently interred yesterday morning in the Friends burying ground. --"O may we die the death of the righteous, and our last be like his."

Sadly, the "Comet" would eventually be captured by the Royal Navy in 1777. While this was not a "major battle" per se, it did remind the British that the state of South Carolina had substantial naval assets at its disposal (the SC State Navy would serve as an important courier service for gunpowder at the June 28 Battle of ).

Pictured below are images of the newspaper account, a typical brigantine of the day, and the HMS Camilla (built in 1776 as a 'Sphinx-class 6th-rate frigate, and likely one which mirrored the way Sphinx appeared)

Just a reminder, the 250ths go to 1783!!



Sources: SC Gazette May 22, 1776 and https://www.carolana.com/SC/Revolution/revolution_charleston_harbor_3.html

04/27/2026

A 1970s(?) painting from Darby Erd that does a wonderful job portraying state sailors c. 1778. Come see our state navy camp at Fort Moultrie, 27-28 June, where we will portray the men of the early war SC state navy, and the women who supported the fleet!

04/04/2026

Last week 250 years ago, the Rhode Island Gazette carried a report of a Providence sailor who signed up to serve in the SOUTH CAROLINA State Navy, but who decided to escape. This primary source hints at the efforts the Palmetto State made to get Northern seamen to join its ranks. SC had very few native sailors outside of harbor pilots/transient White sailors/and enslaved Black boatmen who all knew local waters well. The state would eventually require the assistance of hundreds of New England mariners, and even a few New England captains like Capt. Tufts of the Schooner 'Defence,' who fought the first battle in SC in the Revolution, Hog Island in November of 1775. This newspaper ad from March of 1776 also gives us a good sense of the material culture of Sailors in our state navy (and the fact they had no real 'uniform' per se)

03/20/2026

Where did the defenders of Fort Moultrie get their gunpowder? In the heat of battle on 28 June 1776, the soldiers of the 2nd SC Regiment were sent a fair amount of powder by Governor Edward Rutledge. According to the late, great NPS historian Ed Bearss, in his book on the battle, "About the time of [General Charles] Lee's visit, 200 pounds of powder reached the fort from the schooner Defense and soon thereafter the 500 pounds of powder sent by President Rutledge was turned over to Moultrie."

So SC sailors were present at the battle, but not engaged with the British Royal Navy. Nevertheless, they risked their safety (certainly aware British ships could have attacked them should the fort fall) to the British) to get vital powder supplies to the defenders. On 27-28 June, we will commemorate their lesser-known service at the Fort Moultrie site!

Portrayed below is a 1776 painting of the battle, found in the South Caroliniana Library in Columbia at USC.

03/10/2026

This month, 250 years ago, South Carolina's government wrote a constitution. Like the 1787 Constitution of the US, this early founding document had some laws regarding the management of the SC state navy! The provisions, along with army field officers, included bans on naval officers from serving on the governor's privy council, the election of officers by the general assembly/legislative council (or commissioned by president/governor and commander in chief).

The document's preamble also justified independence from England, in part, due to the activities of the Royal Navy: "whereas a statute hath been lately passed, whereby, under presence that the said colonies are in open rebellion, all trade and commerce whatsoever with them is prohibited; vessels belonging to their inhabitants trading in, to, or from the said colonies, with the cargoes and effects on board such vessels, are made lawfull prize, and the masters and crews of such vessels are subjected by force to act on board the King's ships against their country and dearest friends; and all seizures and detention or destruction of the persons and properties of the colonists which have at any time been made or committed for withstanding or suppressing the said pretended rebellion..."

Pictured here is President (aka) John Rutledge, along with the 1776 state seal (from after the Battle of Fort Moultrie in June)