Carolina Navy Reenactors

10/06/2026

On 21 September 1776, the South Carolina General Assembly gave orders for the creation of a committee of "Commissioners to superintend and direct the Naval Affairs of this State." Within two weeks, the Assembly elected their peers: Edward Blake, Thomas Savage, Josiah Smith, Jr., Thomas Corbett, George Abbott Hall, Roger Smith, and George Smith. Between 9 October 1776 and 23 March 1780, the commissioners would meet numerous times to discuss the arming of vessels, the supplying of sailors, the discipline of sailors, and the handling of a navy. This commission was a unique testament to the independence states had in maintaining their own militaries before the Articles of Confederation went into effect by the end of the Revolution, and effectively laid the first bricks on the path towards a Constitution, when these responsibilities would be taken over by the Federal Government. South Carolina, like ten other states, had state navies much like the colonies had local provincial navies before the Revolution (shameless plug: You can read abou those pre-Revolutionary colonial navies in Benjamin Schaffer, The First Fleets: Colonial Navies of the British Atlantic World, 1630-1775, a 2025 book from the Univ of Al Press! https://www.uapress.ua.edu/9780817322342/the-first-fleets/). That's what we reenact in the Carolina Navy reenactors! Going forward, I will share summaries of the State Navy Commissioners' journal here (or you can read the whole thing yourself on Google Books in 2 editions!

09/14/2026

Mini-Newsletter: We are going super colonial for the last few months of the year of our Lord 2026...1726...who knows what year it is?

Upcoming Events: This coming Friday-Saturday (18-19 September), our group will be at the Historic Camden Foundation Pirate Festival, portraying sailors of the Royal Navy (or pirate hunters, or pirates, depending on who pays us more). Come out and sign an oath of allegiance to King George I, and get a selfie with a huge print of a painting of him!

24 October, we will portray sailors of the SC provincial navy, a conglameration of colonial naval forces that defended the colony from the 1670s-1760s. We will be at Colonial Fort Dorchester, in Summerville, SC, from 10-4 throughout the day by the ruins of the 1750s fort. Come see us! Included below is a picture of a SC governor's council minute describing a SC guard ship at Dorchester in 1742.

Early December: Some of us will continue the 'colonial trend' and portray pirates and provincial navy sailors at Fort King George State Historic Site in Georgia for their sailor living history called '1721,' which is always a blast.

We will return to more Rev War interpretation in the New Year of 1777/2027!

-Joining Us: Please email me at [email protected] if you are interested in joining our crew!

09/02/2026

In October of 1776, the SC state government reorganized the leadership of its state navy, and voted in a board of Commissioners that oversaw its naval forces. SC would have one of the largest/best organized/best recorded state navies in the Revolution. Starting next month, 250 years later, I will attempt to post weekly 'This week in state navy history' posts to help drum up interest for the naval side of the hobby. Thanks to the work of early 20th-century historian AS Salley, who convinced the NY government (where the records had been taken by the British in 1783) to restore the very decrepit minutes to our state, we have free published transcripts of the Journal of the Commissioners in two volumes on Google Books. Nevertheless, I will give y'all the 'highlights'! It would mean thw world if you would please share this page or post with friends/family who are history nerds or who might want to join our Southeastern living history crew!

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/race/. We are welcoming folks. 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!