General Orders of William Moultrie and Benjamin Lincoln, 1779

The General William Moultrie and General Benjamin Lincoln Order Book, 1779 is a bound volume kept by Thomas Hall, captain in the 2nd South Carolina Regiment containing general orders (May 15-Sept. 27) given by General William Moultrie in Charleston or “Charles Town,” South Carolina, and orders (Nov. 6-Dec. 31) given by General Benjamin Lincoln. Orders pertain to paroles, appointments, court martial records (with sentences including lashings and executions for crimes such as desertion, mutiny, and treason), officers, rations for women, and other matters.  

William Moultrie, who became governor of South Carolina in 1785, was a colonel in the 2nd South Carolina Regiment when he repulsed the British attack on Charleston in 1776. Moultrie was appointed brigadier-general of the Continental Army in September 1776. Benjamin Lincoln joined the Continental Army in 1777 as a major general (after serving in the Massachusetts militia). Lincoln assumed command of the Southern Department on December 4, 1778 and became Secretary of War in May of 1780. Lincoln, Moultrie, and several troops were captured at Charleston in May 1780. 

 The Second South Carolina Regiment was organized during the summer of 1775 in Charleston, South Carolina. Adopted into the Continental Army in November, the regiment was assigned to the Southern Department in February 1776. In January 1779, the regiment was assigned to the 1st South Carolina Brigade, in June to McIntosh’s Brigade and in September to Huger’s Brigade. Thomas Hall served as captain in the 2nd South Carolina Regiment, and took part in the siege of Savannah, October 9, 1779. Hall was captured at the siege of “Charles Town” in 1780 and imprisoned at St. Augustine.