William Moultrie, (born December 4, 1730, Charleston, South Carolina [U.S.]—died September 27, 1805, Charleston), American general who resisted British incursions into the South during the American Revolution (1775–83). Elected to the provincial assembly of South Carolina (1752–62), Moultrie gained early military experience fighting against the Cherokee Indians. A member of the provincial congress (1775–76) at the outbreak of the Revolution, he sided with the patriot cause and took command (March 1776) of a fort he had built of sand and palmetto logs on Sullivan’s Island off Charleston. He held the fort against heavy British attack on June 28, and it