Fort Moultrie and Sullivan Island

Posted: 11.28.2024 | Updated: 11.28.2024

A host of characters, including revolutionary war heroes, the iconic poet Edgar Allen Poe, and a Native American fighter, inhabit South Carolina’s Fort Moultrie. This spectral hotspot’s revolutionary hauntings may leave you screaming, “Nevermore!” but you will be afforded no such mercy. Prepare to be immersed in military history and haunted by the Native American legends of Fort Moultrie. 

Since its construction in 1776, Sullivan Island has hosted the many stories of this legendary American coastal fort. Soldiers still roam the grounds, along with the soul of a sensitive Poe, still looking for his lost love, Annabel. Discover the mysteries of this spiritual playground below! 

Join a haunted history ghost tour of Charleston with Charleston Terrors to explore more of the Holy City’s most terrifying legends. 

Who Haunts Fort Moultrie?

A spectral Pelican, identified as the spirit of Osceola, a decapitated Seminole tribal leader, flies through Fort Moultrie. Joining him are many spirits of wars past. Some are purely the creations of a poet’s imagination, while others are more tangible. All lend to the legend of Fort Moultrie and continue to haunt Sullivan Island today. 

The Revolutionary Haunted History of Fort Moultrie

Fort Moultrie was first erected on Sullivan Island in 1776 and supported an army post from the Revolutionary War through World War II. A range of 40 canons and coastal artillery decorate the distinct Palmetto logs, brick, and 16-foot sand walls used to construct the fort. Over the years, its face changed, with remodelings taking place in the 1790s and again in 1809, but its purpose remained consistent. 

American General William Moultrie created the fort to staunchly defend the upstart colonies from the British. After initially turning away British forces in 1776, it continued to protect Charleston Harbor through 1780. Sadly, Fort Moultrie fell, and Charleston burned in May 1780. The fort was occupied by British forces until their eventual surrender in 1781. 

Fort Moultrie was abandoned for some years after the war but reinstated in the following decades. Federal troops occupied it until 1860, using it to protect themselves from internal and external enemies. However, the Civil War saw it fall into the hands of Rebels. Union troops abandoned Fort Moultrie during the Battle of Fort Sumter, the Civil War’s first engagement.

Moultrie was left defenseless in favor of Fort Sumter’s better position and quickly fell. Confederates held it until the war’s end in 1865. Much damage had been sustained, but the fort was again rebuilt and returned to action. 

It remained a staple of military life throughout the decades. Finally, after protecting the coast from German U-boats, the coastal artillery station was officially retired in 1947. But, according to legend, many spectral soldiers remain, ready to serve and defend. Yet, the glorious story of Fort Moultrie is not limited to its military action. 

Edgar Allan Poe: Poet And Spectral Soldier

Edgar Allan Poe enlisted with the Army under the pseudonym Edgar Allan Perry. In 1827, he was stationed at Fort Moultrie. Poe’s short story, “The Gold Bug,” at Fort Moultrie. “Annabelle Lee,” one of his most famous, was inspired by the love he found at Fort Moultrie. Or so the story goes. 

Poe joined the army at the age of 18 as a struggling artist and spent 13 months at Fort Moultrie. “Annabelle Lee,”  the legend’s epithet to heartbreak, was written reflecting on his time in Charleston, where he had fallen in love with Anna Ravenel—the daughter of a prominent and affluent Charlestonian family.

While the exact location of her gravesite is contested, rumors exist that Anabelle Lee’s grave lies within Fort Moultrie. Supposedly, her body is among the unclaimed graves of the Unitarian Church Cemetary. Her spirit is rumored to roam the streets of Charleston. 

Some say the gothic author haunts the beaches of Sullivan Island to this day. That he has been seen wandering close to the water. Furthermore, that he is still seeking love. Ever the romantic, he approaches bewildered women, lulling them into a sense of security before dissapearing. 

Osceola: Native American Warrior

Poe’s presence at Fort Moultrie is not the most famous or macabre event the fort has seen. A brave warrior made his way to the fort as a captive. Although his head was removed in an act of barbarism after his death, many say his spirit never left.

Born in Alabama in 1804, the warrior Osceola was born to a Creek mother and possibly a Scottish father. In the 1820s, as he went by the English moniker Billy Powell, Osceola traveled to Southern Florida. His people had been exiled after the Creek of 1813. They were taken in by the Seminole people in Spanish-controlled Florida, but their peace was short-lived. 

Florida fell into American hands in 1819. Various false treaties and the eventual Indian Removal Act of 1830 followed the first Seminole War. Osceola led the Seminole people, a mix of Native people under one tribe, in a rebellion against further removal. He defeated General Duncan Clinch at the Battle of Withlacoochee and caused havoc on Andrew Jackson and his military. 

Although leading numerous successful campaigns, he was eventually captured in October 1837. General Thomas Jesup, disguising himself under a white flag of peace, tricked the great Native warrior. He was sent to Fort Marion, where he fell ill. Nearly two dozen of his men managed to escape the fort in December 1837, but he was unable to. 

Osceola, along with 232 Seminole warriors, was quickly transferred to Fort Moultrie, far from home. His sickness intensified, and the great warrior eventually succumbed to a throat fever in January of 1838. Osceola was buried outside the Sallyport of Fort Moultrie. 

The Spirit of Osceola

Sadly, Osceola’s head was cut off in the name of “science” and passed across the United States for study and entertainment. It was eventually destroyed in 1865 in a fire at the Medical College of New York. But many say his spirit still roams Fort Moultrie, taking the form of a pelican. 

Osceola means “Black Drink Crier.” This name is in reference to the black cassina tea Seminole warriors would use to purge their bodies before battles. A single Pelican is often spotted flying around the headless remains of Osceola. From its beak drips a black, putrid liquid that marks the palmetto trees and dense shrubbery of Sullivan Island. 

Haunted Charleston

There are many more eerie tales surrounding Fort Moultrie, along with Osceola and the spirit of Edgar Allan Poe. Some say that soldiers once stationed at the fort in the 19th century remain. Photographs of see-through soldiers silently saluting have recently been uncovered. However, whether these photos are real or a hoax remains to be seen. 

What is for certain, though, is that Fort Moultrie and the rest of Charleston are places of unholy wonder. The Holy City lives up to its reputation as one of the most haunted cities in the South. Discover this eerie world for yourself on a haunted history walking tour with Charleston Terrors. 

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