CHARLESTON, S.C. (Palmetto Life) — As America prepares to celebrate its 250th birthday this summer, Charleston’s Revolutionary War history comes into focus through the stories of three significant downtown locations that played crucial roles in the nation’s founding.
Historian Mike Hebb recently guided a tour of sites where Charleston Patriots took action on the same day as the famous “Shot Heard Round the World” in Massachusetts.
Patriots intercepted British mail on April 19, 1775
On April 19, 1775, while the Battle of Lexington and Concord unfolded in Massachusetts, Charleston Patriots stole mail from the Royal Post Office on East Bay Street. The intercepted correspondence revealed that the British Parliament had declared the colonies in rebellion and ordered Royal Lieutenant Governor William Bull to secure all weapons and ammunition in Charleston before Patriots could access them.
“The Patriots on April 19th stole that mail. William Bull never got those letters and basically the Patriots were able to get to the arsenal before the British were,” Hebb said…