The British mounted their first attack on Charleston in early 1776, a hastily organized expedition using troops and ships that were sitting idle until the British launched a major offensive against New York City. Soldiers under Maj. Gen. Sir Henry Clinton
and a Royal Navy flotilla commanded by Adm. Sir Peter Parker were originally supposed to occupy Wilmington, North Carolina and organize loyalist militia units. The plan was spoiled when patriot militiamen defeated a North Carolina loyalist uprising at Moore’s Creek in February 1776. Parker convinced Clinton to undertake an assault to seize Charleston, South Carolina, a wealthy southern city with an excellent harbor for Royal Navy use. Little trouble was expected from the Americans, as Parker commanded ten warships, while Clinton led 2,500 soldiers and marines. The Continental Congress responded by sending the commander of the Southern Department, Maj. Gen. Charles Lee southwards to support South Carolina’s governor, John Rutledge, and Col. William Moultrie, the commander of the city’s defenses.
"But Sir Peter Parker having in the mean time procured Intelligence from whence it appeared the Rebel Work on Sullivan’s Island (the Key to Rebellion Road & Charles Town) was in so unfinished a State as to be open to a Coup de Main & that it might be afterwards held by a small Force under Cover of a Frigate or two; and [I] having about the same time received a private Letter from Sir Wm Howe, in which he seemed to intimate a Wish I could get possession of Charles Town, without expressing any Hurry for my joining him; I was tempted to accede to the Commodores Proposals for a joint attempt upon that Island."
Lt. Gen. Sir Henry ClintonWilliam Willcox, ed. “The American Rebellion: Sir Henry Clinton’s Narrative of his Campaigns, 1775–1782 with an Appendix of Original Documents.” New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1954, 29..