Captain
Jacob Milligan - American Patriot - 1747 - 1796
Notes on Jacob Milligan
Compiled in 1969 by Lester Milligan of NY
and Florence Milligan of Charleston SC
(Correction - these early notes did not have
the correct birth and death years, they are
listed above, for for the sake of making the
original available it is reprinted below as
originally shared.)
From "The
Milligan Family History", March 1969 by
Lester S. Milligan:
Occasionally we wonder who our ancestors
were and from what sort of people we
descended. My grandfather, William Milligan
(1844-1911) was one to keep a diary and
record such information. A distant cousin
in Charleston SC, Miss Florence E. Milligan,
is another such person who takes pride in
her family name and has furnished a great
deal of the history and lineage back to the
American Revolution. My Uncle William also
furnished information, together with my Aunt
Bessie and cousin Albertina (Mrs. Jordan).
By
referring to the chart or Tree, you will see
that we start with the revolutionary hero
Captain Jacob Milligan. We do not know that
he was the first to come to this country,
but we do know that our source is in
Scotland where many Milligans are recorded
in the permanent war memorial in Edinburgh
with the Seaforth, Southerland and Argyle
Highlanders.
Captain
Jacob can best be described by quoting from
Carolina history. There are several pages
and numerous references furnished by
Florence Milligan. I will attempt to
summarize them.
On the 28th
of June 1776 a fleet of British ships under
Sir Peter Parker attacked
Ft. Sullivan (now Ft. Moultrie) in
Charleston harbor. Being unfamiliar with
the waters, three of them ran aground. Two
were able to get free but the frigate
Actaeon was hard
aground the next morning. There was a fleet
of small boats called gallies operated by
the Americans that were suitable for use in
shallow coastal waters. Now from Dr. Joseph
Johnson's Traditions and Reminiscences,
Charleston
1851, pp. 114-116, says "the gallies proved to be
very useful in guarding the coast and inland
trade, at that time constantly going on. One
of them was that commanded by Jacob
Milligan, a very brave, active man who kept
a watchful eye over the movements of the
enemy. During the interval between the
arrival of Sir Peter Parker's fleet and
their attack on Ft. Moultrie, an active partizan warfare was kept up by the flotilla
commanded by Whipple, Tufts, Milligan and
others. Some firing from then took place
almost every day. On the morning after the
battle of Ft. Moultrie the gallies, or
rather their boats, under the command of
Milligan, aided by volunteers, among whom
were Captain William Hall and Captain George
Warren Cross, boarded the Actaeon frigate,
while she lay grounded on the shoal where
Ft. Sumter now stands. The crew of the
frigate seeing the movement, set fire to her
and escaped in their boats. Our flotilla
took the flag and the bell and other
movables. Milligan then turned the guns of
the frigate against the other British
vessels, fired on them, and left the guns
loaded and pointed so as to be discharged
against them when the fire approaching would
ignite the powder."
And again we
have from THE HISTORY OF SOUTH CAROLINA by
Edward McGrady: McMillan Co. NY, pp
159-160....."When the morning of the 29th of
June broke upon the scene the Actaeon lay fast
ashore. The garrison at Fort Moultrie fired
a few shots at the Acteon, which were
promptly and gallantly returned from her by
Captain Atkins, when to prevent her from
falling into the hands of the Americans, he
set fire to her, taking off her crew in
small boats, leaving her colors flying and
her guns loaded. But this did not prevent a
party under Lieutenant Jacob Milligan of the
Carolina ship of War Prosper from boarding
her while on fire. This party pointed and
fired three of her guns at the British
commodore, and stripping her of what the
pressing moments permitted brought off her
colors, ship's bell, and as much of her
sails and stores as his boats could
contain. Milligan had scarcely done this
when the Actaeon
blew up with an awful explosion"
NOTE: Jacob
Milligan was made Captain as a result of the
Actaeon engagement
and was referred to as Captain in several
other history books of which there are seven
that refer to this action. Capt Jacob was
also a member of the reception committee of
13 members who met George Washington when he
visited Charleston about April 27, 1781.
There are
several more history books with similar
accounts of the Actaeon.
The British took Charleston in 1780 and held
it until the following....(from Dr.
Johnson's Reminiscences.....) "Milligan had
by this time left the service and taken
command of a privateer, with which he
cruised, very successfully, in the West
Indies. He captured many British vessels,
took them into Spanish ports, but from the
want of responsibility of Spanish agents at
the time, or from some other cause, he did
not appear to have profited by his
adventures. Milligan was captured in the
schooner Margery, his privateer, on the 21st
May, 1778, by the ship Levant of 28 guns
when off the coast of Georgia. He lost
everything that he was worth, but thought
that he got off very well, in not being
confined in the British prison ship. Capt.
Martin of the Levant treated him very
civilly, and put him on shore at Bloddy
Point, on parole. As soon as Milligan could
be exchanged, he went on privateering, but
returned to Charleston a little before the
siege, and was again put in command of one
of the State armed vessels.
While in
command of this vessel, a suitable quantity
of powder was delivered to him for her
stores and use when occasion should arise.
Milligan stored the powder in the arch under
the west portico of the
Exchange, and
converted it into a magazine. It was
stipulated in the surrender that all the
arms and ammunition in the garrison should
be delivered up to the British authorities;
but this did not set well with Milligan's
stomach, and instead of doing so, he took
out the doors and frames of the magazine,
and boarded up all the open spaces, so that
the charge could not be discovered. When
the Americans retook the city, Milligan went
to look for his powder; it appeared to be
just as he left it, But had become damp from
the dampness of the closed vault, and was
totally ruined. Milligan, however, consoled
himself by saying that the devil might have
it rather that the British. (Footnote:
The Acts of the Provincial Revolutionary
Houses of Assembly with the records of the
State were secreted and preserved in the
same vault.) Milligan was made the Harbor
Master after the revolution, and continued
in office, I believe, to the end of his
life."
Lester
Milligan footnote: "While working in
England, I visited the war memorial in
Edinburgh, where the names of many Milligans
are listed that fought and died in the
Highland regiments, Seaforth, Argyle, etc.
Our forefathers were Scottish"
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Notes

Our common ancestor, Jacob Milligan, was
no common man. He was a member of the
American Navy, rising to the rank of
Captain, in the service of his country
during the Revolutionary war period. He
was the first cousin to Brig. Major
Keating Simons I (by marriage) who was
the aide of Gen. Francis Marion, the
Swamp Fox.
Milligan
served as owner of the Intelligence
Office, Harbor Master of Charleston SC,
compiler of the first Charleston City
Directory 1790. In 1792 he was
recognized in the State Gazette of South
Carolina (Charleston) as "received the
unanimous thanks of the legislature, for
his efforts to save the city during the
dreadful conflagration in 1778". He is most noted for his heroic
action in the
Battle of Sullivan's
Island at the beginning of the
revolution. During this important
battle, Jacob was noted in the history
books for a heroic action and given the
rank of Captain (prior to this he was a
Lieutenant) for his heroism. He was one
of 13 to meet with President George
Washington during his southern tour
visit to Charleston in 1791.
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