The 218th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade traces its origins to 1903 when it was established as an Infantry Company in the South Carolina State Troops, an organization that what would become the South Carolina National Guard. Although organized in an area in the center of the state known as New Brookland (today the town of West Columbia), its Distinctive Unit Insignia, or unit crest, evokes memories of a seminal event in the state’s history that took place near the port city of Charleston: The Battle of Sullivan’s Island.
Fought on 28 June 1776, the battle pitted a British naval force of nine ships with some 300 guns under the command of Commodore Peter Parker against the fortifications and garrison on Sullivan’s Island near Charleston, South Carolina, led by Colonel William Moultrie. Though the armada raked the fort with cannon fire for hours, the fort’s palmetto walls proved resilient, bending under the impact rather than breaking. The flag flying over the fort—featuring a crescent moon inscribed with the word “Liberty”—was eventually shot down, at which point a Sergeant seized it, attached it to part of a palmetto tree, and began waving it as a means of rallying the defenders until a new standard was erected. The 218th’s seal features the crescent moon and the palmetto tree, which also went on to become the state tree of South Carolina, and the motto “Steadfast of Purpose.”
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