Raid & Execution at Bloody Point

By December 1781, the war in the Sea Islands had devolved into a series of cold-blooded “blood feuds.” The death of Patriot Charles Davant in the October ambush at Broad Creek had shattered any remaining pretense of military decorum. The Hilton Head “Liberty Men,” led by Captain John Terry and the vengeful cousins of the fallen Davant, spent weeks tracking the Loyalist “Royalists” responsible for the hit. Their trail led across the Calibogue Sound to the southern tip of Daufuskie Island, a notorious Loyalist stronghold known as Bloody Point.

On the night of December 23, 1781, the Patriot militia launched a silent amphibious raid. Under the cover of darkness, they navigated the treacherous currents to land at the southern marshes of Daufuskie. Their target was Philip Martinangel, a prominent Loyalist militia leader and a close associate of the Pendarvis family, whom the Patriots believed had orchestrated or participated in Davant’s murder. The Patriots surrounded Martinangel’s home at Bloody Point, dragging him out into the cold December night.

In a stark act of “partisan justice,” Martinangel was executed on the spot. This was not a battle for territory or a grab for supplies; it was a calculated message of retribution. The raid at Bloody Point effectively “decapitated” the local Loyalist leadership and signaled that even the most remote island sanctuaries were no longer safe from Patriot vengeance. The event cemented the southern tip of Daufuskie’s reputation as a “bloody” ground, a name it had held since the Yemassee War and one that the Revolution only reinforced.

Historical Significance

• The Cycle of Vengeance: This execution is the most cited example of the “eye-for-an-eye” warfare that defined the South Carolina Lowcountry, where personal loss drove military strategy.
• Loyalist Collapse on the Islands: The loss of Martinangel forced many remaining “Tories” to abandon Daufuskie and flee to the British-held Savannah or the West Indies, effectively ending organized Loyalist resistance on the island.
• Psychological Warfare: By striking two days before Christmas in a daring cross-water raid, the Hilton Head militia proved they possessed superior intelligence and naval mobility compared to the British-aligned islanders.