Upon leaving New York, the Second Battalion, 84th Regiment was engaged in the Southern theatre of the American Revolutionary War. The Southern theater was the central area of operations in the second half of the American Revolutionary War. During the first three years of the conflict, the primary military encounters had been in the north, focused on campaigns around the cities of Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. Earlier in the war, the 2/84th Regiment was involved in trying to take Charleston, South Carolina, in the Battle of Sullivan's Island. On June 24, companies of the 2/84th Regiment from Boston and New York left their ports to descend upon Fort Sullivan (later renamed Fort Moultrie), South Carolina. Four days later the 84th Regiment from New York, on June 28, 1776, engaged in the Battle of Fort Sullivan (see Fort Moultrie National Monument). The fleet bombarded the fort and suffered excessive damage by return fire. The attack was a failure; 38 of the regiment died.