Organization of "Marion's Brigade"--Surprise of Tories
under Gainey--Defeat of Barfield--Capture of British
Guard with Prisoners at Nelson's Ferry.
The people of Williamsburg, by whom Marion was summoned from the camp
of Gates, were sprung generally from Irish parentage. They inherited,
in common with all the descendants of the Irish in America, a hearty
detestation of the English name and authority. This feeling rendered
them excellent patriots and daring soldiers, wherever the British Lion
was the object of hostility. Those of whom we are now to speak, the
people of Williamsburg, were men generally of fearless courage, powerful
frame, well-strung nerves, and an audacious gallantry that led them
to delight in dangers, even where the immediate objects by no means
justified the risk. They felt that "rapture of the strife", in which
the Goth exulted. In addition to these natural endowments for a brave
soldiery, they were good riders and famous marksmen--hunters, that
knew the woods almost as well by night as by day--could wind about
and through the camp of an enemy, as free from suspicion as the
velvet-footed squirrel, who, from the lateral branches of the pine,
looks over their encampment. They possessed resources of knowledge and
ingenuity, while in swamp and thicket, not merely to avoid the danger,
but, in not unfrequent instances, to convert it to their own advantage.
Nothing but the training and direction of such a mind as Marion's
was needed to make, of these men, the most efficient of all partisan
soldiery. The formation of the brigade of which he now prepared to take
command, has a history of its own which is worth telling. The fame which
it subsequently acquired in connection with its leader's name, and which
the local traditions will not willingly let die, will justify us in the
narration. Some few preliminary facts are necessary.
The fall of Charleston, and the dispersion or butchery of those parties
which had kept the field after that event, necessarily depressed the
spirits and discouraged the attempt of the scattered patriots who still
yearned to oppose the invaders. The captivity of many of the leaders
to whom they were accustomed to look for counsel and direction, and
the flight of others, served still further to dissipate any hopes or
purposes which they might have had of concentration. Thousands fled to
the North, and embodied themselves under Washington and other American
Generals, despairing of the cause at home. Everything appeared to be
lost, and a timely proclamation of Sir Henry Clinton, a few days after
the surrender of Charleston, tended yet more to subdue the spirit of
resistance. The proclamation proffered "pardon to the inhabitants"
with some few exceptions, "for their past treasonable offences, and a
reinstatement in their rights and immunities heretofore enjoyed, exempt
from taxation, except by their own legislature." This specious
offer, made at a moment when his power was at its height, everywhere
unquestioned and unopposed, indicated a degree of magnanimity, which
in the case of those thousands in every such contest, who love repose
better than virtue, was everywhere calculated to disarm the inhabitants.
To many indeed it seemed to promise all for which they had been
contending. It offered security from further injury, protection against
the Tories who were using the authority of the British for their own
purposes of plunder and revenge, a respite from their calamities, and
a restoration of all their rights. With the immunities thus proffered,
with the further conviction that further struggle against British
power was hopeless, with the assurance, indeed, which was industriously
conveyed to them from all quarters, that Congress, not able to assist,
had resolved upon yielding the provinces of South Carolina and Georgia
to the enemy, as considerations for the independence of the other
colonies--they accepted the terms thus offered them by the British
commander, and, in great numbers, signed declarations of allegiance,
received protection as subjects of the crown, or, as prisoners of war,
were paroled to their plantations. Could the British have persevered in
this policy, had they kept faith with the inhabitants, they might much
longer have held possession of the country. But, either they were not
sincere in their first professions, or their subsequent necessities
compelled them to adopt a less rational policy. Twenty days had not
elapsed from the publication of the first proclamation when it was
followed by another, which so entirely qualified and impaired the
character of the former, as to revolt the people whom it had invited,
and to impress them with the conviction that they had been imposed
upon--that the first measure was a mere decoy,--a trap involving their
pledges, yet withholding the very securities for which they had been
given. This second proclamation, premising that it was necessary for all
good citizens to uphold his Majesty's Government, proceeded to discharge
from protection and parole all persons to whom such papers had been
accorded. All persons not absolutely prisoners of war, taken in arms,
were to be reinstated in their former positions as citizens--but, as
citizens of the British Empire. In this relation the farther inferences
were inevitable. They were now actually to support his Majesty's
Government. The proclamation ended with the usual penalties--all who
neglected to return to their allegiance were to be treated as rebels.
The policy thus adopted by the British commander soon made them so. The
object of the Carolinians, in taking protections and paroles, was to
avoid further warfare. The second proclamation of the British General
required them to take up arms for his Majesty, and against their
countrymen. This was a hopeful plan by which to fill the British
regiments, to save farther importations of Hessians, farther cost
of mercenaries, and, as in the case of the Aborigines, to employ the
Anglo-American race against one another. The loyalists of the South were
to be used against the patriots of the North, as the loyalists of the
latter region had been employed to put down the liberties of the former.
It was a short and ingenious process for finishing the rebellion; and,
could it have entirely succeeded, as in part it did, it would have
entitled Sir Henry Clinton to very far superior laurels, as a civilian,
than he ever won as a soldier. The value of the Americans, as soldiers,
was very well known to the British General. Some of the most sanguinary
battles of the Revolution were those in which the combatants on both
sides were chiefly natives of the soil, upon which a portion of them
but too freely shed their blood in a sincere desire to bolster up that
foreign tyranny that mocked the generous valor which it employed.
The effect of this second proclamation of the British commander was
such as he scarcely anticipated. The readiness with which numbers of the
people had accepted paroles and protections, declared, at most, nothing
but their indifference to the contest--declared no preference for
British domination. In this lay the error of the conqueror. The natural
feeling of the people, thus entrapped, was that of indignation. Their
determination might have been conjectured by any reasoning mind.
Compelled to take up arms--not permitted to enjoy that repose with
their families, for which they sought the offered immunities of the
British--it was more easy to espouse the cause of their countrymen, to
which their affections were really given, than that of the invader. They
had committed a great and humbling error in the endeavor to escape the
conflict--in taking the proffered protection of a power which had
seized with violence upon their native land. It was with some eagerness,
therefore, that they threw aside its obligations, and, as opportunity
presented itself, girded on their armor, and sallied forth to join their
countrymen. Among the first to do so were the men by whom Marion was
summoned from the camp of Gates. These brave fellows, occupying
a portion of the country stretching from the Santee to the Pedee,
including the whole of the present district of Williamsburg, and a part
of Marion, were not altogether prepared to understand these British
proclamations. They were no great politicians, had no love of blind
vassalage, and naturally suspected all liberality of British origin.
They wished for certain explanations before they sent in their adhesion.
Not that they calculated upon resistance. This, no doubt, seemed to them
as hopeless as it appeared in all other parts of the State. But their
insulated position, which left them uninformed as to the true condition
of things, was, at the same time, a source of their courage and
indifference. As yet, the arms of the British had not penetrated into
their settlements. They were naturally anxious to prevent their doing
so. Under these circumstances, they held a gathering of their best
men for the purpose of consulting upon their affairs. The twin
proclamations--how unlike!--of the British commander, were before
them: and, in their primitive assembly, they sat down to discuss their
separate merits. These confused rather than enlightened them, and it was
resolved to send one of their number, in whom they had most confidence,
to the nearest British authority, in order that their difficulties
should be explained and their doubts satisfied. There was one sterling
family among them of the name of James. Of this family there were five
brothers, John, William, Gavin, Robert and James. No men under Marion
were braver or truer than these. Fearless, strong and active, they were
always ready for the foe; the first in attack, the last in retreat.
There were other branches of this family who partook largely of the
qualities of the five brothers. Of these, the eldest, Major John James,
was chosen the representative of the men of Williamsburg. This gentleman
had been their representative in the provincial assembly--he was
in command of them as State militia. They gave him their fullest
confidence, and he deserved it.
Under this appointment, Major James repaired to Georgetown, the nearest
British post, which was then under the command of one Captain Ardesoif.
Attired as a plain backwoodsman, James obtained an interview with
Ardesoif, and, in prompt and plain terms, entered at once upon the
business for which he came. But when he demanded the meaning of the
British protection, and asked upon what terms the submission of
the citizens was to be made, he was peremptorily informed that
"the submission must be unconditional." To an inquiry, whether the
inhabitants were to be allowed to remain upon their plantations, he was
answered in the negative. "His Majesty," said Ardesoif, "offers you
a free pardon, of which you are undeserving, for you all ought to be
hanged; but it is only on condition that you take up arms in his cause."
James, whom we may suppose to have been very far from relishing the tone
and language in which he was addressed, very coolly replied, that
"the people whom he came to REPRESENT, would scarcely submit on such
conditions." The republican language of the worthy Major provoked the
representative of Royalty. The word 'represent', in particular, smote
hardly on his ears; something, too, in the cool, contemptuous manner
of the Major, may have contributed to his vexation. "REPRESENT!" he
exclaimed in a fury--"You d----d rebel, if you dare speak in such
language, I will have you hung up at the yard-arm!" Ardesoif, it must
be known, was a sea captain. The ship which he commanded lay in the
neighboring river. He used only a habitual form of speech when he
threatened the "yard-arm", instead of the tree. Major James gave him no
time to make the correction. He was entirely weaponless, and Ardesoif
wore a sword; but the inequality, in the moment of his anger, was unfelt
by the high-spirited citizen. Suddenly rising, he seized upon the chair
on which he had been sitting, and floored the insolent subordinate at a
blow; then hurrying forth without giving his enemy time to recover, he
mounted his horse, and made his escape to the woods before pursuit could
be attempted.
His people were soon assembled to hear his story. The exactions of the
British, and the spirit which James had displayed, in resenting the
insolence of Ardesoif, at once aroused their own. Required to take the
field, it did not need a moment to decide "under which king". The result
of their deliberations was the formation of "Marion's Brigade". Four
captains were chosen for as many companies. These were, Captains William
M'Cottry, Henry Mouzon, John James (of the Lake, a cousin of Major
James), and John M'Cauley. These were all under the one command of our
representative to Ardesoif. He instantly put them into motion, and,
after some petty successes against small parties of British and Tories,
he advanced one of the four companies, M'Cottry's, to the pass of
Lynch's Creek, at Witherspoon's Ferry. Here M'Cottry heard of Col.
Tarleton, and proceeded to encounter him. Tarleton had been apprised of
the gatherings at Williamsburg, and, at the head of some seventy men,
was pressing forward with the hope of surprising James. M'Cottry,
more brave perhaps than prudent, after sending back to James for a
reinforcement, set forward to give Tarleton battle. The British Colonel
had taken post at Kingstree. M'Cottry approached him at midnight. It
happened, perhaps fortunately for the former, that Tarleton had received
some very exaggerated accounts of M'Cottry's force, which the boldness
of his approach seemed to confirm. Taking the alarm accordingly, he
disappeared in season, leaving to M'Cottry the 'eclat' which necessarily
attended his attempt. The excesses of Tarleton, while on this progress,
and the crimes committed in the same neighborhood by other British
captains about the same time, completed the movement which the native
spirit of patriotism in the men of Williamsburg had so happily begun.
The whole country was soon awakened--individuals and groups everywhere
beginning to show themselves in arms, and nothing was needed but an
embodied force of the Americans, upon which they could concentrate
themselves and rally with effect.
It was on the 10th or 12th of August, some four days before the defeat
of Gates, that Marion reached the post at Lynch's Creek, where M'Cottry
had taken his position. He was commissioned by Governor Rutledge to
take command of the country in this quarter, and we will henceforth
distinguish him as General Marion, although it is not so certain at what
period he actually received this promotion;--we find him in possession
of it in the following December.
Of his personal appearance at this time we have a brief but striking
account from the hands of the venerable Judge James--a son of the
Major--who had the honor to serve under Marion at the age of fifteen.
"He was a stranger," says the Judge, "to the officers and men, and they
flocked about him to obtain a sight of their future commander. He was
rather below the middle stature, lean and swarthy. His body was well
set, but his knees and ankles were badly formed, and he still limped
upon one leg. He had a countenance remarkably steady; his nose was
aquiline, his chin projecting; his forehead large and high, and his eyes
black and piercing. He was then forty-eight years of age, with a frame
capable of enduring fatigue and every privation." Of his dress, by which
we may form some idea of that costume which had provoked the laughter
of Gates' veterans, we have a description also, furnished us by the same
excellent authority. We know not but that this description will provoke
the smile of the reader. But, of such persons, in the language of the
Judge, "even trifles become important." "He (Marion) was dressed in
a close round-bodied crimson jacket, of a coarse texture, and wore a
leather cap, part of the uniform of the second regiment, with a silver
crescent in front, inscribed with the words, 'Liberty or Death!'"
Such regimentals show rather the exigencies than the tastes of our
partisan. This scarlet cloth, of which his vest was made, was almost
the only kind of color which the Carolinians could procure after the
conquest of Charleston. The British seemed to distribute it with the
protections and pardons, perhaps as a popular mode of disseminating
their principles. Moultrie somewhere tells a ludicrous anecdote of some
Americans (prisoners on parole) who were nearly cut to pieces by a party
of their countrymen, in consequence of their scarlet jackets. They had
taken the precaution to dye them with some native roots, but the dye had
disappeared, leaving the original color nearly as vivid as before.
According to Weems, Marion made rather a theatrical display on taking
command of his brigade. He swore them in a circle upon their swords,
never to yield the contest until they had secured their own and the
liberties of their country. There is no authority for this statement,
either in the work of James, in the MS. of Horry, or in any of the
authorities. There is no doubt that such were his own sentiments, and
such the sentiments which he strove to impart to all his followers;
but the scene as described by the reverend historian was quite too
artificial and theatrical for the tastes of Marion. It does not accord
with what we know of his modesty, his unaffected nature, and the general
simplicity of his manners. He instilled his lessons by examples rather
than by speeches. His words were usually very few. He secured the
fidelity of his men by carrying them bravely into action, and bringing
them honorably out of it.
Marion's career of activity commenced with his command. Though always
prudent, he yet learned that prudence in military life must always imply
activity. The insecurity of the encampment, with a militia force, is
always greater than that of battle. The Roman captains of celebrity
were particularly aware of this truth. But the activity of Marion was
necessarily straitened by the condition in which he found his men. They
were wretchedly deficient in all the materials of service. His first
effort to supply some of their wants, was in sacking the saw-mills. The
saws were wrought and hammered by rude blacksmiths into some resemblance
to sabres, and thus provided, Marion set his men in motion, two days
after taking the command. Crossing the Pedee at Port's Ferry, he
advanced upon a large body of Tories commanded by Major Gainey, who held
a position upon Britton's Neck. Gainey was considered by the British an
excellent partisan officer, but he was caught napping. Marion moved with
equal secrecy and celerity. After riding all night, he came upon the
enemy at dawn in the morning. The discovery and the attack were one. The
surprise was complete. A captain and several privates were slain, and
the party dispersed. Marion did not lose a man, and had but two wounded.
In this engagement, our representative, Major James, distinguished
himself, by singling out Major Gainey for personal combat. But Gainey
shrank from his more powerful assailant, and sought safety in flight.
James pursued for a distance of half a mile. In the eagerness of the
chase he did not perceive that he was alone and unsupported. It was
enough that he was gaining upon his enemy, who was almost within reach
of his sword, when the chase brought them suddenly upon a body of
Tories who had rallied upon the road. There was not a moment to be lost.
Hesitation would have been fatal. But our gallant Major was not to be
easily intimidated. With great coolness and presence of mind, waving his
sword aloft, he cried out, "come on, boys! here they are!" and rushed
headlong upon the group of enemies, as if perfectly assured of support.
The ruse was successful. The Tories broke once more, and sought safety
from their individual enemy in the recesses of Pedee swamp.
Marion did not suffer the courage of his men to cool. In twenty-four
hours after this event, he was again in motion. Hearing of the proximity
of another body of Tories, under Captain Barfield, he advanced against
him with as much celerity and caution as before. But he found Barfield
strongly posted, in greater force than he expected; warned of his
approach and waiting for him. It was no part of Marion's practice to
expose his men unnecessarily. He had too few, to risk the loss of any
precious lives, where this was to be avoided. He determined upon a
different mode of managing his enemy, and resorted to a stratagem,
which, subsequently, he frequently made use of. Putting a select party
of his men in ambush near the Blue Savannah, he feigned retreat with
another, and thus beguiled his enemy from his strong position. The
result accorded with his wishes. Barfield followed and fell into the
snare. The defeat was equally complete with that of Gainey.
The conduct and skill, in managing his raw militia-men, which these two
achievements displayed, naturally inspired his followers with confidence
in themselves and their leader. They produced a corresponding effect
upon the people of the country, and were productive of no small
annoyance to the Tories, who were thus suddenly reminded that there
might be retribution for crime even when sheltered under the dragon
folds of England. Another benefit from these occurrences was in better
providing the brigade with some of the proper weapons and munitions of
war.
Among the recent captures of Marion were two old field-pieces. Returning
to Port's Ferry, he threw up a redoubt on the east bank of the Pedee,
upon which he mounted them. He seldom troubled himself with such heavy
baggage, and probably disposed of them in this way, quite as much to
disencumber himself of them, as with any such motive, as was alleged,
when placing them in battery, of overawing the Tories by their presence.
Movements of so rapid a kind, and so frequently made as his, requiring
equal dispatch and secrecy, forbade the use of artillery; and he
very well knew, that, to employ men for the maintenance of isolated
posts--such posts as he could establish,--would have no other effect
than to expose his brigade to the chances of being cut up in detail.
On the 17th August, the day following the defeat of Gates,--of which
event he was as yet wholly ignorant--he dispatched Col. Peter Horry,
with orders to take command of four companies, Bonneau's, Mitchell's,
Benson's and Lenud's, near Georgetown, on the Santee; to destroy all the
boats and canoes on the river from the lower ferry to Lenud's--to break
up and stop all communications with Charleston, and to procure, if
possible, supplies of gunpowder, flints and bullets. "Twenty-five weight
of gunpowder, ball or buckshot," is the language of his orders. This
will show how scanty were the supplies which were to be procured of the
material upon which everything depended. Marion frequently went into
action with less than three rounds to a man--half of his men were
sometimes lookers on because of the lack of arms and ammunition--waiting
to see the fall of friends or enemies, in order to obtain the necessary
means of taking part in the affair. Buck-shot easily satisfied soldiers,
who not unfrequently advanced to the combat with nothing but swan-shot
in their fowling-pieces.
While Horry proceeded towards Georgetown, Marion marched to the upper
Santee. On this march he was advised of the defeat of Gates; but,
fearing its effect upon his men, without communicating it, he proceeded
immediately toward Nelson's Ferry. This was a well known pass on the
great route, the "war-path", from Charleston to Camden. Here his scouts
advised him of the approach of a strong British guard, with a large body
of prisoners taken from Gates. The guards had stopped at a house on the
east side of the river. Informed of all necessary particulars, Marion,
a little before daylight, detached Col. Hugh Horry, with sixteen men, to
gain possession of the road, at the pass of Horse Creek, in the swamp,
while the main body under himself was to attack the enemy's rear. The
attempt was made at dawn, and was perfectly successful. A letter from
Marion himself, to Col. P. Horry, thus details the event:--"On the 20th
inst. I attacked a guard of the 63d and Prince of Wales' Regiment, with
a number of Tories, at the Great Savannah, near Nelson's Ferry; killed
and took twenty-two regulars, and two Tories prisoners, and retook one
hundred and fifty Continentals of the Maryland line, one wagon and a
drum; one captain and a subaltern were also captured. Our loss is one
killed, and Captain Benson is slightly wounded on the head."
It will scarcely be believed that, of this hundred and fifty
Continentals, but three men consented to join the ranks of their
liberator. It may be that they were somewhat loth to be led, even though
it were to victory, by the man whose ludicrous equipments and followers,
but a few weeks before, had only provoked their merriment. The reason
given for their refusal, however, was not deficient in force. "They
considered the cause of the country to be hopeless. They were risking
life without an adequate object." The defeat of Gates, and his bad
generalship, which they had so recently witnessed, were, perhaps, quite
sufficient reasons to justify their misgivings.
This disastrous event did not produce like despondency in our partisan
or his followers, though it furnished reasons for the greatest
circumspection. At this moment Marion's was the only body of American
troops in the State, openly opposed to the triumphant progress of the
British. The Continentals were dispersed or captured; the Virginia and
North Carolina militia scattered to the four winds; Sumter's legion cut
up by Tarleton, and he himself a fugitive, fearless and active still,
but as yet seeking, rather than commanding, a force. Though small and
seemingly insignificant, the force of Marion had shown what might be
done, with the spirit and the personnel of the country, under competent
leaders. The cruelties of the British, who subjected the vanquished
to the worst treatment of war, helped his endeavors. Shortly after the
victory over Gates, Lord Cornwallis addressed an order to the British
commandants at the several posts throughout the country, of which the
following are extracts:
"I have given orders that all of the inhabitants of this province who
have subscribed, and have taken part in this revolt, should be punished
with the greatest rigor; and also those who will not turn out, that
they may be imprisoned and their whole property taken from them or
destroyed.... I have ordered in the most positive manner that every
militia man, who has borne arms with us, and afterwards joined the
enemy, shall be immediately hanged!"
This gentleman has been called, by some of the American writers, the
"amiable Cornwallis". It is rather difficult to say for which of his
qualities this dulcet epithet was bestowed. The preceding may well
justify us in the doubt we venture to express, whether it was not given
as much in mockery as compliment. But, lest his commands should not
be understood, as not sufficiently explicit, his Lordship proceeded
to furnish examples of his meaning, which left his desires beyond
reasonable question. Immediately after his return to Camden, he stained
the laurels of his recent victory, and celebrated his triumph over
Gates, by hanging some twelve or fifteen wretched prisoners, old men and
boys, who were only suspected of treachery to the royal cause. Similar
barbarities were practised by subordinate officers, emulative of
this example of their superior, or in obedience to his orders. But,
fortunately for the country, even this brutality, which was intended
to alarm the fears of the people, and do that which the arts of their
conqueror had failed to effect, was not productive of the desired
results. It drove the indignant into the field--it shamed the unwilling
into decision--it spurred on the inert and inactive to exertion, and
armed the doubtful and the timid with resolution. It sent hundreds,
whom nothing had moved before, into the ranks of Marion and Sumter. The
moment of defeat and greatest despondency--the dark before the dawn--was
that when the people of the country were preparing to display the most
animating signs of life. The very fact that the force of Marion was so
insignificant, was something in favor of that courage and patriotism,
that confidence in his own resources and his men, which, defying all the
inequalities of force, could move him to traverse the very paths of the
conqueror, and pluck his prisoners from his very grasp. The audacity
and skill of Marion, exhibited in numerous small achievements of which
history furnishes no particulars, extorted a reluctant confession from
the enemy, whose unwilling language will suffice for our own. Tarleton
writes: "MR. Marion,* by his zeal and abilities, showed himself capable
of the trust committed to his charge. He collected his adherents at
the shortest notice, and, after making excursions into the friendly
districts, or threatening the communications, to avoid pursuit he
disbanded his followers. The alarms occasioned by these insurrections,
frequently retarded supplies on their way to the army; and a late
report of Marion's strength delayed the junction of the recruits who had
arrived from New York for the corps in the country." The 64th Regiment
of Infantry was ordered to Nelson's Ferry from Charleston, and
directions were given to Lieut. Col. Tarleton to pass the Wateree to awe
the insurgents.** Cornwallis writes to Tarleton: "I most sincerely hope
that you will get at MR. Marion." In short, to use the further language
of the British Colonel, Marion completely overran the lower districts.
He cut off supplies from the army, broke up the Tories, destroyed
recruiting parties, intercepted and interrupted communications, and,
darting to and fro between the British posts, which he had not the power
to overcome, showed that nothing but that power was necessary to enable
him to challenge with them the possession of the soil. That he should
disband his men at one moment, and be able by a word to bring them
together when they were again wanted, proves a singular alliance between
the chieftain and his followers, which is characteristic only of the
most romantic history. It shows a power, on the part of the former, such
as we ascribe to the winding of the magic horn of Astolfo, which few
commanders of militia have ever had the skill to produce. Evidently, the
personal and patriotic influences were very equally strong, to occasion
such prompt fidelity, in his case, on the part of his followers.
* The British officers betrayed a singular reluctance to
accord to the Americans their military titles. The reader
will recollect the letter of General Gage to MR. Washington,
which the latter very properly refused to receive. The very
attempt here made to sneer away the official, adds to the
personal importance of the individual; and we yield to plain
Mr. Marion, with his ragged followers, who, untitled, could
give such annoyance to His Majesty's officers, a degree of
respect which his title might not otherwise have commanded.
** Tarleton's Campaigns, 4to ed. p. 171.--