Marion retreats before a superior Force--Defeats the
Tories at Black Mingo--Surprises and disperses the Force
of Colonel Tynes at Tarcote--Is pursued by Tarleton.
The solicitude manifested by the British commander in the South to get
Marion from his path, soon set the legion of Tarleton, and a strong
force under Major Wemyss, in motion for his retreats. The progress
of Tarleton was somewhat delayed, and his cooperation with Wemyss
prevented. The latter pushed his advance with equal spirit and address.
Marion had with him but one hundred and fifty men, when he heard of
the approach of his enemies. His force, it must be remembered, was of a
peculiar kind, and was constantly fluctuating. His men had cares other
than those of their country's liberties. Young and tender families were
to be provided for and guarded in the thickets where they found shelter.
These were often threatened in the absence of their protectors by
marauding bands of Tories, who watched the moment of the departure of
the Whigs, to rise upon the weak, and rob and harass the unprotected.
The citizen soldiery were thus doubly employed, and had cares to endure,
and duties to perform, from which regular troops are usually exempt, and
for which regular officers seldom make allowance. The good judgment
of Marion, taking these necessities into consideration, exercised that
patience with the militia which secured their fidelity. When he found
this or that body of men anxious about their families, he yielded most
generally without reluctance to their wishes. This indulgence had its
effects. Their return was certain. They seldom lingered beyond the time
at which they had pledged themselves to reappear.
It was in consequence of this indulgence that his force was thus reduced
when the British approach was known. Wemyss was in command of the 63d
regiment. He was accompanied by a large body of Tories under Major
Harrison. They moved with caution and speed, but the American General
was on the alert. He dispatched Major James with a select body of
volunteers to reconnoitre. His various outposts were called in, and
with his whole present strength, thus united, Marion followed on the
footsteps of James, prepared, if the chances promised him success, for
doing battle with his enemy.
Major James, meanwhile, who was equally bold and skilful, pressed
forward fearlessly till he became aware of the proximity of the British.
He was resolved to make sure of his intelligence. He placed himself in
a thicket on their line of march, and by a bright moon, was readily
enabled to form a very correct notion of their character and numbers.
But as the rear-guard passed by, his courageous spirit prompted further
performances. He was not content to carry to his general no other proofs
of his vigilance but the tidings which he had obtained. His perfect
knowledge of the ground, his confidence in the excellent character of
his men, and the speed of their horses, moved him to greater daring;
and, bursting from his hiding-place, with a terrible shout, he swooped
down with his small party upon the startled stragglers in the rear of
the Tory march, carrying off his prisoners in the twinkling of an eye,
without stopping to slay, and without suffering the loss of a man.
Before the enemy could rally, and turn upon his path, the tread of the
partisan's horse no longer sounded in his ears.
The intelligence which James bore to his commander was scarcely so
encouraging. He reported the British regulars to be double their own
force in number, while the Tories in the rear were alone estimated at
five hundred men. Retreat, perhaps dispersion, was now inevitable. This
was the sort of game, which, in his feebleness, and under the pressure
of a very superior foe, our partisan was compelled to play. It
was sometimes a humiliating one, and always attended with some
discouragements. The evil effects, however, were only temporary. His men
never retired beyond his reach. They came again at a call, refreshed
by the respite, and assured by the conviction that their commander
was quite as careful of their lives as themselves. Such a game was
not without its interest, and its peculiarities were such as to give
animation to the valor which it exercised. In these peculiarities of
his warfare, lies that secret charm which has made tradition, in the
southern country, linger so long and so fondly upon the name of Marion.
Judge James gives us, in few words, a lively idea of the consultation
which followed the return and the report of Major James. "About an hour
before day, Marion met the Major half a mile from his plantation. The
officers immediately dismounted and retired to consult; the men sat on
their horses in a state of anxious suspense. The conference was long and
animated. At the end of it, an order was given to direct the march back
to Lynch's Creek (the route to North Carolina), and no sooner was it
given than a bitter groan might have been heard along the whole line.
A bitter cup had now been mingled for the people of Williamsburg and
Pedee, and they were doomed to drain it to the dregs, but in the end it
proved a salutary medicine."
The evil here deplored was the temporary abandonment, for the first
time, of this particular section of country. Hitherto, the enemy had
never appeared in their neighborhood with such a force as enabled them
to overrun it without fear of opposition. Now, they were destined
to suffer from those tender mercies of British and Tories, which had
written their chronicles in blood and flame, wherever their footsteps
had gone before. Bitter, indeed, was the medicine, to whom its taste
was new. But, as writes the venerable biographer, it was salutary in the
end. It strengthened their souls for the future trial. It made them more
resolute in the play. With their own houses in smoking ruins, and their
own wives and children homeless and wandering, they could better feel
what was due to the sufferings of their common country.
It was at sunset the next evening that Marion commenced his flight to
North Carolina. He kept with him only sixty men. The rest dropped off
by degrees as they approached their several hiding-places, lying snug,
until they again heard the signal of their commander,--frequently
nothing but a whisper,--which once more brought them forth, to turn the
pursuit upon their enemies and avenge themselves by sudden onslaught for
the ruin of their homesteads. On this retreat, Marion took with him the
two field-pieces which we found him placing in battery on the Pedee a
short time before. His desire to save these pieces was due rather to the
supposed effect which their possession had upon the minds of the Tories,
than because of any real intrinsic use which they possessed in his
hands. They encumbered his flight, however, and he disposed of them,
finally, without compunction. Wheeling them into a swamp he left them,
where, possibly, they remain to this day, the object of occasional start
and wonderment to the stalking deer-hunter. This, says Judge James, "was
the last instance of military parade evinced by the General." Marching
day and night he arrived at Amy's Mill, on Drowning Creek. From this
place, he sent forth his parties, back to South Carolina, to gain
intelligence and rouse the militia. He himself continued his march. He
pitched his camp finally, on the east side of the White Marsh, near
the head of the Waccamaw. There may have been a motive, other than the
desire for safety, which led Marion to choose and retain this position.
The borders of North Carolina swarmed with Tories, chiefly descendants
of the Scotch, who constituted, on frequent subsequent occasions, the
perplexing enemies with whom our partisan had to contend. It is not
improbable, though history does not declare the fact, that he chose the
present occasion for overawing the scattered parties, who were always
stretching with lawless footsteps from Cape Fear to the Great Pedee. It
was while he lay at this place, that the venerable Judge James, then a
boy of sixteen, had the honor, for the first time, to dine with Marion.
It was in the absence of Major James, the father of the boy, who was one
of the volunteers sent back to South Carolina. The artless description
which the Judge has given us of this event, so characteristic of Marion,
and of the necessities to which he was habitually compelled to submit,
will better please than a much more elaborate narrative.
"The dinner was set before the company by the General's servant, Oscar,
partly on a pine log and partly on the ground. It consisted of lean
beef, without salt, and sweet potatoes. The author had left a small pot
of boiled hominy in his camp, and requested leave of his host to send
for it, and the proposal was gladly acquiesced in. The hominy had
salt in it, and proved, though eaten out of the pot, a most acceptable
repast. The General said but little, and that was chiefly what a son
would be most likely to be gratified by, in the praise of his father. We
had nothing to drink but bad water; and all the company appeared to be
rather grave."
That the party should be rather grave, flying from their homes and a
superior foe, eating unsalted pottage, and drinking bad water, was,
perhaps, natural enough. That this gravity should appear doubly
impressive to a lad of sixteen, in a presence which he was taught to
venerate, was still more likely to be the case. But Marion, though a
cheerful man, wore ordinarily a grave, sedate expression of countenance.
Never darkened by gloom, it was seldom usurped by mere merriment. He had
no uproarious humor. His tastes were delicate, his habits gentle, his
sensibilities warm and watchful. At most a quiet smile lighted up his
features, and he could deal in little gushes of humor, of which there
was a precious fountain at the bottom of his heart. That he was capable
of a sharp sarcasm, was also generally understood among his friends.
Horry remarks, that few men ever excelled him at retort. But he was
singularly considerate of the sensibilities of others, and had his
temper under rare command. His powers of forbearance were remarkable.
His demeanor, whether in triumph or despondency, was equally quiet and
subdued. He yielded to few excitements, was seldom elevated by successes
to imprudence--as seldom depressed by disappointments to despondency.
The equable tone of his mind reminds us again of Washington.
It was while Marion remained at White Marsh, that one of his captains,
Gavin Witherspoon, whom he had sent out with four men, achieved one of
those clever performances, that so frequently distinguished the men
of Marion. He had taken refuge in Pedee Swamp from the pursuit of the
enemy, and, while hiding, discovered one of the camps of the Tories who
had been in pursuit of him. Witherspoon proposed to his four comrades
to watch the enemy's camp, until the Tories were asleep. But his men
timidly shrunk from the performance, expressing their dread of superior
numbers. Witherspoon undertook the adventure himself. Creeping up to the
encampment, he found that they slept at the butt of a pine tree, which
had been torn up by the roots. Their guns were piled against one of its
branches at a little distance from them. These he first determined
to secure, and, still creeping, with the skill and caution of an
experienced scout, he succeeded in his object. The guns once in his
possession, he aroused the Tories by commanding their surrender. They
were seven in number, unarmed, and knew nothing of the force of the
assailant. His own more timid followers drew near in sufficient time
to assist in securing the prisoners. There was another Witherspoon with
Marion, John, a brother of Gavin, and like him distinguished for great
coolness, strength, and courage. Both of the brothers delighted in such
adventures, and were always ready to engage in them,--the rashness
of the attempt giving a sort of relish to the danger, which always
sweetened it to the taste of our partisans.
The return of the various scouting parties which Marion sent out, soon
set his little brigade in motion. The intelligence which they brought
was well calculated to sting his soldiers, as well as himself, into
immediate activity. The medicine which the British had administered to
the country they abandoned, had not been suffered to lose any of its
bitterness. As had been feared, the Tories had laid waste the farms
and plantations. The region through which Major Wemyss had passed, for
seventy miles in length and fifteen in breadth, displayed one broad face
of desolation. It had been swept by sword and fire. Havoc had exercised
its most ingenious powers of destruction. On most of the plantations the
houses were given to the flames, the inhabitants plundered of all their
possessions, and the stock, especially the sheep, wantonly shot or
bayoneted. Wemyss seems to have been particularly hostile to looms and
sheep, simply because they supplied the inhabitants with clothing. He
seldom suffered the furniture to be withdrawn from a dwelling which he
had doomed to be destroyed: Presbyterian churches he burnt religiously,
as so many "sedition-shops". It was fortunate for the wretched country,
thus ravaged, that the corn was not generally housed; it was only in
part destroyed. Had the Tories played the same game in the cornfields
of the patriots, that Grant's men had done in those of the Cherokees,
as recorded in an early page of this volume,* the devastation would have
been complete. They had not limited their proceedings to these minor
crimes. They had added human butchery and hanging to those other
offences for which vengeance was in store. The wife and children of one
Adam Cusack, threw themselves across the path of Wemyss to obtain the
pardon of the husband and the father. The crime of Cusack was in having
taken arms against the enemy. Their prayers were in vain. But for the
interference of his own officers, the ruthless Briton would have ridden
over the kneeling innocents. This was not the only savage murder of
the same description which this wretched people had to endure. But such
atrocities were sharp medicines, benefits in disguise, good against
cowardice, selfishness, double-dealing, and deficient patriotism. They
worked famously upon the natives, while they proved the invader to be as
little capable of good policy, as of ordinary humanity. They roused the
spirit of the militia, whet their anger and their swords together, and,
by the time that Marion reappeared, they were ready for their General.
He asked for nothing more. He re-entered South Carolina by a forced
march. Travelling night and day, he hurried through the Tory settlements
on Little Pedee, a space of sixty miles, on the second day of his
journey. At Lynch's Creek he was joined by Captains James and Mouzon,
with a considerable body of men. He was prepared to give them instant
employment. Major Wemyss had retired to Georgetown, but Marion was
advised of a large body of Tories at Black Mingo, fifteen miles below,
under the command of Capt. John Coming Ball. Marion was in expectation,
every moment, of additional troops, but he determined not to wait for
them. He found his men in the proper mood for fight, and at such times
small inequalities of force are not to be regarded. He resolved to
give the humor vent, and at once commenced his march for the enemy's
encampment. He found the Tories strongly posted at Shepherd's Ferry,
on the south side of the Black Mingo, on a deep navigable stream, the
passage of which they commanded. There was but one other approach to
them, about a mile above their position, through a boggy causeway, and
over a bridge of planks. It was nearly midnight when Marion's troops
reached this pass. While the horses were crossing the bridge, an
alarm-gun was heard from the Tory camp. Celerity now became as necessary
to success as caution, and Marion ordered his men to follow him at full
gallop. When they reached the main road, about three hundred yards from
the enemy, the whole force, with the exception of a small body acting
as cavalry, dismounted. A body of picked men, under Captain Waties, was
ordered down the road to attack Dollard's house, where the Tories had
been posted. Two companies, under Col. Hugh Horry, were sent to the
right, and the cavalry to the left, to support the attack, Marion
himself bringing up the reserve. It so happened, however, that the
Tories had taken the alarm, and having withdrawn from the house, had
chosen a strong position in an old field near it. Here they encountered
Horry's command, on the advance, with a fire equally severe and
unexpected. The effect was that of a surprise upon the assailants.
Horry's troops fell back in confusion, but were promptly rallied and
brought to the charge. The battle was obstinate and bloody, but the
appearance of the corps under Waties, suddenly, in the rear of the
Tories, soon brought it to a close. Finding themselves between two
fires, the enemy gave way in all directions, and fled for refuge to the
neighboring swamp of Black Mingo. So warmly contested was this affair,
that, though soon over, fully one third of the men brought into the
field were put 'hors de combat'. The loss of Marion was proportionably
very considerable. Captain Logan was among his slain; and Captain Mouzon
and Lieut. Scott so severely wounded as to be unfit for future service.
The force of the Tories was almost twice as great as that of the Whigs.
They lost their commander, and left nearly half their number, killed and
wounded, on the ground. But for the alarm given by the tread of Marion's
horses, while crossing the neighboring bridge, the Tories would most
probably have been surprised. At any rate, the affair would have been
settled without subjecting the brigade to the severe loss which it
sustained. After this event Marion adopted the precaution, whenever
about to cross a bridge by night, with an enemy near, to cover the
planks with the blankets of his men. But he generally preferred fords,
where they could possibly be had, to bridges.
* See ante, pp. 50-52 [End of Chapter 4].--
This victory was very complete. Many of the Tories came in, and joined
the ranks of the conqueror. Those who did not, were quite too much
confounded to show much impatience in taking up arms against him. His
uniform successes, whenever he struck, had already strongly impressed
the imaginations of the people. His name was already the rallying word
throughout the country. To join Marion, to be one of Marion's men,
was the duty which the grandsire imposed upon the lad, and to the
performance of which, throwing aside his crutch, he led the way.
We have already shown why the force of Marion was so liable to
fluctuation. The necessity of providing for, and protecting destitute
families, starving wives and naked children, was more imperative than
that of a remote and fancied liberty. These cases attended to, the
militia came forth, struck a few blows, and once more returned to their
destitute dependents. The victory over the Tories of Black Mingo, was,
from this cause, followed by a more than usually prolonged inactivity of
our partisan. His men demanded a respite to go and see their families.
He consented, with some reluctance, for the business of the campaign was
only beginning to open itself before him. They promised him, as usual,
to return in season; but remained so long absent, that, for the first
time, he now began to doubt and despair of them. This feeling was not
natural with him. It was probably only due now to some derangement
of his own health, some anxiety to achieve objects which presented
themselves prominently to his mind. He had probably heard of the advance
of General Greene, who, having succeeded to Gates, was pressing forward
with fresh recruits, and the remnant of the fugitives who survived, in
freedom, the fatal battle of Camden. A laudable anxiety to be active at
such a time, to show to the approaching Continentals that there was a
spirit in the State which they came to succor, of which the most happy
auguries might be entertained, prompted his morbid impatience at the
long delay of his absentees. There were other causes which led him to
feel this delay more seriously now than at other times. The Tories were
again gathering in force around him. Under these circumstances, and with
these feelings, he consulted with his officers whether they should not
leave the State and join the approaching army of Greene. Hugh Horry
counselled him strenuously against it. His counsel was seconded by the
rest. They prevailed with him. It was fortunate that they did so; for
the great efficiency of Marion was in the independence of his command.
While the matter was yet in debate, the militia began to reappear. He
had not sufficiently allowed for their exigencies, for the scattered
homes and hiding-places of famishing hundreds, living on precarious
supplies, in swamp and thicket. How could he reproach them--fighting
as they were for love of country only, and under such privations--that
country yielding them nothing, no money, no clothes, no provisions,--for
they were nothing but militia. They were not enrolled on the Continental
pay list. That they should seek the field at all, thus circumstanced,
will be ever a wonder to that class of philosophers who found their
systems upon the simple doctrine of human selfishness.
True to their chief, he rejoiced once more in their fidelity; and,
marching into Williamsburg, he continued to increase his numbers with
his advance. His present object was the chastisement of Col. Harrison,
who was in force upon Lynch's Creek; but his progress in this direction
was suddenly arrested by his scouts, who brought him tidings of large
gatherings of Tories in and about Salem and the fork of Black River.
In this quarter, one Colonel Tynes had made his appearance, and had
summoned the people generally, as good subjects of his majesty, to
take the field against their countrymen. It was necessary to check this
rising, and to scatter it before it gained too much head; to lessen
the influence of Tynes and his party, over those who were doubtful, and
afford the friends of the patriots an opportunity to come out on the
proper side. There were other inducements to the movement. Col. Tynes
had brought with him from Charleston, large supplies of the materials of
war and comfort--commodities of which the poor patriots stood grievously
in need. They hungered at the tidings brought by the scouts, of new
English muskets and bayonets, broad-swords and pistols, saddles and
bridles, powder and ball, which the provident Colonel had procured from
Charleston for fitting out the new levies. To strike at this gathering,
prevent these new levies, and procure the supplies which were designed
for them, were controlling objects to which all others were made to
yield. The half naked troops of the brigade found new motives to valor
in the good things which the adventure promised. Tynes lay at Tarcote,
in the forks of Black River, and, as Marion was advised, without
exercising much military watchfulness. The head of his column was
instantly turned in this direction. Crossing the lower ford of the
northern branch of Black River, at Nelson's plantation, he came upon the
camp of Tynes at midnight. A hurried, but satisfactory survey, revealed
the position of the enemy. No preparation had been made for safety,
no precautions taken against attack. Some of the Tories slept, others
feasted, and others were at cards--none watched. Marion made his
arrangements for the attack without obstacle or interruption. The
surprise was complete,--the panic universal. A few were slain, some with
the cards in their hands. Tynes, with two of his officers, and many
of his men, were made prisoners, but the greater number fled. Few were
slain, as scarcely any resistance was offered, and Tarcote Swamp was
fortunately nigh to receive and shelter the fugitives, many of whom
shortly after made their appearance and took their places in the ranks
of the conqueror. Marion lost not a man. The anticipations of his people
were gratified with the acquisition of no small store of those supplies,
arms and ammunition, of which they had previously stood in so much need.
These spirited achievements, however small, were so cleverly executed,
so unexpectedly, and with such uniform success, as to occasion a
lively sensation through the country. Hope everywhere began to warm the
patriots of the State, bringing courage along with it. The effect upon
the enemy, of an opposite temper and tendency, was quite as lively.
Cornwallis, whom we have already seen urging Tarleton to the pursuit of
our partisan, frankly acknowledged his great merits, and was heard to
say that "he would give a good deal to have him taken."* His language
to Sir Henry Clinton, in a letter dated from his camp at Winnsborough,
December 3d, 1780, of a different tone, indeed, was of like tenor. It
spoke for the wonderful progress and influence of our hero--a progress
and influence not to be understood by the reader, from the meagre
account which we are enabled to give of the battles, skirmishes and
happy stratagems, in which his men were constantly engaged. Cornwallis
writes,--"Col. Marion had so wrought on the minds of the people, partly
by the terror of his threats and cruelty of his punishments, and partly
by the promise of plunder, that THERE WAS SCARCELY AN INHABITANT BETWEEN
THE SANTEE AND PEDEE, THAT WAS NOT IN ARMS AGAINST US. SOME PARTIES HAD
EVEN CROSSED THE SANTEE, AND CARRIED TERROR TO THE GATES OF CHARLESTON."
* Moultrie's Memoirs.--
Where his lordship speaks of the successes of Marion, his great
influence over the people, and the audacity with which they urged their
progress through all parts of that section of country, which had been
yielded to his control by Governor Rutledge, his statement is true to
the very letter. It sums up very happily the results of his activity
and conduct. But, when his lordship alleges cruelty and threats, and the
hopes of plunder, as the means by which these results were produced,
we meet his assertion with very flat denial. All the testimonies of the
time, but his own, show that, in this respect, he wandered very widely
from the truth. No single specification of cruelty was ever alleged
against the fair fame of Francis Marion. His reputation, as a humane
soldier, is beyond reproach, and when questioned, always challenged
and invited investigation. The charge made by Cornwallis was urged by
Lt.-Col. Balfour, commandant of Charleston, in a correspondence with
General Moultrie. The latter answered it in a frank and confident
manner, which showed what he thought of it. "I am sorry," he writes to
Balfour, "to hear that General Marion should use his prisoners ill. IT
IS CONTRARY TO HIS NATURAL DISPOSITION: I KNOW HIM TO BE GENEROUS AND
HUMANE."*1* He adds elsewhere: "General Marion always gave orders to his
men that there should be no waste of the inhabitants' property, and
no plundering."*2* Marion had lived in the family of Moultrie,*3* had
repeatedly served under him, and if any man knew thoroughly his true
disposition, the hero of Fort Sullivan was certainly that man. But
the testimony of all who knew him was to the same effect. Indeed, the
gentleness of his nature made him a favorite wherever known. Touching
the lessons and hopes of plunder, which his men are said to have
received, this scarcely requires any answer. We have seen, and shall see
hereafter, the state of poverty and privation in which the brigade of
Marion subsisted. A few little facts will better serve to show what
their condition was. During the whole period in which we have seen him
engaged, and for some months later, Marion himself, winter and summer,
had slept without the luxury of a blanket. He had but one, on taking
command of the "Brigade", and this he lost by accident. Sleeping
soundly, after one of his forced marches, upon a bed of pine straw, it
took fire, his blanket was destroyed, and he himself had an escape
so narrow, that one half of the cap he wore was shrivelled up by the
flames. His food was hominy or potatoes; his drink vinegar and water, of
which he was fond. He had neither tea nor coffee, and seldom tasted wine
or spirits. And this moderation was shown at a time when he held in his
possession a power from Governor Rutledge, to impress and appropriate
whatever he thought necessary to his purposes.*4* The charge against
him of cruelty and plunder is perfectly absurd, and rests on the vague
assertions of an enemy, who specifies no offence and offers no sort
of evidence. It was but natural that such charges should be made by
an astonished and disappointed foe--natural that the conqueror should
ascribe to any but the right cause the reluctance of a people to submit
to a monstrous usurpation, and their anxiety to avail themselves, by
the presence of a favorite leader, of a principle and prospects to which
their affections were really surrendered. Could the British commanders
in America have really been brought to admit that the affections of the
people were not with their sovereign, the war must have found a finish
much sooner than it did. Their hopes were built upon this doubt; and
hence their anxiety to show the coercive measures of the chieftains
by whom this control, adverse to their wishes, was maintained over the
minds of the people. The great influence of Marion was due to other
acts. It was by the power of love, and not of terror, that he managed
his followers. They loved him for himself, and loved his cause for their
country. His rare command of temper, his bland, affectionate manner, his
calm superiority, and that confidence in his courage and conduct, as a
leader, without which militia-men are never led to victory,--these were
the sources of his influence over them, and of their successes against
the enemy. It was through these that he "carried terror to the very
gates of Charleston." We shall see indeed, that, under Marion, the
militia were never conducted to defeat.
*1* Memoirs, vol. 2, p. 174.
*2* Moultrie, vol. 2, p. 236.
*3* MS. Memoirs of General Horry.
*4* James' Memoir, p. 122.--
Whatever may have been the causes of his victories, first over the minds
of his people, and next over their foes, the British found it necessary
that his influence should be restrained, and his farther progress
arrested. Cornwallis, as we have seen, was willing to "give a good deal
to have him taken." Tarleton is affectionately invoked to this pleasant
duty, by the sincere hope that he would "get at Mr. Marion." This,
however desirable, was no easy matter. Marion was a very "will o' the
wisp" in military affairs, almost as difficult to find, at times, by his
own followers, as by the enemy. He was the true model of a partisan in a
country, like ours, of swamp and thicket; leading the pursuing foe, like
Puck, "through bog and through briar," till he wearied out his patience,
exhausted his resources, and finally laid him open for defeat. He seldom
lingered long in any one spot, changing his ground frequently, with
Indian policy; his scouts, well chosen, were always on the alert; and,
by constant activity and enterprise, he not only baffled pursuit, but
deprived retreat of its usual mortifications. The employment which he
thus gave his men, not only hardened them against every turn of fortune,
but kept them always in good spirits.
Tarleton rose from a sick bed to undertake his capture. He had been
confined for some time in Charleston with fever. The first moment of
convalescence was seized upon for carrying into effect the wishes of
Cornwallis. He concerted his plans before he left the city. His legion,
which was at Camden, were instructed to meet him, while with a troop of
horse he set forward for some point upon the Wateree. From this point
he was to descend the Wateree in quest of our partisan. His plan of
pursuit, as furnished by his own pen, will be seen hereafter. Marion
was not unadvised of his progress, but, either from the rapidity of
Tarleton's movements, or some error in the report of his scouts, he
failed of success in the object which he aimed at. This was the capture
of Tarleton, while, with his troop of horse, he was on his way to join
the legion. With this object he pressed his march for Nelson's Ferry on
the Santee, and placed his men in ambush in the river swamp. He arrived
too late. Tarleton had already crossed fully two days before. Marion
passed the river in pursuit, advancing with some earnestness on the
footsteps of his foe, still under the impression that Tarleton was only
in command of the small troop with which he had marched from Charleston.
But the British commander had already effected the junction with his
legion, and was at hand in greater force than our partisan dreamed of.
At night, having reached a strong position in the woods, Marion was
taking his usual precautions for making his camp. He was suddenly struck
with a great light, seemingly at the plantation of General Richardson.
This awakened his anxieties, and led him at once to suspect the presence
of his enemy in that quarter. The progress of the British was thus
usually distinguished when they reached a settlement of the patriots.
The suspicions of Marion were soon confirmed by the arrival of Colonel
Richardson, from whom he learned that Tarleton was really at the
plantation, the fires of which he saw, in force with his whole legion,
and two field-pieces. The strength of the British was double his own,
and, to increase his anxieties, it was discovered that one of his
men,--probably one of the late converts, who had joined the ranks after
the defeat of Tynes,--had deserted to the enemy. In command of a force
so superior, and in possession of a guide well acquainted with the
country, Tarleton was too strong to be withstood. The position of Marion
was no longer safe. He at once fell back, and crossing in silence
and darkness a dense and gloomy swamp of vast extent, called the
"wood-yard", halted on Jack's creek, a distance of six miles from his
late encampment. This post was temporarily a secure one. Tarleton,
meanwhile, was conducted faithfully by the deserter into the
"wood-yard",--but the bird had flown. He pressed the pursuit the next
day, with that hot haste by which he was quite as much distinguished as
by his cruelties. But Marion knew his foe, and had already changed his
ground. Pushing his way through a wild extent of country, full of bogs
and swamps, he reached Benbow's Ferry, about ten miles above Kingstree,
where, taking a strong position, he resolved to defend himself. The
place was one with which himself and men were familiar. It was not only
eligible in itself, commanding the passage of the river, but it was one
in which defeat was not necessarily final. It had resources, and
means of rally, which are always important considerations to a militia
command. There were three difficult passes, through the swamp, in
Marion's rear, at each of which, if driven by the enemy, his men could
make a stubborn fight. His position taken, he proceeded promptly to
strengthen its natural defences by art. Trees were felled across the
track, and the post so improved as to reconcile the inequalities of
his own with the pursuing force of Tarleton. Had the latter made his
appearance, as Marion fully hoped and expected, the fatal rifles of
the "Brigade" thus planted, would have very quickly emptied his best
saddles. But the commander of the legion grew weary of the chase, at the
very moment when it halted to await him. Of the pursuit he has given
us a somewhat vainglorious description. He represents himself as
having been nearly successful, by means of his great adroitness and the
excellence of his strategy. He says--"According to the reports of the
country, General Marion's numbers were hourly increasing, which induced
Lt.-Col. Tarleton to move his corps, for a short time, in a very compact
body, lest the Americans should gain any advantage over patrols or
detachments. But as soon as he found that the account of numbers was
exaggerated, and that the enemy declined an engagement, he divided his
corps into several small parties, publishing intelligence that each
was on patrol, and that the main body of the King's troops had
countermarched to Camden. Notwithstanding the divisions scattered
throughout the country, to impose upon the enemy, Lt.-Col. Tarleton took
care that no detachment should be out of the reach of assistance; and
that the whole formed after dark every evening a solid and vigilant
corps during the night. This stratagem had not been employed more
than three days, before General Marion was on the point of falling a
sacrifice to it. He advanced on the 10th before day, with five hundred
militia, to attack Lt.-Col. Tarleton (who had notice of his approach),
and arrived within two miles of his post, when a person of the name of
Richardson discovered to him his misconception of the British force."
But, as we have seen, Marion's advance upon Tarleton was only the
continuation of the pursuit which he began under the impression that
the latter was still forcing his way to Camden with the small force
with which he had crossed the Santee. Of the descent of the legion from
above, he knew nothing, and the three days' strategy of Tarleton were
wasted upon him. The caution of the British Colonel in all this time
might have been spared. It influenced the course of Marion in no
respect. We have seen that, when the latter discovered his enemy, it was
before day had closed, and not just before day. We have also seen that
Tarleton's own bonfires had already revealed the secret of his presence,
in strength, to his wary antagonist. If Col. Richardson had never
entered the camp of Marion, the blazing dwellings of the Richardson
family would have led to such precautions, on the side of the partisan,
as must have effectually baffled the objects of the British Colonel.
This indulgence in the usual British passion for burning the homesteads
of women and children, which Tarleton could not resist, even though
his immediate aim required the utmost watchfulness and secrecy, at once
revealed to Marion not only that his enemy was there, but that he
was there, with a force, in the strength of which he had the utmost
confidence. It is not to be supposed that a small detachment, a scouting
party of horse, a troop sent out for intelligence,--such as the British
Colonel represents his several parties to have been, when his force was
broken up in detail, to beguile the partisan,--would be likely to commit
such excesses as to draw the eye of the country suddenly upon them, at
a time, too, when a wary adversary was within two miles with a force of
five hundred men.
Tarleton proceeds: "A pursuit was immediately commenced, and continued
for seven hours, through swamps and defiles. Some prisoners fell into
the possession of the legion dragoons, who gained ground very fast, and
must soon have brought the enemy to action, when an express from Earl
Cornwallis, who had followed the tracks of the march, recalled Lt.-Col.
Tarleton."
Such is the British narrative. We have reason to think it faulty in
several respects. We doubt that it was the express of Earl Cornwallis
that arrested the pursuit of our Legionary Colonel. We are disposed to
ascribe it to his own weariness of the game. The dispatch of Cornwallis
to which he refers, was dated at Winnsboro' on the 9th of the month.
It was on the night of the 10th, as we see by Tarleton's own statement,
that he commenced the close and earnest pursuit of Marion. The distance
from Winnsboro' to the 'wood-yard', even allowing that the instincts and
information of the express should bring him directly upon the trail of
the Legion, would have employed him fully two days to overcome. These
two days would have brought him to the close of the twelfth, up to which
period, had Tarleton continued the chase, he might have enjoyed the
satisfaction of shaking hands with his antagonist in his defences at
Benbow's Ferry. There, at the first proper position in which he might,
with any hopes of success, oppose his adversary, had Marion taken
his stand. There, having entrenched himself, he was busy in bringing
together his forces. "Had Tarleton," says Judge James, "proceeded with
his jaded horses to Benbow's, he would have exposed his force to such
sharp shooting as he had not yet experienced, and that in a place where
he could not have acted with either his artillery or cavalry."
But Tarleton had tired of the adventure. After a pursuit of twenty-five
miles, he found his progress arrested by a swamp, wide and deep,
through which his eye could discern no beaten road. But this should have
discouraged no resolute commander, having his enemy before him. Marion
had already preceded him in the passage, and was then within ten miles,
awaiting his approach. He could have reached him in three hours, and
four might have sufficed for the march and conflict. The express
of Cornwallis might have yielded that time, since it was not on the
necessity of the Earl that he had written. Tarleton insinuates that the
sole desire of Marion was to save himself. Now, one fact will suffice to
show the incorrectness of this notion. For a distance of twelve miles
on his retreat, the course of the partisan skirted the south branch of
Black River. He could, at any time and in a few minutes, have plunged
into it, and no regular body of cavalry could have followed him.
Besides, so close, we are told, was the pursuit, that the dragoons
were taking prisoners. The enemy must have been overtaken, but for the
express. Under such circumstances it seems strange that Tarleton should
show such singular deference to the express as to forbear the blow, when
his sabre was already uplifted, and one of his most troublesome enemies
was actually beneath it. It is scarcely possible that, with his dragoons
so close on the heels of the fugitives and informed by prisoners of
the proximity of his foe, he should not have heard that he was finally
posted and in waiting for him. We will suppose, however, that he did
not. He turned the head of his column at the very moment when his object
was attainable. Popular tradition represents him as expressing himself
discouraged at the sight of Ox swamp, and exclaiming, "Come, my boys!
let us go back. We will soon find the 'Game Cock' (meaning Sumter), but
as for this d----d 'Swamp Fox', the devil himself could not catch him."
From this speech of Tarleton, we are given to understand that the two
popular names were derived, by which Sumter and Marion were ever after
known by their followers.
Tarleton gained nothing by the pursuit of his wily antagonist. Marion
remained in perfect mastery over the whole territory which he had been
wont to overrun, with a strength somewhat increased by the fact that
he had succeeded in baffling and eluding the attempts of one who had
hitherto been successful in all his enterprises. From this moment the
career of Tarleton ceased to be fortunate. His failure to capture Marion
was the first in a long train of disappointments and disasters, some of
which were also attended by the most disgraceful and humbling defeats.