[Illustration: 9772]
HE season of repose enjoyed by Charleston after the invasion of Prevost
was brief. When the hot summer months had passed away, both parties
commenced preparations for a vigorous autumn campaign--the British to
maintain their position and extend their conquests, if possible; the
Americans to drive the invaders from the Southern States, or, at least,
to confine them to the sea-ports of Savannah and St. Augustine. The fall
of Savannah was a disastrous event. It was the initial step in those
strides of power which the royal army made a few months later, when
Charleston fell, when the patriot army of the South was crushed, and
when the civil institutions of South Carolina and Georgia, established
by the Republicans, were prostrated at the feet of the conquerors.
During the winter preceding the siege of Charleston, Lincoln's army
had dwindled to a handful, chiefly on account of the termination of the
enlistments, and the hesitation of the militia when, called to service,
because of the defeat at Savannah and the apparent hopelessness of
further resistance.
[Illustration: 8772]
The prison-ships at Savannah were crowded with the captives of the
Georgia regiments, and the heel of British power, planted firmly upon
the patriots of that state, made the Loyalists bold and active. All
along the Southern frontier of South Carolina the voice of rebellion was
subdued to a whisper, and a fearful cloud of hostile savages, gathered
by the emissaries of the crown, frowned sullenly and threatening upon
her western borders; while within her bosom, bands of unprincipled
Tories, encouraged by others more respectable but passive, were
endeavoring, by menaces and promises, to sap the foundation of
Republican strength. Such was the condition of South Carolina when
a British fleet, under Admiral Arbuthnot, bearing five thousand land
troops, commanded by Sir Henry Clinton,1 appeared off Edisto Inlet,
within thirty miles of Charleston, toward the close of the winter of
1780.[[Feb. 10, 1780]]
They came to subjugate the whole South, the chief feature in the
programme of operations for that year.
The Assembly of South Carolina was in session when the enemy appeared.
Governor Rutledge was immediately clothed with the powers of supreme
dictator, and with judgment
* Henry Clinton, K. B., was a son of George Clinton, governor of New
York in 1743, and grandson of the Earl of Lincoln. He served in the
British army on the Continent, during the Seven Years' War, and came to
America with General Howe in the spring of 1775, bearing the commission
of a major general. He was distinguished at the battle of Bunker Hill;
commanded in New York, and operated against the forts among the Hudson
Highlands in 1777; and in 1778, succeeded Sir William Howe in the
supreme command. After he evacuated Philadelphia, he went to New York,
where he continued his head-quarters until he left the country, in 1782.
He was appointed governor of Gibraltar in 1795, and died there on the
twenty-seeond of December, the same year. His signature is printed on
page 350.
[[[Tardiness of ihe Militia.--Clinton's Mistake.--Charleston
Strengthened.--Spaniards in Florida.]]]
{763}and vigor he exercised them for the defense of the capital. Yet he
did not accomplish much, for the militia were tardy in obeying his call
to hasten to the city. If Clinton had marched directly upon Charleston
when he landed his troops upon John's Island, he might have conquered
it within a week after his debarkation. * More cautious than wise, he
formed a depot at Wappoo, on James's Island, and tarried more than a
month in preparations for a siege.
General Lincoln was in Charleston with about fourteen hundred troops, a
large portion of them North Carolina levies, whose term of service was
almost expired. The finances of the state were in a wretched condition.
[Illustration: 9763]
The paper money was so rapidly diminishing, that it required seven
hundred dollars to purchase a pair of shoes; and in every department,
civil and military, the patriots were exceedingly weak. Lincoln's first
impulse was to evacuate the city, retire to the upper country, collect
a sufficient army, and then return and drive the invaders from it.
The tardy plans of Clinton changed Lincoln's views. Hoping for
re-enforcements, then daily expected, and also aid from the Spanish
West Indies, ** he resolved to maintain a siege. His first care was to
strengthen the works upon Charleston Neck, cast up the previous year
when Prevost menaced the town. Rutledge ordered three hundred negroes
to be brought from the neighboring plantations to work upon the
fortifications, and within a few days cannons and mortars were mounted;
a trench, filled with water, stretched across the Neck from the Ashley
to the Cooper, and two rows of _abatis_ protected the whole. Fort
Moultrie, the redoubts at Haddrell's Point and Hobcaw, the works
at South Bay, Hospital Point, and all along the city front, were
strengthened and manned. *** Charles Cotesworth Pinckney **** was
placed in command of the garrison at Fort Moultrie. Captain Daniel Horry
was sent to Ashley Ferry to watch the approach of the enemy, and General
Moultrie went southward to gather the militia, direct the movements ffi
the cavalry, and annoy the enemy on his approach.
* On the voyage from New York, one vessel, carrying heavy ordnance for
the siege, foundered and was lost, and nearly all the horses belonging
to the artillery and cavalry perished at sea. Immediately after landing,
Lieutenant-colonel Tarleton was ordered to obtain a fresh supply of
horses. This service he soon performed, bv seizing all that fell in his
way on the plantations upon the islands and the main, some of which were
paid for, and Some were not. The Whigs were not considered entitled
to any pay. Having mounted his cavalry, Tarleton joined a body of one
thousand men, under General Patterson, whom Clinton had ordered from
Savannah to re-enforce him.
** Spain was now at war with Great Britain, and willingly became a party
in our quarrel, with the hope, like France, of crippling English
power. When the approach of the British fleet was made known, Lincoln
dispatched a messenger to Havana to solicit material aid from the
Spanish governor. Direct assistance was refused, but the Spaniards
indirectly aided the Americans. When Clinton was preparing to march upon
Charleston, Don Bernardo de Galvez sailed from New Orleans to reduce
Fort Charlotte, an English post at Mobile. It surrendered to the
Spaniards on the fourteenth of March, 1781, and on the ninth of May,
Pensacola also bowed to Spanish domination. These successes placed the
two Floridas in possession of the Spaniards, except the strong fortress
of St. Augustine.
*** The lines of intrenchments were on the ridge of land whereon St.
Paul's Church, the Orphan House, the "Citadel" (a part of the old
works), and the Presbyterian church now stand.
**** Charles Cotesworth Pinckney was born in Charleston on the
twenty-fifth of February, 1746. At the age of seven years, he was taken
to England with his brother, Thomas, by their father (Chief-justice
Pinckney), where he was educated, and also studied law. In 1769 he
returned to Charleston, after visiting the Continent. In England he took
part against the Stamp Act with its opposers there, and, on reaching
his native country, he eagerly espoused the cause of the patriots. He
commenced the practice of law in 1770, and soon became eminent. When a
regiment was formed in Charleston in 1775, of which Gadsden was colonel,
Pinekney was appointed a captain, and was at Newborn for a while on
recruiting service. He was active in the defense of Charleston in 1776.
In 1778, he accompanied General Howe in his expedition to Florida.
He assisted in the repulse of Prevost in 1779. and in the defense
of Charleston in 1780. When the city fell, he became a prisoner, and
suffered much from sickness and cruel treatment. He was exchanged in
February, 1782, when the war was almost ended. He was soon afterward
raised to the brevet rank of brigadier. On the return of peace,
he resumed the practice of his profession. He was a member of the
convention which formed the Constitution of the United States.
Washington offered him a seat in his cabinet, which he declined, and
in 1796 he accepted the appointment of minister to the French Republic.
There he had a delicate duty to perform, and while in the midst of
personal peril in the French capital he uttered that noble sentiment.
"Millions fur defense, not one cent for tribute.'" In 1797, Mr. Pinckney
was appointed the second major general in the army under Washington, and
for many years he was an active politician. For about twenty-five
years he lived in elegant retirement, in the enjoyment of books and the
pleasures of domestic happiness. He died on the sixteenth of August,
1825, in the eightieth year of his age.
[[[Whipple's Flotilla.--Passage of the Ashley by the British.--British
Fleet in the Harbor.--Advance of Clinton]]]
{764}The little flotilla of Commodore Whipple, then in the harbor, was
ordered to oppose the passage of the British fleet over the bar, but
his vessels were small and thinly manned, and little reliance was placed
upon them. The inhabitants viewed the gathering dangers with increasing
alarm. Knowing the weakness of Lincoln's army, and desirous of
saving it, as their only hope for the future, the citizens advised
an evacuation before it should be too late. Lincoln, hourly expecting
re-enforcements, was hopeful, and expressing a belief that he might
maintain a siege, or leave at a future time, if necessary, he resolved
to remain, at the same time taking measures for keeping open a
communication with the country toward the Santee.
On the twenty-eighth of March the royal army crossed the Stono, marched
to the Ashley, at Old Town (the site of ancient Charleston), and there
crossed that stream toward evening. They had strengthened Fort Johnson,
cast up intrenchments along the Ashley to confront those of the
Americans upon the opposite shore, and galleys were in motion to enter
the harbor and anchor in the Ashley. The army moved slowly down the
Neck, and on Sunday morning, the first of April, broke ground within
eleven hundred yards of the American works, then defended by about
eighty cannons and mortars. They were annoyed all the way by a parly of
light horsemen under Lieutenant-colonel John Laurens, and lost between
twenty and thirty men in the skirmishes.
Admiral Arbuthnot entered the harbor on the twentieth of March with his
smaller vessels and transports, drove Whipple with his little fleet
from Five Fathom Hole, and while exposed to an enfilading fire from Fort
Moultrie, * sailed near to James s Island and anchored under the guns
of Fort Johnson, within cannon shot of the town. Pinckney hoped that
Whipple would retard the British vessels, and allow him to batter them,
as Moultrie did four years before; but the commodore, with prudent
caution, retreated to the mouth of the Cooper River, and sunk most of
his own and some merchant vessels between the town and Shute's Folly
(marked boom on the opposite map), and thus formed an effectual bar to
the passage of British vessels up the channel to rake the American
works upon the Neck. Clinton advanced to Hamstead Hill on the
fifth,[[April,1780]] and in the face of a sharp fire, erected a battery
and mounted twelve cannons upon it. He and
Arbuthnot now demanded an immediate surrender of the town and garrison.
Brigadier Woodford had just arrived with seven hundred Virginians, and
reported others on their way. The citizens urged Lincoln to maintain a
siege, for rumors had come that large numbers were pressing forward from
the North to the relief of the city. Thus strengthened by fresh troops
*** and public opinion, Lincoln assured the besiegers that he should
continue his defense until the last extremity. Forty-eight hours
elapsed, when Clinton opened his bat-
* In this passage the British lost twenty-seven seamen killed, and a
transport which ran aground and was burned by its crew.
* Woodford had marched five hundred miles within twenty-eight days. On
the day of his arrival the terms of enlistment of about seven hundred
North Carolinians expired, and they all went home at an hour when they
were most needed.
[[[Attack upon Charleston--Surprise of Huger.--Arrival of
Cornwallis.--Proposed Surrender rejected.]]]
{765}teries upon the town and fortifications, and a terrible cannonade
from both parties was kept up from that time until the twentieth.
When the British were about to open their batteries, Governor Rutledge,
leaving the civil power in the hands of his lieutenant Gadsden, went
into the country, between the Cooper and Santee Rivers, to arouse the
militia and keep a communication open with the town in that direction.
[9775]
Lincoln sent his cavalry (about three hundred men), with General Isaac
Huger in command, to watch the country in the vicinity of the head
waters of the Cooper River. Led through the woods by a negro, Tarleton,
with his legion cavalry, fell upon Huger at Biggin Bridge, near Monk's
Coiner, at dawn on the fourteenth of April, and scattered his troops,
who were unsuspicious of danger. Twenty-five Americans were killed;
the remainder fled to the swamps. Tarleton secured almost three hundred
horses, and then scouring the country between the Cooper and Wando,
returned in triumph to the British camp.
Four days after the surprise of Huger,[[April 18]] Cornwallis arrived at
Charleston with three thousand troops from New York. Thus strengthened,
Clinton enlarged the area of his operations. Detachments were sent
into the country, and drove the Americans back. Governor Rutledge was
compelled to flee higher up the Santee; Haddrell's Point was taken
possession of and fortified; supplies from the surrounding country were
cut off, and every avenue for escape seemed closed. Lincoln called a
council of war,[[April 21]] and an attempted retreat to the open country
was proposed. The inhabitants objected, because they feared the invading
army was too exasperated by the obstinate defense already made, to spare
them in person and property. With rapine and pillage before them, they
implored Lincoln to remain. Terms of capitulation, which allowed the
army to withdraw to the interior, and the property of the citizens to be
undisturbed, were agreed upon and proposed to Clinton. Clinton would not
acquiesce, and the terrible work of siege went on. The Americans made
but one sortie, and that did not seriously damage the British or impede
their progress, * and on the sixth of May ** the besiegers completed
* At daybreak on the twenty-fourth of April, a party under
Lieutenant-colonel Henderson made a sortie, surprised a British picket,
and with the bayonet killed about twenty of them. Twelve were made
prisoners. Captain Moultrie, a brother of the general, was killed, and
two other Americans were wounded.
** This day was marked by disasters to the Americans. On that morning,
Colonel Anthony Walton White, of New Jersey, with the collected remnant
of Huger's cavalry, had crossed the Santee and captured a small party of
British. While waiting at Lanneau's Ferry for boats to recross the
river with his prisoners, a Tory informed Cornwallis of his situation.
Tarleton was detached with a party of horse to surprise White, and was
successful. A general rout of the Americans ensued. About thirty of
them were killed, wounded, or captured, and the prisoners were retaken.
Lieutenant-colonel Washington, with Major Jamieson and a few privates,
escaped by swimming the Santee. Major Call and seven others fought their
way through the British cavalry, and escaped. At noon on the same
day, the British flag was seen waving over Fort Moultrie, the little
garrison, under Lieutenant-colonel Scott, having been obliged to
surrender to Captain Charles Hudson, of the British Navy.
[[[Continuance of the Siege.--Perils in the City]]]
{766}their third parallel, and in the face of a heavy fire raised
redoubts nearer and nearer the American lines. *
Now fully prepared to storm the town by sea and land, Clinton and
Arbuthnot again demanded a surrender. The situation of the Americans was
deplorable. The garrison consisted of less than three thousand men, a
large portion of them raw militia; provisions of all kinds were becoming
scarce, and the Loyalists in the city were fomenting disaffection among
the distressed inhabitants. The engineers asserted that the lines could
not be defended ten days longer, and that they might be carried by
assault in ten minutes. Bombs and carcasses were falling in every part
of the city with destructive effect, killing women and children, and
setting houses on fire; and the town militia, in utter despair, had
thrown down their arms.
[Illustration: 9776]
Further resistance seemed foolish and inhuman, for success was hardly
possible, and lives and property were hourly sacrificed. The citizens,
appalled by the destructive agencies at work around them, worn out by
want of sleep and anxiety, and coveting any condition other than the
one they were enduring, now expressed their willingness to treat for a
surrender. A flag was sent out, and Clinton's ultimatum was received. He
demanded the surrender of the garrison and the citizens as prisoners of
war, with all the forts and other works, and their appliances, together
with the shipping that remained in the harbor. He would promise nothing
except that the town property of those within the lines should remain
unmolested, and that all prisoners should be paroled. A truce until the
next day[[May 9, 1780]] was asked by the besieged, and was allowed,
when Lincoln again refused compliance with Clinton's demands. At eight
o'clock in the evening the firing commenced again. It was a fearful
night in Charleston. The thunder of two hundred cannons shook the city
like the power of an earthquake, and the moon, then near its full,
with the bright stars, were hidden by the lurid smoke. Shells were seen
coursing in all directions, some bursting in mid air, others falling
upon houses and in the streets, and in five different places the flames
of burning buildings simultaneously shot up from the depths of the city.
"It appeared," says Moultrie, alluding to the bomb-shells, "as if the
stars were tumbling down. The fire was incessant almost the whole
night; cannon-balls whizzing and shells hissing continually among
us; ammunition chests and temporary magazines blowing up; great guns
bursting, and wounded men groaning along the lines; it was a dreadful
night!" The cannonade was continued all the next day and part of the
night, and many Americans were killed by the passage of balls through
the embrasures of their batteries. Sand-bags were freely used for
protection, but these were swept away, until at several points the
besieged were obliged to abandon their works and withdraw. Arbuthnot now
prepared to bombard the town from the water, and the batteries at Fort
Johnson and at Wappoo hurled round shot into the streets. **
At two o'clock on the morning of the eleventh,[[May 1780]]
Lieutenant-governor Gadsden, the council, and many leading citizens,
requested Lincoln to signify his agreement to Clinton's proposed terms
of surrender, if better could not be obtained. A signal
* Clinton's nearest battery in making this approach was on the lot in
Mary Street, formerly used as the lower rail-way depot, and long known,
according to Johnson, as the Fresh-water Pond. This redoubt was several
times demolished by the American cannons, and rebuilt during the
siege.--Johnson's Traditions, &o., 248.
** One of these shots demolished an arm of Pitt's statue, as mentioned
on page 748.
[[[Cessation of Hostilities.--Capitulation and Surrender.--_Cruel
Proclamation.--_The French Fleet]]]
{767}was given, the firing ceased, and before dawn all the guns were
quiet. Articles of capitulation were agreed to, and signed by the
respective commanders, and by Christopher Gadsden in behalf of the
citizens. * Between eleven and twelve o'clock on the twelfth of May,
the Continental troops marched out with the Turk's march, and laid down
their arms, after a gallant and desperate defense of about forty days.
General Leslie immediately marched in and took possession of the town.
Great skill and courage were brought to bear upon the patriots during
the siege, and never was a defense more obstinate and heroic, and yet it
was not a bloody one. The loss on both sides in killed and wounded was
nearly equal; that of the Americans, exclusive of the inhabitants of
the town not bearing arms, was ninety-two killed, and one hundred
and forty-eight wounded. The British lost seventy-six killed, and one
hundred and eighty nine wounded. The number of prisoners, including the
inhabitants of the town, was between five and six thousand. About four
hundred cannons were a part of the spoils of victory. Thirty houses were
destroyed during the siege.
The fall of Charleston, and loss of Lincoln's army, paralyzed the
Republican strength at the South, and the British commanders confidently
believed that the finishing-stroke of the war had been given. Lincoln
suffered the infliction of unsparing censure, because he allowed himself
to be thus shut up in a town; but had he repulsed the enemy, or the
siege been raised, as at one time contemplated, *** the skill and wisdom
of his course would have exceeded all praise.
Sir Henry Clinton now proceeded to re-establish the civil power of Great
Britain in South Carolina. In proclamations, he made many promises of
benefits to the obedient, and menaced the refractory with the miseries
of confiscation of property and personal punishments. Finally, he
offered pardon[[June 1, 1780]] to all who should submit and crave it,
and promised political franchises such as the people had never enjoyed.
Lured by these promises, the timid and lukewarm flocked to Charleston,
took protection, and many entered the military service of the king. Two
hundred and ten influential citizens in Charleston agreed to an address
of congratulation on the restoration of order and the ancient bond of
union between the province and Great Britain. This movement, with the
hasty retreat northward of troops marching to the relief of Charleston,
and the destruction of Buford s command (see page 664) on the Waxhaw,
almost effaced every lineament of resistance in the South. As we have
seen, garrison's were posted in the interior, and the voice of rebellion
was hushed.
Clinton and Arbuthnot sailed for New York on the fifth of June, leaving
Cornwallis in chief command of the British troops at the South. Before
his departure, Clinton issued a proclamation, declaring all persons not
in the military service, who were made prisoners at Charleston, released
from their paroles, provided they returned to their allegiance as
subjects of Great Britain. So far, well; but not the sequel. All persons
refusing to comply with this requisition were declared to be _enemies
and rebels, and were to be treated accordingly._
* The terms of the capitulation were partly honorable and partly
humiliating. The town, fortifications and shipping, artillery and
stores, were to be given up; the Continental troops and sailors were to
be conducted to some place to be agreed upon, there to remain prisoners
of war until exchanged; the militia to be permitted to return home, as
prisoners of war, on parole, and to be secured from molestation as
long as they did not violate these paroles; the arms and baggage of the
officers and their servants were to be retained by them; the garrison
were to march out, and lay down their arms between the works and the
canal (at I, on the map, page 765), the drums not to beat a British
march, nor the colors to be uncased; the French consul, and French and
Spanish residents should be unmolested, but considered prisoners of war;
and that a vessel should convey a messenger to New York, that he might
carry dispatches to General Washington.
* Gordon, Ramsay, Moultrie, Marshall, Stedman, Lee, Tarleton.
** During the siege, Arbuthnot was informed that Admiral De Ternay was
approaching with a French fleet, direct from Newport, to aid Lincoln;
and on the very day when terms of surrender were agreed upon, the fear
of being blockaded in the harbor of Charleston made Arbuthnot resolve to
put to sea immediately. Ternay was certified of the surrender of Lincoln
while on his way, by the capture of a pilot-boat, bearing Clinton's
dispatches to Knyphausen, then in command at New York. These dispatches
informed Knyphausen of the fall of Charleston. Had Lincoln held out
another day, his army might have been saved, but he was not aware of the
approach of Ternay.
[[[Effect of Clinton's Proclamation.--Patriots sent to St.
Augustine.--Sufferings at Haddrell's Point.--Approach of Gates.]]]
{768}And more; they were required to enroll themselves as militia
under the king's standard. This flagrant violation of the terms of
capitulation aroused a spirit of indignant defiance, which proved
a powerful lever in overturning the royal power in the South. Many
considered themselves released from all the obligations of their
paroles, and immediately armed themselves in defense of their homes
and country, while others refused to exchange their paroles for any
new conditions. The silent influence of eminent citizens who took this
course was now perceived by Cornwallis, and, in further violation of the
conditions of capitulation, he sent many leading men of Charleston as
close prisoners to St. Augustine, [[Aug. 27, 1780]]while a large number
of the Continental soldiers were cast into the loathsome prison-ships,
and other vessels in the harbor. There they suffered all the horrors of
confined air, bad food, filth, and disease. It was to these that the
mother of President Jackson came, as an angel of mercy, with materials
of alleviation for the sufferers. But the camp and typhoid fevers, and
dysentery, swept off hundreds before the cruel hand of the oppressor
relinquished its grasp. Maddened by torture, and almost heart-broken on
account of the sufferings of their families, more than five hundred of
the soldiers who capitulated at Charleston agreed to enroll themselves
as royal militia, as the least of two present evils, and were sent to
do service in the British army in Jamaica. Of nineteen hundred prisoners
surrendered at Charleston, and several hundreds more taken at Camden and
Fishing Creek, only seven hundred and forty were restored to the service
of their country. **
A brief lull in the storm of parly strife and warring legions in South
Carolina succeeded the blow which smote down Republicanism; but when the
trumpet-blasts of the conqueror of Burgoyne were heard upon the Roanoke,
and the brave hearts of Virginia and North Carolina were gathering
around the standard of Gates, the patriots of the South lifted up their
heads, and many of them, like Samson rising in strength, broke the
feeble cords of "paroles" and "protections," and smote the Philistines
of the crown with mighty energy. Sumter sounded the bugle among the
hills on the Catawba and Broad Rivers; Marion's shrill whistle rang
amid the swamps on the Pedee; and Pickens and Clarke called forth the
brave sons of liberty upon the banks of the Saluda, the Savannah, the
Ogeechee, and the
* Lieutenant-governor Gadsden and seventy-seven other public and
influential men were taken from their beds by armed parties, before dawn
on the moraine of the twenty-seventh of August, hurried on board the
Sandwich prison-ship, without being allowed to bid adieu to their
families, and were conveyed to St. Augustine. The pretense for this
measure, by which the British authorities attempted to justify it, was
the false accusation that these men were concerting a scheme for burning
the town and massacring the loyal inhabitants! Nobody believed the tale,
and the act was made more flagrant by this wicked calumny. Arrived
at St. Augustine, the prisoners were offered paroles to enjoy liberty
within the precincts of the town. Gadsden, the sturdy patriot, refused
acquiescence, for he disdained making further terms with a power that did
not regard the sanctity of a solemn treaty. He was determined not to be
deceived a second time. "Had the British commanders," he said, "regarded
the terms of capitulation at Charleston, I might now, although a
prisoner, enjoy the smiles and consolations of my family under my own
roof; but even without a shadow of accusation preferred against me, for
any act inconsistent with my plighted faith, I am torn from them, and
here, in a distant land, invited to enter into new engagements. I will
give no parole." "Think better of it," said Governor Tonyn, who was in
command; "a second refusal of it will fix your destiny--a dungeon will
be your future habitation." "Prepare it, then," replied the inflexible
patriot. "I will give no parole, so help me God!" And the petty tyrant
did "prepare it;" and for forty-two weeks that patriot of almost
threescore years of age, never saw the light of the blessed sun, but
lay incarcerated in the dungeon of the Castle of St. Augustine. All the
other prisoners accepted paroles, but they were exposed to indignities
more harrowing to the sensitive soul than close confinement. When, in
June, 1781, they were exchanged, they were not allowed to even touch at
Charleston, but were sent to Philadelphia, whither their families had
been expelled when the prisoners were taken to the Sandwich. More than
a thousand persons were thus exiled, and husbands and wives, fathers
and children, first met in a distant state, after a separation of ten
months.
* The Continental prisoners kept at Haddrell's Point suffered terribly.
Many of them had been nurtured in affluence; now, far from friends and
destitute of hard money, they were reduced to the greatest straits.
During thirteen months' captivity, they received no more than nine days'
pay. They were not allowed to fish for their support, but were obliged
to perform the most menial services. Cornwallis finally ordered Balfour,
the commandant of Charleston, to send them to one of the West India
islands. The general exchange of prisoners which soon afterward took
place alone prevented the execution of this cruel order.
** Gordon, iii., 226.
[[[Marion at Charleston.--Formation of his Brigade.--His first
Expeditions.]]]
{769}Alatamaha. The noble deeds of these partisans; the efforts and
defeat of Gates; the successes of Greene and Morgan; and the brilliant
achievements of "Legion Harry Lee," the strong right arm of the Southern
army in the campaigns of 1781, we have considered in former chapters.
Let us here, from this commanding point of view, note those daring
exploits of _Marion and his men_ not already considered, and also
of their brave compatriots in their warfare in the vicinity of the
sea-coast.
Marion was elected a captain in Moultrie's second South Carolina
regiment, and, with his friend Peter Horry, received his commission on
the twentieth of June, 1775. These young officers, in new uniforms and
helmet-shaped leather caps, decorated with silver crescents inscribed
"Liberty or Death!" went out immediately upon the recruiting service on
the Black River and the Pedee, and every where excited the enthusiasm
of the people. Brave young patriots flocked around them, and in Fort
Sullivan, when its cannons shattered the fleet of Sir Peter Parker
in 1776, these stout hearts and hands received their first practical
lessons in defensive warfare. Already, as we have seen (page 751), they
had been efficient in capturing Fort Johnson, on James's Island,[[Sept.
14, 1775]] but here they participated in the severer duties of vigorous
conflict.
Fortunately for the Republican cause, an accident * prevented Marion
being among the prisoners when Charleston fell, and he was yet at
liberty, having no parole to violate, to arouse his countrymen to make
further efforts against the invaders. While yet unable to be active, he
took refuge in the swamps upon the Black River, while Governor Rutledge,
Colonel Horry, and others, who had escaped the disasters at Charleston,
were in North Carolina arousing the people of that state to meet the
danger which stood menacing upon its southern border. Marion's military
genius and great bravery were known to friends and foes, and while the
latter sought to entrap him, the former held over him the shield of
their vigilance. "In the moment of alarm he was sped from house to
house, from tree to thicket, from the thicket to the swamp." ** As
soon as he was able, he collected a few friends and started for North
Carolina to join the Baron De Kalb, then marching southward with a small
Continental army. On the way, he was joined by his old friend Horry
and a few of his neighbors, and these formed the "ragged regiment" who
appeared before General Gates, the successor of De Kalb, mentioned on
page 685. It was while in the camp of Gates that Governor Rutledge,
who also was there, commissioned Marion a brigadier, and he sped to
the district of Williamsburg, between the Santee and Pedee, to lead
its rising patriots to the field of active military duties. They
had accepted the protection of British power after Charleston was
surrendered, in common with their subdued brethren of the low country;
but when Clinton's proclamation was promulgated, making active service
for the crown or the penalty for rebellion an alternative, they eagerly
chose the latter, and lifted the strong arm of resistance to tyranny.
They called Marion to be their leader, and of these men he formed his
efficient _brigade_, the terror of British scouts and outposts. Near
the mouth of Lynch's Creek he assumed the command, and among the
interminable swamps upon Snow's Island, near the junction of that stream
with the Great Pedee, he made his chief rendezvous during a greater
portion of his independent partisan warfare.
Marion's first expedition after taking command was against a large
body of Tories, under Major Gainey, an active British officer, who were
encamped upon Britton's Neck, between the Great and Little Pedee. He
dispersed the whole party without losing a man.[[August 1780]] Flushed
with victory, Marion was again in motion within twenty-four hours.
Informed that Captain Barfield and some Tories were encamped a few miles
distant, he sped thither, fell upon and scattered them to the winds.
These two victories inspired his fol-
* At the beginning of the siege, Marion was at a house in Trade! Street,
and the host, determined that all of his guests should drink his wine
freely, locked the door to prevent their departure. Marion would not
submit to this act of social tyranny, and leaped from a second story
window to the ground. His ankle was broken, and before the communication
with the country toward the Santee was closed he was carried to his
residence, in St. John's parish, on a litter. He was yet confined by the
accident when the capitulation was signed. See Simm's Life of Marion,
page 96.
* Simms.
[[[Marion and Wemyss.--Retreat of the latter.--Defeat of Colonel
Tyne.--Skirmish near Georgetown]]]
{770}lowers with the greatest confidence in their commander and reliance
upon themselves. These sentiments, acted upon with faithfulness, formed
a prime element of that success which distinguished Marion's brigade.
Marion now sent Colonel Peter Horry, with a part of his brigade, to
scour the country between the Santee and Pedee, while with the remainder
of his command he proceeded to attack the British post near Nelson's
Perry, an event which we have considered on page 705. Striking his blows
in quick succession, and at remote points, Marion excited the alarm of
the British commander-in-chief, and he ordered Tarleton to endeavor to
entrap and crush the "Swamp Pox." Colonel Wemyss, whom Sumter afterward
defeated on the Broad River, was first sent after him with a strong
force. With untiring industry he followed Marion in the direction of the
Black River, and often fell upon his trail. But the wary patriot never
suffered himself to be surprised, nor allowed his men to fight when
almost certain destruction appeared inevitable. Wemyss was too strong
for Marion, so the latter fled before him, and with sixty trusty
followers he thridded his way through interminable swamps and across
deep streams into North Carolina. It was a grievous necessity, for it
left Williamsburg District, the hot-bed of rebellion, exposed to the
fury of the pursuers, Marion first hailed on Drowning Creek;[[August 30,
1780]] then pushing further on, he encamped near Lake Waccamaw, whence
he sent back scouts to procure intelligence. Soon he was swiftly
retracing his steps, for Wemyss had relinquished pursuit, and had
retired to Georgetown, leaving the sad marks of his desolating march
over a space of seventy miles in length and fifteen in breadth. The
injured inhabitants hailed Marion's return with joy, and his little
army, seldom exceeding sixty men, soon had the appearance of a brigade.
They were desperate men. Cruel wrongs gave strength to their arms,
fleetness to their feet, power to their wills, and with joy they
followed Marion toward, the Black Mingo, fifteen miles below Georgetown,
where a body of Tories were encamped. They fell upon them, in two
divisions, at midnight. An obstinate resistance was made, but the
patriots were victorious. Marion lost but one man killed; the enemy were
almost annihilated. This victory dispirited the Tories throughout the
low country, and for some time Marion's brigade enjoyed needful
repose upon the banks of the Santee, except during a brief period when
Tarleton, who succeeded Wemyss in attempts to smite Marion, came in
pursuit. He scoured the country southward from Camden, between the
Santee and the Black Ravers, in search of the partisan, and, like
Wemyss, spread desolation in his path. Tarleton exerted his utmost skill
and energy, but could never overtake the vigilant Marion. Sometimes he
would be within a few miles of him, and feel sure of securing him before
to-morrow's sun, when at the same moment Marion would be watching the
movements of the Briton from some dark nook of a morass, and at midnight
would strike his rear or flank with a keen and terrible blow.
In October, Marion proceeded toward Lynch's Creek to chastise Harrison,
the lieutenant of Wemyss, who was encamped there with a considerable
body of Tories. On his way toward Williamsburg, he fell upon Colonel
Tyne, who, with two hundred Tories, was encamped at Tarcote Swamp, on
the forks of Black River, in fancied security. It was midnight when he
struck the blow.[[Oct. 25, 1780]] While some slept, others were eating
and drinking; a few were playing cards; but none were watching.
The surprise was complete. Some were slain, twenty-three were made
prisoners, but a large portion escaped to Tarcote Swamp, from which some
soon appeared and joined the ranks of the victor, upon the High Hills of
the Santee, where he encamped a short time after the action. Marion did
not lose a man.
Informed that Harrison had moved from Lynch's Creek, Marion collected
some new recruits, and with his bold followers pushed forward to assail
the British post at Georgetown, where only he could procure what he
now most needed, namely, salt, clothing, and powder. He knew a surprise
would be difficult, and an open assault dangerous. He chose the former
method, but when he approached, the garrison was on the alert. A
severe skirmish ensued within a short distance of the town, and Marion,
discomfited, retired to Snow's Island, where he fixed his camp and
secured it by such works of art as the absence of natural defenses
[[[Marion and Lee's Expedition against Georgetown.--Its Failure.--Snow's
Island.--Harden's Exploits.]]]
{771}required. In this skirmish, Gabriel Marion, a nephew of the
general, was made a prisoner, and murdered on the spot. Alter that, "No
quarter for Tories!" was the battle cry of Marion's men.
From Snow's Island * Marion sent out his scouts in every direction, and
there he planned some of his boldest expeditions. Re-enforcements came,
and at the close of 1780, Marion felt strong enough to confront any
British detachment then abroad from head-quarters.
While Greene's army was approaching the Pedee early in 1781, Marion was
very active abroad from his camp, at which he always left a sufficient
garrison for its defense. Here and there he was smiting detachments of
the British army; and when Lee, who had been sent by Greene to join
him with a part of his legion, sought for Marion, it was with great
difficulty that he could be found, for his rapid marches were in the
midst of vast swamps. As soon as the junction was consummated,[[April
14, 1781]] these brave partisans planned an expedition against the
British post at Georgetown, then garrisoned by two hundred men. Although
the British works were strong, and our partisans had no cannons, they
felt confident of the success of their plan, which was to attack the
town and fortifications at two separate points. One division went down
the Pedee In boats, the other proceeded eautiously by land. The attack
was made at midnight, but nothing was effected beyond the capture
of Campbell (the commandant) and a few privates, and slaying some
stragglers from the garrison, who could not eseape to the stockade.
Yet the enterprise was not fruitless of good to the patriot cause. The
audacity of the attempt had a powerful effect upon the minds of the
British officers at the South, and the contemplated movement of a
large portion of their forces from the sea-board to the interior, was
abandoned. Thus was begun a series of movements to keep Cornwallis from
Virginia until a sufficient force could be collected in Carolina to
oppose him, which was the object of earnest efforts on the part of
Greene.
After resting a few hours, Marion and Lee moved rapidly up the north
bank of the Santee, toward Nelson's Ferry, to surprise Colonel Watson,
who had taken post there. That officer, informed of his approach,
placed a small garrison in Fort Watson, five miles above, and with the
remainder of his force hastened on toward Camden. At this time Greene
was commencing his famous retreat, and summoned Huger and his troops
at Cheraw, and Lee with his whole legion, to meet him at Guilford. The
events whieh ensued in that quarter have been detailed in preceding
chapters. **
The departure of Lee, with his legion, greatly weakened Marion's force.
Yet he was
* This island is at the confluence of Lynch's Creek and the Pedee. It
is chiefly high river swamp, dry, and covered with a heavy forest filled
with game. The lower portions are cane-brakes, and a few spots are now
devoted to the cultivation of Indian corn. Here was the scene of the
interview between Marion and a young British officer from Georgetown, so
well remembered by tradition, and so well delineated by the pen of
Simms and the pencil of White. The officer who came to treat respecting
prisoners was led blind-folded to the camp of Marion. There he first
saw the diminutive form of the great partisan leader, and around him
in groups were his followers, lounging beneath magnificent trees draped
with moss. When their business was concluded, Marion invited the young
Briton to dine with him. He remained, and to his utter astonishment he
saw some roasted potatoes brought forward on a piece of bark, of which
the general partook freely, and invited his guest to do the same.
"Surely, general," said the officer, "this can not be your ordinary
fare!" "Indeed it is," replied Marion, "and we are fortunate, on this
occasion, entertaining company, to have more than our usual allowance."
It is related that the young officer gave up his commission on his
return, declaring that such a people could not be, and ought not to be
subdued.
** At about this time, Colonel Harden, a gentleman of Beaufort, who,
with a large number of the Whigs of his district, had taken refuge in
Williamsburg, marched with seventy of the most resolute of his comrades
to visit their homes. A few others from Georgia, under Colonel Baker,
accompanied them, and in the face of the foe, then in possession of the
country upon the Lower Santee and Edisto, they ravaged the region from
Monk's Corner to the Savannah River. Like Marion, Harden made rapid and
excentric marches, and always baffled pursuit. He crossed and recrossed
the Savannah as often as circumstances required, and soon his force
amounted to two hundred men. The name of Harden became as terrible to
the Tories of Beaufort. Barnwell, and Colleton, as that of Marion beyond
the Santee. He had several skirmishes with British detachments, and
finally, on the twelfth of April, 1781, he surprised and captured a
redoubt and garrison called Fort Balfour, at ancient Pocataligo, below
the Combahee. Having awed the Tories in that section of the state,
Colonel Harden and his detachment joined the forces under General
Pickens, higher up on the Savannah.
[[[The Postelles. Marion's Cavalry.--Conflicts with
Watson.--'Destruction of Marion's Camp.]]]
{772}not less active than before, and his enterprises were generally
more important and successful. He sent out small detachments to beat up
Tory camps and recruiting stations, wherever they might be found.
His subordinates caught his spirit and imitated his example, and were
generally successful. The brothers Captain and Major Postelle greatly
annoyed the British and Tories beyond the Santee, in the direction of
Charleston, early in 1781. Like Marion, his subordinates never lingered
upon the arena of victory to be surprised, but, when a blow was struck,
they hastened away to other fields of conflict. The great partisan never
encumbered himself with prisoners--he always paroled them.
Toward the last of January,[[1781]] we find the blacksmiths of Kingstree
forging saws into rough broadswords for a corps of cavalry which Marion
placed in command of Colonel Peter Horry. In February, Horry is observed
eastward of the Pedee battling with Tories and British regulars. Soon
afterward he is engaged in a bloody conflict of eight hours, near
Georgetown, slaying almost one half of his adversaries, and winning the
victory. Every where the name of Marion was feared, and the presence of
his men was dreaded by the opponents of the patriot cause.
In the spring of 1781, Colonel Watson was sent with a select corps of
five hundred men to attempt the destruction of Marion's brigade. He
moved with caution, evidently afraid of the partisan, for he was then
striking successful blows at different points, in rapid succession, and
appeared to be possessed of ubiquitous powers. * Marion observed him,
and concentrated his force on Snow's Island, whence he sallied forth
as occasion required. He sped with rapid foot to the path of Watson's
approach, and at Wiboo Swamp, nearly opposite the present Santee Canal,
he confronted him. The advanced guards of Marion and Watson (the former
under Horry, the latter under Riehboo, a Tory colonel) met unexpectedly,
and a severe skirmish ensued. Other portions of the two armies engaged
in the fight. The field-pieces of Watson gave him great advantage, and
Marion was obliged to fall back in the direction of Williamsburg. At a
bridge over the Black River, below Kingstree, he checked his pursuers by
well-aimed rifle-balls and the destruction of the bridge by fire. Down
the stream, upon opposite sides, the belligerents marched nearly ten
miles, skirmishing all the way. Darkness terminated the conflict, and
both parties arranged their flying camps for rest, near eaeh other.
For ten days Watson remained stationary, continually annoyed by Marion,
until he was obliged to choose between certain destruction in detail
there, or attempt boldly to fight his way to Georgetown. He decided upon
the latter course, and at midnight he fled. Marion pursued, fell upon
him at Sampit Bridge, near Georgetown, and smote down many of his
wearied soldiers. Watson escaped to Georgetown with the remnant of his
army, complaining that Marion would not "fight like a gentleman or a
Christian!"
Sad intelligence now reached Marion. The Tory colonel, Doyle, had
penetrated to his camp on Snow's Island, dispersed the little garrison,
destroyed his provisions and stores, and then marched up Lynch's Creek.
He pursued the marauder until he was informed that Doyle had destroyed
all his heavy baggage, and had the advantage of a day's march on the
road to Camden. Marion wheeled, and hastened, through the overflowed
swamps, to confront Watson, who was again in motion with fresh troops,
and had encamped upon Catfish Creek, near the present Marion Court
House. Our partisan encamped within five miles of him, and there he was
joined by Lee on the fourteenth of April.[[1781]] This junction alarmed
Watson. He destroyed his heavy baggage, wheeled his field-pieces into
Cat-fish Creek, and fled precipitately by a circuitous route back to
Georgetown. Soon after this, we find Marion[[May 1781]] hanging upon the
rear of Lord Rawdon on his
* At this time, Major M'Hraith, with a force about equal to that of
Marion's, was met by the latter in swamp near Nelson's Ferry. They
prepared for battle, when M'Hraith, who was a humane man, made the
chivalric proposition that twenty picked men of each army should meet
and fight for victory. It was agreed to; the forty men were drawn up in
line and approached each other, when those of M'Hraiths party fell back.
The sun went down, and yet they lingered; and at midnight, M'Hraith
doubtless considering prudence the better part of valor, decamped,
leaving his heavy baggage behind. He was pursued by Colonel Horry early
in the morning, but without effect.
[[[Capture of Georgetown.--Attack on British Posts near
Charleston.--Battle at Quimby's Creek Bridge]]]
{773}retreat from Nelson's Ferry toward Charleston; and from that time
until the siege of Ninety-Six, he was often with Sumter and Colonel
Washington, watching the enemy's movements near the Santee and Edisto,
and cutting off intelligence and supplies from Cruger.
In June[[1781]] Marion took possession of Georgetown, the garrison
fleeing down Winyaw Bay after a slight resistance. He could not garrison
it, so he moved the stores up the Pedee to his old encampment on Snow's
Island, and demolished the military works. Informed that the Loyalists
of Charleston had organized, and under Colonel Ball were about to ravage
the country south of the Santee, he anticipated them. He drove off the
cattle, removed the provisions to a place of safety, laid waste the
country, and left nothing but barrenness and desolation in the district
menaced by the enemy.
We have observed (page 695) that soon after Greene abandoned his design
of attacking Rawdon at Orangeburg, and retired to the High Hills
of Santee, he detached Sumter, with Marion, Lee, and other active
partisans, to beat up the British posts in the direction of Charleston,
drive these hostile detachments to the gates of the city, and cut off
all convoys of supplies for the British troops on the Edisto. The chief
object to be gained was to cause Rawdon to abandon Orangeburg and hasten
to the relief of Charleston. Sumter was the commander-in-chief of this
expedition. As he approached Monk's Corner, he divided his little army
into separate detachments. Among the subordinate commanders of these
were Horry, Mayham, Taylor, the Hamptons, and James. The garrison at
Dorchester, first attacked, made no resistance to Colonel Lee, who
also captured, at about the same time, all the wagons and wagon horses
belonging to a convoy of provisions; while Colonel Wade Hampton pressed
forward to the very lines at Charleston, captured the patrol and guard
at the Quarter-house, five miles from the city, and spread terror
through the town. He also took fifty prisoners (mounted refugees) at
Strawberry Ferry, and burned four vessels laden with valuable stores for
the British army.
At Biggin, near Monk's Corner, where Huger's cavalry were surprised more
than a year before, was a strong force of about five hundred infantry,
one hundred and fifty horse, and a piece of artillery, under Colonel
Coates of the British army. Biggin Church, and a redoubt at Monk's
Corner, about a quarter of a mile distant, composed the defenses of the
garrison. Against these Sumter, Marion, and Lee proceeded. They halted
at sunset within a short distance of Coates's camp, with the intention
of attacking him early In the morning. Coates, alarmed by the
intelligence brought by his patrols, that one half of Greene's army,
with all the partisan officers of the South, were upon him, decamped
during the night, set fire to Biggin Church, so as to destroy stores
which he could not carry away, and crossing the head waters of the
Cooper River on the eastern side, retreated rapidly toward Charleston.
When the blaze of the church was perceived in the American camp, Sumter
called his troops to arms and hotly pursued the fugitives. Within a
short distance of Quimby's Creek Bridge, eighteen miles from Monk's
Corner, the cavalry of Lee and Marion overtook the rear-guard of the
flying troops. Dismayed at the near approach of horsemen, they east
down their arms without firing a gun, and begged for quarter. Coates had
crossed the bridge with his main body, and was waiting for the passage
of his rearguard, with the baggage, to destroy the bridge. The planks
were already loosened, and every thing was in readiness for its
demolition when the American cavalry approached. The brave Armstrong,
with a section of Lee's horsemen, dashed across the bridge and fell upon
the British guard with a howitzer stationed there for its defense, and
drove the artillerists from the gun. The place of contest was a narrow
causeway and lane leading to the bridge, and for a short time a close
and deadly conflict ensued. Many of the British fled, and Coates and
some of his officers were left to fight alone, defended only by a wagon.
Another section of the eavalry, under Carrington, followed close upon
Armstrong, and leaping the chasm formed by the casting down of some
loose planks by the hoofs of Armstrong's horses, joined in the close
combat with the enemy. Lee had now gained the bridge, where Captain
O'Neil, with the third section, had halted. Captain Mayham, of Marion's
cavalry, dashed by them, when his horse was shot under him. The chasm
had been widened by
[[[Severe Battle above Quimby's Creek Bridge.--Public Services and
Execution of Colonel Hayne]]]
{774}the passage of Carrington's troops, and all Lee's efforts to repair
the breach were ineffectual. The stream was too deep to ford, and the
shores too muddy to land if the horses had swam it, and, consequently,
a victory so nearly secured had to be abandoned. Coates, with his
recaptured howitzer, retreated to a strong two-story house and other
buildings a little further up the stream, into which many of his
soldiers had fled at the first attack. There he was assailed by Sumter
and Marion, between three and four o'clock in the afternoon, and a
severe battle was waged for three hours. Darkness, and the failure of
the powder of the patriots, terminated the contest. Fifty of Marion's
brigade were killed or wounded, and seventy of the British fell. Coates
held his position, and Sumter, informed of the approach of Rawdon,
collected his own immediate forces, crossed the Santee, and joined
Greene upon the High Hills, while Marion remained lower down upon the
river to watch the movements of the enemy.
It was at about this time, while the army of General Greene was in
repose near the Wateree, that the execution of Colonel Isaac Hayne,
a leading Whig of South Carolina, took place at Charleston; an event
which, in the opinion of the Americans, and of just men in Europe,
marked the character of the British officer in command at Charleston
with the foul stain of dishonor and savage cruelty. * The patriots were
greatly exasperated by it, and
* Isaac Hayne was a highly respected and well-beloved citizen of South
Carolina. He was among the early patriots of that state who took the
field, and at the siege of Charleston, in 1780, he served in a company
of mounted militia, and at the same time was a member of the State
Legislature. His corps was not in the city, but operated in the open
country, in the rear of the besiegers, consequently it was not included
in the capitulation. After that event his command was dispersed, and be
returned to his family and estate, near the Edisto. Believing that
the wisest policy for him to pursue was to go to Charleston, surrender
himself a prisoner, and take his parole like others, he repaired
thither. He was too confiding in the honor of the conquerors, for,
knowing him to be a man of influence, the commandant refused the
privilege, and told him that he must either become a British subject or
submit to close confinement. He would gladly have endured imprisonment,
but he could not bear the thought of leaving his family exposed to the
insults of marauders, and the pestilence of small-pox, then spreading
over the lower country. He consulted his friend, Dr. Ramsay, the
historian, who was himself a prisoner in Charleston, and, influenced by
family affection, he accepted a British protection upon the humiliating
terms proposed by Clinton in his second and cruel proclamation, and took
the oath of allegiance. He was assured by Patterson, the deputy British
commandant in Charleston, that he would not be called upon to take
up arms for the king, "For," he said, "when the regular forces of his
majesty need the aid of the inhabitants for the defense of the province,
it will be high time for them to leave it."
* Colonel Hayne was often called upon by subordinate officers to take
up arms for the king, but steadily refused. When, in 1781, Greene
approached with a Continental army, and the partisan troops had swept
royal power from almost every place where it had planted its heel of
military subjugation, Colonel Hayne felt released from his oath of
allegiance, because its conditions were such that its obligations ceased
when royal rule should be suppressed. When again summoned (as he was
peremptorily, while his wife was upon her dying bed) to repair, with
arms, to the British camp at Charleston, he again refused. He did more;
he buckled on his armor, repaired to the American camp, and, forswearing
his forced allegiance to the British erown, he pledged his life to the
defense of his country. With a troop of horse, accompanied by Colonel
Harden, he scoured the country toward Charleston, and captured General
Andrew Williamson, a former efficient patriot, but now aetive in the
British service. When intelligence of the event reached the city, a
troop of cavalry was sent in pursuit of Hayne. A battle ensued, and the
patriot was made a prisoner and conveyed to Charleston. Colonel Nesbit
Balfour, a proud, vain, and ambitious man, was then the commandant. He
knew that the surest road to distinction was rigor toward the rebels.
He chose to consider Hayne a traitor, because he had signed an oath
of allegiance, and then took up arms against the king. Here was an
opportunity for Balfour to distinguish himself, and Hayne was east into
the provost prison, and kept there until Rawdon arrived from Orangeburg.
He was then taken before a court of inquiry, where neither the members
nor the witnesses were sworn. The whole proceeding was a mockery, for
Rawdon and Balfour had prejudged him worthy of death. Without even
the form of a trial, he was condemned to be hung. No one, not even
the prisoner, supposed that such cruelty was contemplated, until the
sentence was made public, and he had but two days to live! The men of
the city pleaded for him; the women signed petitions, and went in troops
and upon their knees implored a remission of his sentence. His sister,
Mrs. Peronneau, with his orphan children (for his wife was in her
grave), clad in deep mourning, knelt in supplication before his judges,
but in vain. Rawdon and Balfour were inexorable, and on the thirty-first
of July, 1781, one of the purest patriots and most amiable of men was
hung upon a gibbet. Like Andre, he asked to be shot as a soldier, but
this boon was denied him. Thirty-two years afterward, Lord Rawdon, in
a letter to General Henry Lee (see his Memoirs, page 459), attempted to
excuse his want of humanity, by pleading the justice of the sentence.
But the denunciations of the Duke of Richmond at the time, in the House
of Lords, and the truth of history, have given the whole transaction the
stamp of barbarism.
[[[Skirmish at Parker's Ferry.--Retreat of the British from
Eutaw.--Attack on British Posts near Charleston.]]]
{775}General Greene gave the British commander notice that he would
retaliate when opportunity should offer, not by the sacrifice of
misguided Tories, but of British officers. He soon had power to exhibit
terrible retribution, but happily, actuated by a more humane policy,
Greene hesitated; the beams of peace soon appeared in the horizon, and
bloody human sacrifices were prevented.
Here let us resume the general narrative of events in the South not
already related, from the time of the encampment of Greene upon the
High Hills of Santee, in 1781, until the evacuation of Charleston by the
British the following year.
We have noticed on page 705, that Greene's camp upon the Hills was
broken up on the eighteenth of November, and the remnants of his
diminished army were put in motion toward Charleston. Already
intelligence of the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown had reached him,
and the day of its arrival[[Oct. 30]] was made jubilant by the army. In
the mean while, Marion was operating with vigor. He suddenly disappeared
from the Santee upon one of his secret expeditions, and as suddenly was
seen sweeping across the country in the direction of the Edisto, on his
way to relieve Colonel Harden, who was closely pressed near Parker's
Ferry, a few miles above Jacksonborough, in Colleton District, by a
British force of five hundred men, under Major Fraser. That officer's
camp was at the ferry. Marion prepared an ambuscade, and then sent out
some of his swiftest horses with experienced riders to decoy his enemy
into the snare. Fraser, with his cavalry, fell into the ambuscade in a
narrow place, and was terribly handled.[[Aug. 30, 1781]] The sure rifles
of Marion's men thinned his ranks, and had not their ammunition failed
them, they would have accomplished a complete victory. For the want
of powder, they were obliged to retire at the moment when the palm was
offered to them. The loss of the British was severe, while Marion was
not bereft of a man. He had succeeded in rescuing Harden, and as we have
seen (page 699), obedient to the call of Greene, hastened toward the
Santee and joined the American army at Laurens's plantation,[[Sept. 7,
1781]] when pressing on toward Eutaw.
After the great battle at that place, and his pursuit of Stewart, Marion
encamped in the deep recesses of a cane-brake on Santee River Swamp, and
awaited an occasion again to go forth to action.
The British commander, ignorant of the weakened condition of Marion's
brigade, * and the great diminution of Greene's army, was alarmed when
he was informed that the latter had crossed the Congaree, and was
again pressing on toward Eutaw. He struck his tents and hastened toward
Charleston. Perceiving this movement, Greene left his army while on its
march from the Santee Hills, and at the head of two hundred cavalry
and as many infantry moved rapidly toward Charleston. The garrison at
Dorchester, more than six hundred strong, advised of his approach, went
out to meet him. But so sudden and vigorous was the charge of Colonel
Hampton, of the advance, that the enemy wheeled and fled in great
confusion to their camp. Believing the whole army of Greene to be near,
they destroyed all the public property, cast their cannons into the
Ashley, and then fled toward Charleston, closely pursued. At the
Quarter-house they were joined by Stewart's forces, retreating by
another road, and all hastened to the city gates. Terror spread through
the town. The bells were rung, alarm guns were fired, and every friend
of the crown was called to the defense of the city. Greene's object was
accomplished; the British outposts, were driven in, and he hastened to
join his army, now encamped at Round O, not far from the Four Holes'
Creek, forty or fifty miles from the city. Marion and his men lingered
around the head waters of the Cooper to watch the enemy, and prevent his
incursions beyond Charleston Neck. St. Clair had driven the British from
Wilmington, and only Charles-
* After the battle at Eutaw, Marion was re-enforced by detachments of
mountain men, under Colonels Shelby and Sevier, the heroes of King's
Mountain, and with them he confidently took the field. He attacked the
British outpost at Fairlawn, while the main body, under Stewart, were
encamped behind redoubts at Wappetaw and Wantoot. The attack upon
Fairlawn was successful. The garrison, and three hundred stand of arms,
with provisions and stores, were the spoils of victory. Encouraged
by this success, Marion prepared for other enterprises, when the
Mountaineers, after about three weeks' service, suddenly left him and
returned to the upper country. No satisfactory reason for this movement
has ever been given.
[[[Re establishment of Civil Government.--Change in public
Sentiment.--Waning of British power.--Mutiny. ]]]
{776}ton and Savannah, with their respective dependencies, now remained
in undisputed possession of the Royalists.
Governor Rutledge, with his accustomed energy, now prepared to
re-establish civil government. He first offered conditional pardon to
Tories and others who should join the American army. Hundreds came from
the British lines and eagerly accepted the governor's clemency. Writs
for an election of representatives were issued, and in January, 1782,
a Republican Legislature convened at Jacksonborough, on the Edisto,
thirty-five miles below Charleston.
Hope dawned upon the future of the South, and the bowed head of
Republicanism was lifted up. General Leslie, the chief-commandant in
Charleston, perceived the change in the aspeet of affairs, with alarm,
and sent out proclamations, filled with promises and menaces, to
counteract the movements of the patriots. It was too late. The people
perceived the waning of British power as the area of its action was
diminished, and promises and threats were alike unheeded. The army of
Greene drew near to Jacksonborough, and encamped upon the Charleston
road, six miles below the town. Thus protected, the Legislature acted
freely and judiciously, and from that time the civil power met with no
obstructions.
John's Island was yet occupied by the enemy, under the command of Major
Craig, who had been driven from Wilmington. Greene resolved to expel
them. An expedition for the purpose was intrusted to Lieutenant-colonel
Laurens, a son of Henry Laurens, who had lately come from the field of
victory at Yorktown. Lee was his second in command. An attempt was
made, on the night of the thirteenth of January,[[1782]] to surprise and
capture the garrison of five hundred men, but the miscarriage of a part
of their plan deprived them of their anticipated victory. Yet the design
was not abandoned. A large body of Greene's army moved forward, and
Craig, taking counsel of his fears, abandoned the island, and fled, with
his troops, to Charleston. A few prisoners, and provisions and stores
of the camp, were the spoils of victory. Still further secure, the
Legislature now labored industriously and without fear. Confiscation
laws were enacted; the currency was regulated; general laws for the
future government of the state were adopted; and a bill was originated
for presenting to General Greene, in consideration of his services, the
sum of ten thousand guineas. * They closed their labors by electing John
Matthews governor.
From this time until the evacuation of Charleston, military operations
were confined to attempts on the part of the British to procure supplies
from the country, and opposition thereto by the patriots. In these
operations, Marion's brigade was conspicuous. Elected to a seat in the
Assembly at Jacksonborough, he left it in command of Colonel Hurry.
Previous to his departure, he had a severe skirmish, near Monk's Corner,
with three hundred regulars and Loyalists, who came up from Charleston
to surprise him. He repulsed them, but soon afterward, while he was
absent, a larger force, under Colonel Thompson (the celebrated
Count Rumford subsequently), attacked his brigade near the Santee.
Fortunately, he arrived during the engagement, but not in time to
prevent the defeat and partial dispersion of his beloved troops. The
remnant of his brigade rallied around him, and he retired beyond the
Santee to reorganize and recruit.
The main armies continued quiet. Each felt too weak to attempt to
disturb the other. Leslie's condition was far worse than Greene's.
Confined within the city, provisions soon became scarce, while the
flight of Tories to the town increased the demand. Greene had ample
provisions, and moving forward, encamped near the head of the Ashley,
within twenty miles of the enemy's lines. Unable to damage the Americans
in warfare, the British employed stratagem and bribery to weaken their
power. Emissaries came into camp, and a mutinous spirit was engendered.
A scheme was planned to abduct Greene, and convey him to Charleston. It
was discovered twenty-four hours before it ripened, and was crushed.
The conspirators were of the Pennsylvania line. Gornell, the leader, was
executed, and
* This example was imitated by the Legislatures of North Carolina and
Georgia. The former voted him five thousand guineas, and the latter
twenty-four thousand acres of land.
[[[Operations of a Spy.--War declared ended by Parliament--Abduction of
Governor Burke.]]]
{777}four of his known companions in crime were sent, guarded, up to
Orangeburg. The demon of discord was seen no more, and the British made
no further attempts to arouse it.
Early in April, Marion, with a considerable force, was sent to "keep
watch and ward" over the country between the Cooper and Santee Rivers. A
Scotchman, pretending to be a deserter, came out from the city, visited
Marion, and passed on unsuspected toward the Scotch settlements on the
Pedee. Soon an insurrection appeared in that quarter, and Marion was
informed that Major Gainey, for the third time, was gathering the
Tories. The pretended deserter was a spy, and, by false representations
of the power of the British and weakness of the Americans, he called the
Highlanders to arms. The spy was caught and hanged while returning to
Charleston, and before Gainey could organize his recruits, Marion fell
upon him. More than five hundred Loyalists laid down their arms, and
Gainey, thoroughly humbled, joined the ranks of Marion. *
While the theater of war was thus narrowing, British statesmen of all
parties, considering the capture of Cornwallis and his army as the
death-blow to all hope for future conquests, turned their attention
to measures for an honorable termination of the unnatural war. General
Conway, the firm and long-tried friend of the Americans, offered a
resolution in Parliament in February,[[1782]] which was preliminary to
the enactment of a decree for commanding the cessation of hostilities.
It was lost by only _one vote._ Thus encouraged, the opposition pressed
the subject warmly upon the attention of the House of Commons and the
nation, and on the fourth of March, Conway moved "That the House would
consider as enemies to his majesty and the country all those who should
advise, or by any means attempt, the further prosecution of offensive
war on the Continent of North America." The resolution was carried
without a division, and the next day the attorney general introduced a
plan for a truce with the Americans. Lord North, after an administration
of affairs, as prime minister, for twelve years, finding himself in the
minority, resigned the seals of office.[[March 20, 1782]] Orders for a
cessation of hostilities speedily went forth to the British commanders
in America, and preparations were soon made for evacuating the cities of
Savannah and Charleston.
When General Leslie was apprised of these proceedings in Parliament, he
proposed to General Greene a cessation of hostilities in the South. That
officer, like a true soldier, refused to meddle in civil affairs, and
referred the matter to the Continental Congress, the only competent
tribunal to decide. Of course there must be a delay of several weeks,
and while no important military movement was made by the main army
of either party, each was as vigilant as if an active campaign was in
progress.
On the thirteenth of August, Leslie, in general orders, declared his
intention of evacuating Charleston, and sent a flag to Greene with a
request that he might be allowed to receive and purchase supplies from
the planters. ** Greene refused his acquiescence, for it
* Among the insurgents was the notorious David Fanning, a Loyalist of
North Carolina. He was one, of the most desperate and brutal of the Tory
leaders, and at one time had command of almost a thousand marauders like
himself. He became a terror to the people of central North Carolina. He
captured many leading Whigs, and took them to Craig, at Wilmington. On
the thirteenth of September, 1781, he and his associate, Hector M'Neil,
with their followers, entered Hillsborough, carried off the governor,
Thomas Burke,* and other prominent Whigs, and hastened with them toward
Wilmington. They were intercepted by a party under General Butler, and
a severe skirmish ensued at Lindley's Mill, on Cane Creek. Fanning was
wounded, but successfully retreated with his prisoners to Wilmington.
After the defeat here mentioned, on the Pedee, Fanning went to
Charleston, and accompanied the Tories who fled to Nova Scotia, where he
died in 1825.
[Illustration: 9787]
* Greene's army now covered a fertile district, where wealth abounded,
and prevented foraging and plundering where the enemy had generally
found the best supplies. Perceiving their homes thus secured, many
of the families returned from exile, and every where the board of
hospitality was wide spread to their deliverers. The rugged features
of war were soon changed by the refinements of social life, and the
soldiers, who had been battling for years among desolated homes or the
dark wilderness, felt that a paradise was gained. The wife of General
Greene reached his camp at the close of March, and was every where
caressed. The officers were greeted at numerous social gatherings, and
the charms of many a fair daughter of the sunny South subdued hearts
which never quailed before an enemy. In the district occupied by the
army, were many wealthy, beautiful, and accomplished women, and "many,"
says Johnson, in his Life of Greene, "were the matrimonial connections
to which this period gave rise between the officers of the army and the
heiresses of Carolina and Georgia."
* Thomas Burke was one of the purest patriots of the South. He was a
native of Ireland; came in early life to Virginia, and in 1774 settled
as practicing lawyer, in Hillsborough, North Carolina. He was one of
the earliest Republican legislators in the state. He was a member of the
Provincial Congress at Halifax in 1776, and of the Continental Congress,
from 1777 till 1781, when he was chosen governor of his state. After his
capture by Fanning, he was sent to Charleston, and kept closely guarded,
upon John's Island, when Craig commanded there. He escaped, and in 1782
resumed his official duties. He died at Hillsborough in 1783.
[[[British attempts to collect Provisions.--Vigilance of
Greene.--Skirmishes on the Combahee.--Death of Laurens.]]]
{778}would tend to nourish a viper, perhaps yet disposed to sting.
Leslie replied that he should obtain supplies by force, for it was
necessary to have them before putting to sea. This menace gave activity
to the camp of Greene, for he resolved to oppose with spirit every
attempt of the enemy to penetrate the country. General Gist, with a
strong force, was advanced to the Stono, and spread defensive corps,
under good officers, southward to the Combahee, while Marion was
instructed to keep watch over the region of the Lower Santee. Rapidly,
and in wide circuits, that partisan, with his cavalry, scoured the
region between the Sampit and the Santee, and sometimes he would sweep
down the country, all the way to Cainboy and Haddrell's Point. Some warm
skirmishes occurred, but he effectually kept the enemy at bay in that
quarter.
Anxious to leave Charleston, where famine stood menacing the army
and civilians, Leslie resolved to make a bold effort to penetrate the
country by the Combahee, for little could be effected in the region
guarded by Marion. He accordingly sent a large party thither in armed
boats and schooners, where they arrived on the 25th of August, and
passed up directly toward the head of the stream. Gist, with about three
hundred cavalry and infantry, hastened to oppose the invaders, leaving
Colonel Laurens with a guard near Wappoo, to watch the movements of the
enemy in Charleston. Laurens, burning with a desire for active service,
left a sick-bed and followed Gist. He overtook him upon the north bank
of the Combahee, near the ferry, and at his earnest solicitation he was
detached to the extreme end of Chehaw Neck, to garrison a small redoubt
cast up there for the purpose of annoying the British when they should
return down the river. With fifty light infantry, some matrosses, and a
howitzer, Laurens moved down the river,[[August 26, 1782]] and halted at
the house of Mrs. Stock, within a short distance of the point. At three
o'clock in the morning he resumed his march. He had proceeded but a
short distance, when a picket of the enemy was perceived, and at the
same moment a large detachment, which lay concealed in the high fennel
grass, arose and delivered a murderous fire. They had been informed of
the march of Laurens, and landing on the north shore of the Combahee,
concealed themselves in ambush by the road side. Laurens saw the danger
of a retreat, and had no alternative but to surrender or fight. His
brave spirit could not brook the former, and leading the way, he made
an energetic charge upon the foe. The step was fatal to the young
commander; he fell at the first fire. Captain Smith of the artillery was
also slain, the howitzer was seized by the enemy, and the whole American
force turned and fled in confusion. The fugitives were pursued a short
distance, when Gist, with a considerable force, confronted the victors.
They recoiled for a moment, but soon recovered, and a severe combat
ensued. The British fell back to their boats, and the field of strife
was the field of victory for the Americans; yet it was dearly won. Many
unnamed patriots fell, and in the death of Laurens the country lost one
of its most promising men. * The
* John Laurens was a son of Henry Laurens, president of the Continental
Congress in 1777. He joined the army early in 1777, and was wounded in
the battle at Germantown. He continued in the army (with the exception
of a few months), under the immediate command of Washington, until
after the surrender of Cornwallis, in which event he was a conspicuous
participant as one of the commissioners appointed to arrange the terms.
Early in 1781, he was sent on a special mission to France, to solicit a
loan of money and to procure arms. He was successful, and on his return
received the thanks of Congress. Within three days after his arrival in
Philadelphia, he had settled all matters with Congress, and departed for
the army in the South, under Greene. There he did good service, and was
killed on the Combahee, on the twenty-seventh of August, 1781, when
he was but twenty-nine years of age. Washington, who made him his aid,
loved him as a child. He declared that he could discover no fault in
him, unless it was intrepidity, bordering on rashness. "Poor Laurens,"
wrote Greene, "has fallen in a paltry little skirmish. You knew his
temper, and I predicted his fate. The love of military glory made him
seek it upon occasions unworthy his rank. The state will feel his loss."
He was buried upon the plantation of Mrs. Stock, in whose family he
spent the evening previous to his death in cheerful conversation. A
small inclosure, without a stone, marks his grave.
[[[Last Blood shed in the Revolution.--Evacuation of
Charleston.--Revolutionary Localities near.]]]
{779}British succeeded in carrying off a large quantity of provisions
and plunder from the Combahee, and from Beaufort and the neighboring
islands. They made no other attempt to procure supplies, but applied
themselves diligently to preparations for leaving Charleston.
Kosciuszko, who was placed in command of Laurens's corps, watched
Charleston Neck, and detachments guarded the passes of the Stono. In
this latter service the last blood of the Revolution was shed. *
The evacuation of Charleston took place on the fourteenth of
December.[[1782]] Leslie had leveled the walls of Charleston and
demolished Fort Johnson, and on the morning of the thirteenth, the
American army crossed the Ashley, and slowly approached the city,
according to previous arrangements with Leslie. At daylight the next
morning the British marched to Gadsden's Wharf, and embarked. At eleven
o'clock an American detachment took formal possession of the town, and
at three in the afternoon General Greene escorted Governor Mathews and
other civil officers to the Town Hall. From windows, balconies, even
housetops, the troops were greeted with cheers, waving of handkerchiefs,
and cries, "God bless you, gentlemen! Welcome! welcome!" Before night
the British squadron (about three hundred sail) crossed the bar, and the
last speck of canvas of that hostile array glittered far out upon the
ocean in the parting beams of the sun that evening. The cool starry
night which succeeded was one of great joy to the people, and the dawn
of the morrow was that of a long and bright day for the emancipated
state. Generosity succeeded revengeful feelings; confiscation acts were
repealed; Loyalists were forgiven, on repentance, and those who had
adhered to royal rule as the least of two evils, rejoiced in the glories
of the happy days of freedom and prosperity which succeeded.
Here let us close the chronicles of the war in the Southern States, and
depart for the North.
On the morning of the day when I departed from Charleston,[[Jan. 29,
1849]] the sun came up from the sea bright and unclouded, and I could
not have wished for a lovelier day to visit places of note in Charleston
and vicinity. I had already been out to the _Lines_, and the old
ship-yard and magazines on Cooper Raver, with Reverend Dr. Smythe. The
scars of the former are yet visible in several places upon the Neck,
and a portion of the citadel, a remnant of the "horn work," survives
the general wreck of the military works about Charleston. It was just
at sunset when we passed through a beautiful avenue of live oaks, draped
with moss, to view the ruins of the magazines and officers' quarters,
among thick shrubbery and tangled vines near the banks of the river,
about four miles above the city. A little to the northwest of these
ruins is an ancient burial-ground, on the verge of a deep morass. The
tall trees, pendent moss, silent ruins, and deep shadows of night fast
hovering over the scene, gave the place a tinge of romance, thrilling
and sad. On our way to this interesting spot we turned aside, about
a mile and a half nearer the town, to view a venerable and lordly
magnolia, under whose spreading branches tradition avers General Lincoln
held a council of officers during the siege in 1780. Incredible as it
may ap-
* Captain Wilmot, a brave young officer, who commanded a company
detailed for the purpose of covering John's Island, impatient of
inaction, often crossed the river to harass British foraging parties on
the island. While engaged in one of these excursions, in company with
Kosciuszko, he fell into an ambuscade and was killed. This occurred in
September, 1782, and was, it is believed, the last life sacrificed in
battle.
** Preparatory to the evacuation, commissioners were appointed to make
arrangements to prevent the carrying away of slaves on the departure of
the British. All was made satisfactory; but the promises of the enemy
were shamefully violated. Moultrie says that more than eight hundred
slaves, employed on the works in the city, were sent to the West Indies
and sold. It has been estimated that between the years 1775 and 1783
the state of South Carolina was robbed of twenty-five thousand negroes,
valued at about twelve million five hundred thousand dollars.
[[[Destruction of the "Council Tree."--Departure from
Charleston.--Wilmington.--British Occupation there.]]]
{780}pear, the owner of the land, and of the house shaded by the tree
wherein he and his mother were born, had just felled it for fire-wood.
[Illustration: 9790]
Instead of being its destroyer, who, in like circumstances, would not
have been its defender? and when rude hands were laid upon it,
````"Woodman, spare that tree!
`````Touch not a single bough!
````In youth it sheltered me,
`````And I'll protect it now.
```'Twas my forefather's hand
`````That placed it near his cot;
````There, woodman, let it stand,
`````Thy ax shall harm it not! "--Morris.=
I sketched the venerable house near by, the property of Colonel William
Cummington during the Revolution, and marking the position of the stump
of the magnolia, preserved for posterity a sketch of what tradition
calls the _Council Tree_, with its surroundings.
It was on the bright and balmy day of my departure that I visited
Sullivan's Island, and made the sketch printed on page 757. From thence
I crossed over to Haddrell's Point (now Point Pleasant), and after
passing an hour there, where so many of the brave patriots of South
Carolina suffered a long imprisonment, I returned by steam-boat to the
city. There are no remains of revolutionary fortifications at Point
Pleasant, and it is now famous in the minds of the citizens of
Charleston only as a delightful summer resort.
At three o'clock in the afternoon I left Charleston for home, in a
steam-packet bound to Wilmington, bearing with me many mementoes of
the war for independence at the South, and filled with pleasing
recollections of a journey of several weeks among the inhabitants of
that sunny land where I had enjoyed the hospitality and kindness of
true Republicans, keenly alive to the reflected glory of their patriot
fathers, and devotedly attached to the free institutions of our common
country, the fruits of a happy union.
The waters of the harbor were unruffled by a breeze, and I anticipated
a delightful voyage to the Capo Fear; but as the city and fortifications
receded, and we crossed the bar to the broad bosom of the Atlantic,
we found it heaving with long, silent undulations, the effects of
the subsiding anger of a storm. Sea-sickness came upon me, and I went
supperless to my berth, where I remained until we were fairly within the
mouth of the Cape Fear, at Smith's Island, on the following morning. The
low wooded shores of Carolina approached nearer and nearer, and at eight
o'clock we landed at the ancient town of Wilmington, on the eastern side
of the Cape Fear.
I contemplated spending a day at Wilmington, but circumstances requiring
me to hasten homeward, I was there only during the hour while waiting
for the starting of the rail-way cars for the North. I had but little
opportunity to view the town, where Republicanism was most rife on the
sea-board of North Carolina before and during the Revolution; but by
the kindness of friends there, especially of Edward Kidder, Esq., I am
enabled to give, traditionally and pictorially all that I could have
possibly obtained by a protracted visit.
[Illustration: 8790]
Already I have noticed many stirring events here during the earlier
years of the war; it now remains for me to notice only the British
occupation.
When, toward the close of 1780, Cornwallis prepared to move from his
encampment at Winnsborough, toward North Carolina, he directed
Colonel Balfour, at Charleston, to dispatch a sufficient force to take
possession of Wilmington, that he might have a sea-port for supplies,
while in that state. Major James H. Craig (who was governor general of
Canada in 1807) was sent with four hundred regulars to perform
[[[Craig at Wilmington.--His Flight.--Journey Homeward.--Arrival in New
York.]]]
{781}that service. He took possession of the town without much
resistance, toward the close of January, 1781. He immediately fortified
himself, using the Episcopal church, a strong brick edifice (of the
front of which the engraving is a correct view), for a citadel.
[Illustration: 9791]
Craig held undisturbed possession of Wilmington until the arrival of
Cornwallis, on the seventh of April, after his battle with Greene, at
Guilford. He remained in Wilmington, with his shattered army, eighteen
days, to recruit and to determine upon his future course. His residence
was on the corner of Market and Third Streets, now (1852) the dwelling
of Doctor T. H. Wright. Apprised of Greene's march toward Camden, and
hoping to draw him away from Rawdon, then encamped there, Cornwallis
marched into Virginia, and joined the forces of Arnold and Phillips at
Petersburg.
[Illustration: 9791]
The subsequent movements of the earl, until his surrender at Yorktown,
have been detailed in former chapters.
Major Craig held possession of Wilmington until the autumn of 1781,
when, informed of the surrender of Cornwallis, and the approach of St.
Clair on his way to join Greene, he abandoned Wilmington and fled to
Charleston.
This was the only post in North Carolina held by the British, and with
the flight of Craig all military operations ceased within its borders.
***
The rail-way from Wilmington to Weldon, on the Roanoke, a distance of
one hundred and sixty-two miles, passes through a level pine region,
where little business is done, except gathering of turpentine and the
manufacture of tar. It was a dreary day's ride, for on every side were
interminable pine forests, dotted with swamps and traversed by numerous
streams, all running coastward. We crossed the Neuse at Goldsborough,
eighty-five miles north of Wilmington, and the Tar at Rocky Mount, forty
miles further. At sunset we passed Halifax, **** near the falls of the
Roanoke, and arrived at Weldon at dark. The morning was uncomfortably
warm; the evening was damp and chilly; and when we arrived at Richmond
the next morning, two hundred and forty miles north of Wilmington, a
cold rain was falling, and every thing was incrusted with ice. I tarried
a day at Richmond, another at Washington City, and on the fourth of
February[[1849]] I sat by my own fireside in the city of New York, after
an absence of about eleven weeks, and a journey of almost three thousand
miles. There my long and interesting tour ended, except an occasional
"journey of a day" to some hallowed spot in its vicinity. God, in his
providence, dealt kindly with me, in all that long and devious travel,
for I did not suffer sickness for an hour, and no accident befell me on
the way.
* This church was demolished in 1841, and upon its site a new Protestant
Episcopal church now stands.
** This is from a pencil sketch, by Mr. Charles Burr, of Wilmington.
*** At Elizabeth, higher up on the Cape Fear, in Bladen county, quite
a severe battle was fought in July, 1781, between a few refugee Whigs,
under Colonel Thomas Brown, and a body of Tories. The Whigs forded the
Cape Fear after dark, and before midnight were in deadly conflict with
the Tories. The surprise was complete, and the victory quite easy.
This bold act crushed Tory ascendency in that section of the state. I
received from the venerable Dr. De Rosset, of Wilmington, an interesting
account of a gallant affair on the part of the Americans at a place
called "The Oaks," near Wilmington, in which he, though a lad,
participated. I regret the want of space that precludes the possibility
of giving the narrative here. Like many other similar details, the local
historian must make the record. Dr. De Rosset is a son, I believe, of
the mayor of that name mentioned on page 568. I have also received
(too late for insertion), from the venerable A. M. Hooper, of Crawford,
Alabama, an interesting sketch of the public life of William Hill,
an active patriot of Cape Fear, of whom Josiah Quincy in his journal
(1773), said "though a crown officer, a man replete with sentiments of
general liberty, and warmly attached to the cause of American freedom."
**** Here the Provincial Congress of North Carolina met on the fourth
of April, 1776, and took precedence of all similar assemblies in action
favorable to independence. It was at Halifax that Cornwallis crossed the
Roanoke (see page 547), while on his march to Virginia, in May, 1781.
[[[New York and its Associations.--First Settlement on Manhattan
Island.--Dutch West India Company.]]]
{782}