USA > Maryland > Chronicles of colonial Maryland, with illustrations > Part 25
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33
284
COLONIAL MARYLAND
melancholy scene, conscious, as they must have been, that at least to the great majority, it was a lasting farewell. On the 20th of June they reached Hillsboro, North Carolina, where Baron DeKalb, commanding them, halted for a greatly needed rest, and also to await the arrival of troops from Virginia and North Carolina, under Stevens and Caswell, that were to form a juncture there. Congress, against the advice of Washing- ton, had given the commands of the Southern army to Gates and early in July he arrived at Hillsboro, assumed the com- mand and at once began a series of blunders which brought intense suffering to his men, enormous loss of life in his ranks and soon his own downfall. Fresh from his Virginia farm, to which he had some time before retired, he seemed utterly incapable of appreciating the condition and the needs of an army that had endured the tribulations of such a march, chief among which being a lack of food, which much of the time was so marked, that it could scarcely subsist. His ob- jective point was Camden, the chief land gateway of South Carolina, and about 200 miles away. In spite of the run down condition of that part of the army which had made the long journey from the north, and against a protest of the sub- ordinate officers, he selected a line of march through a barren wilderness in which food and forage were so scarce that when he reached Camden, he had nearly 1,000 men from the Mary- land Line alone on the sick list, either from insufficient food, or from having largely to subsist on green fruit and corn, too young to eat, the first crop of the season being over and gone, and his horses were in such a miserable condition that they were unfit for service. The reason assigned for this wantonly cruel decision was that it was a little nearer, though it was freely admitted that the route by Charlotte, was through a rich, fertile country, with an abundance of food, no Tories to molest the travel and patriotic friends to care for the sick and .injured. When he reached Camden there was only a small body of the British there, and they could easily have been routed, and the South Carolina gateway taken, but the irresolute Gates hesitated and put off action until it was too late, for soon Cornwallis, with his army of veterans was
285
THE MARYLAND LINE
on the scene and occupying the choice of positions. After a council of war, Gates was strongly advised to move to Claremont, near by, where a strong position could be ob- tained, and force a battle there, but in his egotism and over- weening confidence in himself, he ignored the suggestion. Not only that, but to still further weaken his already badly crippled army he sent 400 of his best Maryland men to join Sumter in an effort to capture a British wagon train on its way from Charleston. Under these conditions, the line of bat- tle was formed, and early in the morning on the 16th of August, the engagement commenced. DeKalb, with the sec- ond Maryland and Delaware troops formed the right wing, the Virginia militia, under Stevens, the left, the North Caro- lina militia under Caswell, the center, the first Maryland un- der Smallwood, being the reserve, Gates himself occupying a position between the right wing and the reserve. The order was for the American left to open fire on the British right, in other words, a lot of raw Virginia recruits who had just been mustered in and who had never seen a battle, were ex- pected to start the engagement against the seared veterans of England, a plan almost certain to insure defeat. It has been aptly said: "This work should have been given to those splen- did Maryland troops that had gone to help Sumter" and yet, so confident was Gates of success that he did not even take the always wise precaution of providing for a retreat, should he be routed. Colonel Otho Holland Williams of the Mary- land Line, in order to re-assure the young Virginians, took the advance with about fifty volunteers and drew the enemy's fire. Stevens now moved forward, but when the enemy opened upon his untried men, they did so with such a furious rush that the Virginians at once became panic stricken, and throwing down their arms, fled in wild confusion. The panic spread and the North Carolina troops soon followed their example, except two regiments, and they did not tarry long. Gates, too, was car- ried off by this wave of excitement and disorder, and he did not stop until he reached Hillsboro, nearly 200 miles away. This left the Maryland Line and the Delaware troops alone on the field. Smallwood's Maryland was quickly advanced
286
COLONIAL MARYLAND
to take the place of the flying militia, and a desperate struggle ensued. The enemy, time and again, recoiled under the gall- ing fire and deadly bayonet charges which DeKalb and Small- wood, Gist, Howard and Williams, poured into its ranks, and at times it seemed as if the day might yet be retrieved. Cornwallis, knowing the vigor and the valor of the men be- fore him, now brought his whole army to bear upon them, and with such inequality in numbers, the attack could not longer be resisted, and what was left of the brave Maryland and Delaware heroes beat a retreat into the dismal swamps of South Carolina. An order to retreat was long past due, and had DeKalb known that Gates had fled, as the officer second in command, he would doubtless have given the order and thus saved a useless slaughter of gallant men, and perhaps his own life, of honored memory and so important to the cause of American Liberty, for it was not until the final bayonet charge was made on that eventful day, when at the head of the sec- ond Maryland and Delaware, he drove back the heavy columns of the British and took fifty prisoners, that the manly figure of the French patriot and soldier, General Baron DeKalb, fell, after receiving eleven wounds, and from which, on the third day thereafter, he died.
The loss of the Maryland Line in this disastrous engage- ment was about 600 killed, wounded and taken prisoners, with about 1,000 stand of arms and all their field pieces, while the Delaware troops, co-operating with it, were sadly reduced to two companies. The British loss was about 350 killed and wounded. For their "Exemplary skill and bravery", at Cam- den, Smallwood and Gist received a vote of thanks from Congress, and Smallwood was promoted from a Brigadier to a Major-General. John Fiske says: "Gates' flight was a singular dramatic and appropriate end to his silly career, but our censure should be directed to the wretched generalship by which the catastrophe was prepared; to the wrong choice of roads, the fatal hesitation at the critical moment, the weak- ening of the army on the eve of battle, and above all, to the rashness of fighting at all after the true state of affairs had be- come known If the 400 Maryland regulars who had
287
THE MARYLAND LINE
been sent to help General Sumter had remained with the main army and been entrusted with the assault on the British right, the result of this battle would doubtless have been very different. It might not have been a victory, but it surely would not have been a rout".
The seemingly senseless and criminally careless conduct of Gates at Camden was made the subject of investigation by Congress. He was acquitted, but before he was re-instated, two years after, the war was practically over.
General Nathaniel Green superceded Gates in command of the Southern Army at the suggestion of Washington, who had urged his appointment upon Congress when Gates was first assigned to that position. He assumed the command early in December. In the meantime, Smallwood, who had succeeded DeKalb as Commander of the Maryland Line, and as such, had become the second in command of the Southern Army, was active in collecting and assigning to their respective com- mands, the broken and shattered fragments of the army, the places of rendezvous being Salisbury and Hillsboro, North Carolina. Of the Maryland Line there were only 1052 men, officers, rank and file, who reported for duty, and only 189, all told, of the Delaware regiment. Gist, with a corps of officers, was hurried to Maryland to recruit the greatly shat- tered Maryland Line, 504 new men being Maryland's ap- portionment.
Early in October this had been accomplished and Gist was on his way to the field with his men, and new clothes for those already there.
Virginia and the Carolinas now fully realized that they were distinctly in the war zone and that there was imperative need for action. There recruiting stations became exceedingly active and large bodies of men were mustered in and armed. The legislature of North Carolina at this critical period, paid General Smallwood the high and very unusual compliment of requesting him to take charge of the military department of that state. This he did for a time, long enough at least to discipline and prepare her army for effective service, Colonel Otho H. Williams in the meantime being placed in command of the Maryland Line.
288
COLONIAL MARYLAND
While these preparations for the ensuing campaign were going on, much transpired at the center, some of the events being of great importance. The provision train of forty wag- ons under heavy convoy, which had been captured by Sumter and the four hundred Maryland men which Gates had sent to his aid the day before Camden, was surprised by the dashing Tarleton with his British cavalry and completely routed with heavy loss, the train re-captured and the prisoners released. Sumter narrowly escaping with about 300 men, and Colonel Woolford, of the Maryland Line was wounded and taken pris- oner. As a counterpart of this, Sumter, a little later, fell upon a detachment of British, took 26 prisoners and released 150 Maryland men taken at Camden, and who were being conveyed down the coast.
Next came King's Mountain, the 7th of October. The sturdy mountaineers living on the frontiers of North Carolina and Southwestern Virginia, had been appealed to for aid to the American cause, but in vain, until they received a mes- sage from the British that upon the first attempt at military organization, their country would be invaded and devastated and the leaders of the movement hung, a threat which their Scotch-Irish and Huguenot blood would not stand. They did not have to organize, for they had been brought up on war, and Indian war at that, and the first lessons in their code were: "Become a sharp shooter, have the rifle always ready and be prepared to march on a moment's notice". Hearing that the distinguished British officer, General Ferguson, with about 1,100 men, was in the vicinity of King's Mountain, on the westerly border line of North and South Carolina, about 1,000 of these daring yeomanry under Campbell, Seiver, Shelby, Williams and McDowell, hastily made ready and started in hot pursuit to let Ferguson know that the time for the threatened hanging to commence was now at hand. Ferguson keenly appreciated the gravity of the situation and determined to take refuge on the top of King's Mountain, a position which he regarded as unassailable, and so it proba- bly would have been to ordinary troops, but not so to the mountain climbers before him. The cone shaped mountain
289
THE MARYLAND LINE
was approachable on three sides, the fourth being a precipice. Dismounting and tying their horses, they divided into three columns. The center was to engage the enemy, and the right and left, ascending by different directions, were to press for- ward and thus completely hem in Ferguson on three sides, the precipice taking care of the fourth side. Like hungry wolves after prey, they started on the mountain climb. As soon as discovered, Ferguson poured a heavy fire upon the approaching center column, but using the trees as breastworks as far as possible, this had but little effect, while darting out here and there, Ferguson's men one by one were felled. The summit reached by all three divisions and the enemy was sur- rounded, but a terrific battle ensued, lasting over an hour. The brave Ferguson was killed, and the enemy completely dis- concerted, the entire force that survived the fearful attack surrendered. Of the British 389 were killed and wounded and 716 were taken prisoners with 1,000 stand of arms. The Americans lost 28 killed and 60 wounded. The yeomanry after delivering up their prisoners and captured arms, returned to their homes. With this one crushing blow to Cornwallis, they seemed supremely satisfied, and with the exception of William Campbell, do not again appear in the drama of the Revolution.
CAMPAIGN OF 1781
The Southern campaign of 1781, destined to be so fruit- ful in results, started out under unfavorable auspices. The army was small and much sickness prevailed. But the spirits of the men were bright and hopeful, and they had with them the sagacious and resourceful Green in command, with Small- wood, Gist, Williams and Howard, Morgan, Light Horse Harry Lee and William Washington, at the head of their respective commands. Green's army, however, was too small to fight Cornwallis in a drawn battle, and he wanted to get the forces of the enemy divided. To that end, Green divided his own army, placing Morgan in command of a division consisting of the Maryland Line, the Virginia troops and Colonel Wil-
290
COLONIAL MARYLAND
liam Washington's Cavalry, and sent him in the western section of South Carolina. This left the position of Corn- wallis a critical one. He could not permit Morgan to run around unopposed, and yet, to go after him, would leave Green with the coast clear to fall upon Charleston. He was, therefore, compelled to do what Green wanted, di- vide his army. This he did and dispatched that daring British Cavalryman Tarleton, at the head of one division of the British Army in pursuit of Morgan, himself remaining to look after Green. Tarleton overtook Morgan at Cowpens, then a noted mountain cow pasture, and not far from the fam- ous battle-ground of King's Mountain. The lines were drawn, and there on the 17th of January, was fought one of the most desperate battles of the Revolution. Colonel John Eager How- ard was in command of the Maryland Line, which again cov- ered itself with glory. After the battle had been raging for over an hour, with varying fortunes, Morgan ordered that a stronger position be taken. This the, enemy construed as a retreat, and rushed down upon Howard's Maryland with such fearful fe- rocity, that he was compelled to check it. Howard quickly ordered his men to "Bout face", and the turn being as quickly made, he poured such an irresistible and deadly volley into the enemy's ranks that it soon made the astonished British re- coil, and at this crucial moment, he gave the order to charge, and a desperate charge it was. With fixed bayonets and with unfaltering determination and overpowering impetuosity, they dashed double quick upon the enemy, broke their ranks and forced the surrender of every regiment of infantry on the field, the hero of Cowpens having at one time the swords of seven officers who had surrendered to him. While Howard was thus engaged with the infantry, Colonel Washington was waging a fearful warfare upon the cavalry of Tarleton, and which after being badly cut to pieces, surrendered, only Tarle- ton himself, with a wound inflicted by Col. Washington's own sword, marvelously escaping with a few men. The British loss was 230 killed and wounded and 600 prisoners, two field pieces and 1,000 stand of arms. The American loss being
291
THE MARYLAND LINE
less than 100 killed and wounded. Congress ordered a gold medal for Morgan and silver medals each for Howard and Washington.
This was an irreparable blow to the enemy and one that changed its entire course of events. Cornwallis, believing that Morgan, with his prisoners, could not move rapidly, deter- mined to follow him up and re-capture his men, but Morgan, suspecting this, lost no time in moving northward. The pur- suit was a hot one. When the Catawba river was reached, Morgan had only two hours before passed over. The river was high, and as it was now night, Cornwallis concluded to wait until morning, but during the night rain had so swollen the river that he was delayed there two days, a similar ex- perience having been encountered when he reached the Yad- kin. But the British commander was bent upon his prey and as soon as he could, crossed the river and resumed his march. By this time Green had heard of the victory at Cow- pens and knew of Morgan's movement and of the pursuit of Cornwallis. Ordering his main army to move north as far as Guilford, he dashed across the country over a hundred miles with a few cavalrymen, to join Morgan and to take charge himself of the retreat. Cornwallis, to hasten his movements, burned his heavy baggage, but Morgan had now sent the prisoners on ahead to be hastened to Virginia, and no longer encumbered with them, he could travel as fast as Cornwallis, and yet, he need only move fast enough to keep beyond the lines of danger, for each day that Cornwallis followed under the deluded hope that the next would bring him his coveted goal, drew him that much further from his base of supplies, weakened his power and diminished his chances of obtaining re-inforcements. At Guilford a juncture was formed with Green's main army, which he had ordered to meet him there. It had been Green's intention, if Cornwallis followed him as far north as Guilford, to halt there and give him battle, and to that end, several days before had requested that he be re- inforced with Virginia troops then quite nearby. But Steu- bens and Smallwood, who had been sent to Virginia to check
292
COLONIAL MARYLAND
the invasion of Arnold, could not spare the troops. Green, knowing that a new regiment from Maryland was on its way, and that one from Virginia just recruited, would soon reach him, concluded to move on, get within the lines of Virginia about seventy miles away, and there await the arrival of his re-inforcements. This became the desperate part of the strug- gle, for Green now had the main army to move, which being encumbered with its artillery and heavy stores, could only be moved slowly, and this in spite of the fact that Cornwallis had caught up and was right on his heels. It was a desperate situation, and the only way to prevent the little Southern army now from being crushed, was to re-enact the part which the Maryland Line had played in the drama of Long Island and hold the enemy at bay while the retreat could be made. This perilous duty was assigned to Colonel Otho Holland Williams of Maryland, commanding Howard's Maryland, Washington's Cavalry and Lee's Legion, in all about 700 men, but the very flower of the army, and his skillfullness in strategy and masterly manoeuvers mark it as one of the most brilliant achievements of the war. Williams throwing himself between the two armies, so harassed and held back Cornwal- lis, and so baffled and foiled him, misleading and enticing him at one time twenty miles away from Green's line of march, that on the evening of the fourth day Green had reached and crossed the river Dan and was safely within the lines of Virginia without the loss of a man. This accomplished, Wil- liams again built his campfires in front of the enemy, but at midnight slipped away, crossed the river and joined the army on the Virginia side, taking with him the last boat on the North Carolina shore. And thus, too, it was that, by the great military genius of Williams and the soldierly bearing of his men, with only time for one meal a day and six hours out of every forty-eight for rest, the Southern army was saved, and that against British veterans under the ablest of all the English commanders. When Cornwallis awoke in the morning great was his chagrin and dismay to find that Williams had played the same elusive camp fire trick on him that Washington
293
THE MARYLAND LINE
had done at Trenton. He started in pursuit, but when he reached the Dan he found its broad and turbulent waters bid him defi- ance, that the Southern Army was resting within the lines of hospitable Virginia and that every boat was securely moored to her friendly shores.
The British commander, fatigued, dejected and chafed with disappointment, now fell back upon Hillsboro to rest liis men and to contemplate his own predicament, into which his enthusiasm to regain his captured men had caused him to be led. In a hostile state where he could not stay, and yet knew not how or where to go, his army greatly reduced, and more than 200 miles from his supplies, were the chilling facts that stared him squarely in the face-truly a critical condi- tion. But, he was equal to the occasion, for a time at least. He shortly issued a proclamation that he had driven the Amer- ican Army out of North Carolina, had conquered the state and invited all Tories to organize and join the Royal stand- ard. Green, now re-inforced with the new Maryland regi- ment, under Colonel Benjamin Ford and the Virginia militia under General Lawson, fearing the effect of the proclamation and to prove that it was only the empty clamor of despera- tion, re-crossed the Dan and fell back upon Guilford Court House, not far from the lines of the enemy. Hearing that Tarleton, who so narrowly escaped at Cowpens, was recruiting large numbers of Tories, Green dispatched Lee, with his dragoons, two companies of Maryland men and some South Carolina troops, to intercept him. On their way they met about 400 Tories who thought they were meeting Tarleton and before they realized the mistake, they were surrounded and cut to pieces, and thus for a time was put an end to Tory enlistments in North Carolina.
Green was now ready for another battle and invited it at Guilford Court House, where on the 13th of March, a desperate engagement was fought. The enemy opened on the Americans' first line, composed of North Carolina troops, but they gave way in wild confusion, though sentinels were posted in the rear to shoot any that attempted to run. The attack was now concentrated on the second line, composed of Virginia
294
COLONIAL MARYLAND
militia and well did they maintain their position. But it be- came too severe and after a most stubborn resistance they were driven back and compelled to give way. This left the third line, consisting of the first and second Maryland, flanked by the Delaware troops, some Virginia continentals and Wash- ington's cavalry alone on the field. Cornwallis, greatly cheered by the action of the North Carolina and Virginia regiments fell upon the Maryland Line with terrific force, but like a roaring torrent the first Maryland, that steady old guard of the Revolution, broke through the ranks of the opposing column with fixed bayonets and drove it headlong from the field, mor- tally wounding the brave Colonel Stewart, its commander. In the heat of the attack Colonel Gunby of the Maryland Line, had his horse shot. He now attempted to follow on foot, but such was the impetuosity of the charge Howard was making, he never caught up. The second Maryland, raw recruits and who had just enlisted and who had never seen a battle, moved forward with alacrity and resolution, but early in the action, Colonel Ford, its commander fell, and left with- out a leader, when the heavy artillery was turned on them they fell back, Washington's cavalry retrieving the moment of dis- order and saved their cannon. Green realizing that he could not win the battle with his limited force without risking the loss of his best men, ordered the army to withdraw from the field, and the retreat was made in splendid order. The Amer- ican loss was about 400 killed and wounded, and the British about 600, a loss which so crippled Cornwallis and knowing that he could not get back to his base of supplies, left such of his wounded as could not travel to the mercy of the Southern Army, and hurried off to Wilmington, which was heavily garrisoned. Green thought of following him, but much of his army being barefooted and literally nothing less than a set of "ragamuffins" it was in no condition to make another rapid march.
Cornwallis now concluded to abandon the Carolinas and proceed to Virginia to join Arnold, and with the combined force, try to reduce the Old Dominion to a state of submission to the Royal Government.
295
THE MARYLAND LINE
While the departure of Cornwallis left North Carolina free from British invasion, South Carolina and Georgia were still within the grasp of the enemy, and Green now proposed to redeem them by forcing the evacuation of the inland forts and strongholds through which both states were being largely held. Camden was the first of these in importance, and Green started out to besiege it, but finding Lord Rawdon who was in command, too heavily suported to warrant an attack, moved off to Hobkerk's Hill, two miles away. The next morning, while the Americans were getting breakfast, and some washing their clothes after their long march, Rawdon surprised and routed them. In this engagement, Gunby, then at the head of the first Maryland, made the mistake of ordering his men while bravely charging the enemy to retire to another position, which, being misunderstood for an order to retreat, resulted in confusion, and perhaps in the loss of the day, at least the latter was of the opinion of Green. In his report to the President of Con- gress, he said : "The troops were not to blame. Gunby was the sole cause of the defeat We would have had Lord Raw- don and his whole command prisoners in three minutes if Colonel Gunby had not ordered his regiment to retire the greater part of which were advancing rapidly at the time they were ordered off. Simultaneously with Green's intended siege of Fort Camden, Lee, with his cavalry, was sent to co-operate with Marion in the reduction of Fort Watson, standing about half way between Camden and Charleston, which was success- fully accomplished. Rawdon's line of communication with the coast, by the fall of Fort Watson, being thus cut off, he was compelled after all to vacate Camden, leave it to the Ameri- cans and move a little nearer Charleston. While Green was now giving his men a much needed rest after a march of nearly two hundred miles, Lee, Marion and Sumter, were occupied in storming the numerous strong holds in the interior of South Carolina and Georgia, and in quick succession re- duced all of them, Augusta included, except the one known as "Ninety Six". This Green now proceeded to attack, but it was too heavily entrenched and manned, for besides its own gar-
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.