USA > North Carolina > North Carolina, 1780-'81 : being a history of the invasion of the Carolinas by the British Army under Lord Cornwallis in 1780-'81 > Part 24
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Lord Rawdon, who was in command of that post with 900 men, had been informed by the numerous Tories in that State of General Greene's approach. and, much to Greene's surprise, had six days' notice of his coming and had called in detachments from the Saluda and Broad until his force was fully equal to Greene's army. In addition, he had strengthened his fortifications so that it was impossi- ble to take them by storm. Nothing was left but to set down and endeavor to entice the British com- mander into battle. With this view, on the 20th, Greene advanced to a hill on the Waxhaw road, in half mile of Rawdon's breastworks, but the challenge was not accepted. He then moved his army one and a quarter miles and took post on a rising ground of moderate elevation, known by the name of "Hobkirk's Hill," with his left covered by an impa sable branch and his right approaching a thicket almost impenetrable.
General Greene had lost his four six-pounder cannons at Guilford Court-House, all he had, but "order had been taken for procuring from Oliphant's Mill, at the head-waters of the Catawba, two pieces
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that had been forwarded to that place for repair." One of these he sent to Marion, who had advanced towards Camden, on the fall of Fort Watson (which was the 23di, in order to intercept the approach of Colonel Watson's force, which was marching to rein- force Rawdon. Greene, unfortunately, was too con- fident of the power of General Marion and Colonel Lee to prevent that officer from getting into Camden, if Marion could have a piece of artillery to counter- " act the artillery of Watson. I state this with some precision, because Greene has been much criticised for partinig with this artillery, which he needed so badly at Hobkirk's Hill. General Greene also knew that Colonel Harrison was on his way from Prince Edward Court-House with two other pieces of artillery: these reached him on the 23d. The piece of artillery intended for Marion was sent to Rugeley's Mill. under escort of the North Carolina militia of Read's command. These troops General Greene' designed to send as a reinforcement to General Marion, and Colonel Carrington, in order to get them together at a safe spot, retired eight miles further off than Rugeley's Mill, at a place called Upton's Mill. and this made it difficult for Greene to communicate with him. The conse- quences of this mistake, on the part of Carrington, who was in command of this detached corps, ex- hibited themselves in the hurry in camp, on the morning of the battle, which occurred on the 25th.
I take from Johnson, page 77, the following esti- miate and classification of Greene's force. He says :
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" The whole reg. i. at the battle of Ho t for duty. The ca : White's and Wad : only St, and 56 er artillery also nonti !. 1 commanded by Cops there were not thet : detaching Finley. ; then with the arney One hundred and f.s joined Greene soon : faithfully adhered Ti
volunteers, men 0 might have been a: : had escorted the : Davie. "
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unexpected assault upon our camp was a leading feature in his plan.
"In the morning Carrington joined, with a comforta- ble supply of provisions, which had been rather scarce during the late hurried changes of position. These were issued, and, of course, engaged a portion of the troops, while the residue were employed along the rivulets in washing their clothes, an occupation which had been for some days past impracticable.
"Absorbed in these employments, the period was very propitious to the enemy's object. His advance was never discovered until his van fell upon our pickets. The two in front commanded by Captain Benson, of Maryland, and Captain Morgan, of Virginia, received him hand- somely ; and, retiring in order, disputed bravely every inch of ground, supported by Kirkwood with the remains of the Delaware regiment. This rencounter gave the first announcement of the contest at hand. Disposed for battle by the order of encampment, the American army, notwithstanding its short notice, was quickly ranged for action-an event, although unexpected, of all others the most desirable ; because, in all probability, the readiest for the production of that issue so anxiously coveted by the American General.
"During the contest with the pickets, Greene formed his army. The Virginia brigade, with General Huger at its head, having under him the Lieutenant Colonels Campbell and Hawes, took the right; the Maryland brigade, led by Colonel Williams, seconded by Colonel Gunby, and the Lieutenant Colonels Ford and Howard, occupied the left. Thus all the Continentals, consisting of four regiments, much reduced in strength, were dis- posed in one line, with the artillery, conducted by Colonel
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Harrison, in the centre. The reserve consisted of the cavalry, under Lieutenant Colonel Washington, with a corps of North Carolina militia, about two hundred and fifty, commanded by Colonel Read.
"The British General, pushing before him the pickets and Kirkwood, pressed forward to battle. The king's American regiment on the right, the New York vohin- teers in the centre, and the sixty-third on the left. formed the line of battle. His right wing was supported by Robertson's corps, and his left by the volunteers of Ireland. The reserve consisted of the South Carolina regiment, with a few dragoons, all the cavalry then at Camden. Greene, examining attentively the British disposition, discovered the very narrow front which it presented, and gratified as he was with the opportunity, so unexpectedly offered, of completing, by one blow, his first object, he determined to avail himself of the advant- age given by the mode of attack.
"He directed Lieutenant Colonels Campbell and Ford to turn the enemy's flank ; he ordered the centre regi- ments to advance with fixed bayonets upon him ascend- ing the height ; and detached Lieutenant Colonel Wash- ington with his cavalry to gain his rear. Rawdon no sooner cast his eyes on our disposition than he perceived the danger to which his unequal front exposed him, and bringing up the volunteers of Ireland into line, he remedied the defect, seized by Greene, in time to avert the expected consequence.
"The battle opened from right to left with a vigor which promised a keen and sanguinary contest ; but the supe- riority of our fire, augmented by that from our well- served artillery, must have borne down all opposition, had the American line maintained itself with becoming
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firmness. On the right Huger evidently gained ground; Washington was carrying everything before him in the rear, and Lieutenant Colonel Hawes, with fixed bayonets. conformable to order, was descending the hill ready to fall upon the New York volunteers.
"In this flattering movement, the veteran regiment of Gunby, having first joined in the fire, in violation of orders, paused ; its right falling back. Gunby unfortu- nately directed the disordered battalion to rally by retiring to its right company. Retrograde being the consequence of this order, the British Hine, giving a shout, pressed for- ward with redoubled ardor ; and the regiment of Gunby, considered as the bulwark of the army, never recovered from the panic with which it was at this moment unae- countably seized. The Virginia brigade, and the second regiment of Maryland, with the artillery, notwithstand- ing the shameful abandonment by the first Maryland, maintained the contest bravely. Williams and Gunby, assisted by Lieutenant Colonel Howard, who had so often and so gloriously borne down with this very regiment all opposition, vainly exerted themselves to bring it to order. Not the menaces of the one, nor the expostulations of the other, and the exhortations of the third, not the recollec- tion of its pristine fame, could arouse its cowering spirit. The second Maryland, which had from the commence- ment of the action acted with gallantry, feeling severely the effect produced by the recession of the first, became somewhat deranged ; aud Lieutenant Colonel Ford being unluckily wounded while endeavoring to repress the beginning disorder, this corps also fell back.
"Rawdon's right now gained the summit of the emi- nence, flanking Hawes' regiment, which had undeviat- ingly held its prescribed course, although early in the
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action abandoned on its left by the first Maryland, and now but feebly sustamed on the right by the first Vir- ginia-for this corps had now begun to recede, notwith- standing it preceding success. Greene recalled Hawes, our only unbroken regiment, and finding every effort to reinstate the battle illusory, wisely determined to dimia- ish the ills of the sad and sinaccountable reverse by retiring from the field. Orders were given to this effect, and Lieutenant Colonel Hawes was commanded to cover the broken line.
" The retreat was performed without loss, although the enemy continued to pursue for a few miles. Wash- ington, with his cavalry, retiring from the rear the mo- ment he discovered that our infantry had been forced, came in time to contribute greatly to the safety of the army, having necessarily relinquished most of the fruits of his success. Checking the enemy's efforts to disturb our rear, he at length, by a rapid charge, effectually discomfited the British van and put a stop to further pursuit.
"General Greene, having passed Saunder's Creek, about four miles from the field of battle, encamped for the night, and on the next day proceeded to Rugeley's Mill. . The loss sustained by the respective armies was nearly equal. On the side of America, two hundred and sixty- ' eight were killed, wounded and missing ; on the side of the enemy, two hundred and fifty-eight, including the prisoners brought off by Lieutenant Colonel Washington and those paroled by him on the ground. The British lost no officer of distinction, which was not the case with us. The wound of Lieutenant Colonel Ford proved mortal; and Captain Beatty, of the first Maryland, was killed, than whom the army did not possess an officer of more promise."
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Gordon says "the militia was coming into action. when suddenly a number of the Americans began to retire, though the danger was not apparently great, and everybody seemed ignorant of the cause.">
In the Life and Times of Iredells it is said: "North Carolina soldiers followed Greene's flag to the close of the contest; and I believe that a care- ful examination will disclose the fact that their number has been carelessly stated and greatly 'underrated by our historians. Colonel Read's regi- ment of North Carolinians, under the command of Colonel Washington, greatly distinguished them- selves at the battle of Hobkirk's Hill."
The most brilliant conduct in this unfortunate battle was that of Captain John Smith and his light infantry company. This was a company of 45 select Irishmien, detailed from the Maryland line. not one of whom was over thirty years old. They were intended for critical service in the absence of the Legion of T.ee.
When Greene had withdrawn his line and formed it again in rear of his first position, it left the artil- lery, three pieces, exposed to imminent danger. Captain Smith, with his company of Irishmen, was ordered to defend and secure it at all hazards. The British were ascending the hill with loud shouts, and Coffin, in command of their cavalry, was charg- ing up the road to join in the pursuit. "The matrosses were now quitting the drag-ropes, when General Greene galloped up alone, his aids being
*Gordon, vol. 4, p. S3. +Vol. I p. 504.
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in other portions of the field, and dismounting and seizing the drag-ropes with one hand, whilst he held his horse with the other, exhibited an example which the most timid could not resist. Smith's men arrived, and gathering the drag-ropes in one hand and holding their muskets in the other. they were dragging off the cannons when Coffin rushed up with his cavalry. Smith immediately forming his company in reat of the artillery. poured such a deadly fire into Coffin's face that he retired in con- fusion. Again Coffin rallied his men and with determined courage rushed upon the devoted band. but only to be sent back with shame and defeat. Three times it was renewed with the same result. but in the intervals they continued to remove the guns farther from danger. At length the British infantry advanced and their marksmen in the wood soon began to sacrifice this heroic company: Smith himself was wounded and his 45 men had been reduced to 14. At this instant Coffin charged upon them again and all were either killed or captured. Captain Smith fell into the hands of the enemy. The artillery was for a moment lost, but at this crisis Colonel Washington returned from his circuit in the rear, and in a moment was upon the enemy with his cavalry. They fled before his impetuous onset, and the artillery was redeemed."
Greene had led a Virginia regiment to the charge, twice that day, in person, and exposed himself with reckless courage to the fire of the enemy. He seems to have become desperate over the failure of
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his favorite regiment, the rst Maryland, which had become panic-stricken in the very moment of vic- tory. Even these men, victors of Cowpens and saviors of Guilford Conrt-House. fled before the charge of the British regulars; a most amazing fact, but one that teaches us the duty of charity to the conduct of others, who, under more trying cir- cumstances, might imitate the example. .
A court-martial was convened for the investiga- tion of Gumby's conduct, and its finding was that "Gumby's spirit and activity were unexceptionable; but his order for the regiment to retire was improper and unmilitary, and in all probability the only cause why we did not obtain a complete victory."
In August, Greene wrote "that he found him more blamable than he had represented him in his public letters." Poor fellow! brave, but imprudent and unwise, he lingered awhile with the army, and being mortified by assignment to duty in the rear, he retired from the service, leaving the regiment under Howard, who was the favorite son of fortune.
It is due to Colonel Gunby to say, that Colonel Lee, an accomplished and scientific soldier, defends him and says that "Howard performed the same movement at Cowpens that Gunby attempted to repeat at Hobkirk's Hill"-which is true.
Bancroft censures Greene for " weakening him- self irretrievably" by sending Washington to the enemy's rear and having no protection from the dangers of disaster, and characterizes this maneuver
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as "inconsiderate confidence ;" but Bancroft is not an admirer of General Greene.
Stedman's comment on the result was. that "the victory at Hobkirk's Hill, like thar at Guilford Court-House, although most honorable and glorious to the officers who commanded. and the troops that were engaged, produced no consequences beneficial to the British interest."
My admiration for the enthusiastic courage and distinguished patriotism of Captain John Smith. "the hero of Hobkirk," constrains me to incorporate the following account of him, which I find in John- son's Traditions of the Revolution, by Joseph Johnson, M. D., of Charleston, South Carolina :
"CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH.
"The first Maryland regiment, commanded by Col- onel Gunby, was very highly considered by General Greene : ever ready to encounter danger at the word of command, and ever ready to lead in battle, under the most discouraging circumstances.
"It had conquered at the battle of Cowpens, and acquired the highest distinction at the battle of Guilford: vet, at the battle of Hobkirk, near Camden, they had been thrown into confusion and retreated disgracefully. Captain John Smith, commanding a light infantry com- pany in that regiment, was not with them at that time. He was particularly distinguished at the battle of Guil- ford, as well as that of Hobkirk.
" At the head of his company he charged the enemy's line at Guilford, encountered Colonel Stuart, of the Guards, in the open field, and slew him. He also slew,
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as the British asserted, ou that occasion, two or three of Stuart's men. He had been detached from the Mary- land line by General (rreene, at Hobkirk, for the protec- tion of the artillery, and not only avoided their disgrace on that occasion, but- acquired additional honors.
" His company then consisted of forty-five men, they were all Irishmen, and all under thirty years of age. They continued to defend the retreating artillery, and finally preserved it till Washington came up'with his cavalry at the critical moment when Smitit's men, having been reduced to fifteen, the enemy overpowered them, and all were either killed or taken prisoners. Smith was wounded and captured among the survivors. On being carried into Camden, Lord Rawdon ordered him into close confinement, under a misrepresentation of his con- duet at Guilford, where he was said to have killed two or three men after they had surrendered. The charge having been disproved by the united testimony of Greene, Washington and Howard, he was sent down to Charles- ton on parole and on foot.
"Some persons connected with the British army, in disguise. calling themselves Whigs, seized him a few miles below Camden, stripped him, tied him up and whipped him with switches on his bare back.
"On his arrival in Charleston, his character for bravery being known, he became intimate with a num- ber of British officers of kindred spirits, equally hon- orable and equally brave.
"Dining one day with some of them, an officer was introduced, whom he immediately recognized as one of those who had treated him so ignominiously. Smith took occasion to say that their whole deportment to him had been so honorable, that it was a pity that any dis-
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honorable follow should intrude among them. T !. officers called upon him to explain, as they suffered no such intrusion into their society.
" He accordingly pointed out the man, and declared the treatment received from hem and his associates, while a prisoner on parole.
... Then kick him, Smith,' was the general reply ; and Smith hai the gratification of kicking the rascal out of the company.
" Many years after these events I knew Captain Smith well; he was styled "the hem of Hobkirk,' and com- missioned by President John Adams in the armament against France."
But great as the mortification and disappointment of General Greene was, at his defeat. it did not alter his plan to drive the enemy from Camden. On the day after the battle he wrote General Marion, " We are now within five miles of Camden, and shall closely invest it in a day or two again." To the French minister he wrote. " We fight, get beat, rise and fight again."
There is one feature of Greene's usual consolatory letters that is "conspicuously absent" from his correspondence in regard to Hobkirk Hill. He had no militia to scold; no seape-goat of citizen soldiery.
He tried the militia in front at Guilford Court- House and on them he put the blame. He thought to reverse it at Hobkirk Hill, but the result was worse, and subsequently at Eutaw he returned to the plan of Cowpens and Guilford. There was a
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Higher Power whose wisdom and providence was ordaining all these things for good, and though mysterious in His ways, the liberty of a mighty christian people was "worked out" through all these tribulations and delays.
It is not my purpose to record all the subordinate military movements and actions of General Greene's army in South Carolina, but only such as will disclose the part taken by North Carolina in this eventful campaign. I shall, therefore, only give a rapid review of those minor affairs, that the reader may not lose the thread of the history.
On the 26th the news of the fall of Fort Watson reached the army of Greene at Gum Swamp. "It was joyfully announced in orders next day and the names of Marion and Lee were given out as the countersigns in honor of the captors of that fortifi- cation."
Greene, with all his greatness, was capricions and irritable. His ill humor led him into incon- sistencies, which it had been well that his biographers had not made public. In five days after this bril- liant achievement of the modest and devoted Marion. General Greene writes to President Reed :
"Generals Sumter and Marion have a few people who adhere to them, perhaps more from a desire and the opportunity of plundering than from any inclination to support the independence of the United States."
If there was one trait in Marion's character con- spicuous above all others, it was his pure and simple
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devotion to principle and his abhorrence of the "plunderer" in warfare. No opportunity for plun- der wasever afforded by him. A more unfounded and grosser wrong was never done to an unselfish patriot and his followers than this. It was, I regret to observe, a custom of General Greene, to reflect on Southern soldiers, when writing private letters to his Northern friends. Pity it is that the unguarded expressions of his great mind, when irritated by disappointment, should have been paraded as his- tory. No doubt that General Greene himself regretted these expressions in after life. I allude to them "more in sorrow than in anger," but this peculiar characteristic is necessary to be understood in order to weigh correctly similar expressions of his in regard to North Carolina troops.
Colonel Watson, whose junction with Rawdon General Marion and Colonel Lee had in vain en- deavored to prevent, entered Camden on the -th of May. With this substantial reinforcement, which gave him a superiority over Greene, he marched out to give him battle, but the American comman- der skillfully avoided action.
The British commander, having lost Fort Wat- son on the Santee, and finding his communication with Charleston entirely cut off, determined to abandon Camden.
"On the roth May, after destroying all public buildings and stores, and many private houses, the British abandoned Camden never to hold it again."
On the rith the post at Orangeburg, held by
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sixty British militia and twelve regulars, surren- dered to Suiter. Rawdon marched down the Santee on the north side. anxious to save the gar- rison at Fort Motte. to which Marion had laid siege. To hasten its surrender, Rebecca Motte, the owner of the house in which they were quartered, on the 12th, brought into camp a bow and a bundle of Indian arrows, and when the arrows had carried fire to her own abode, the garrison of 165 men sur- rendered. Two days later the British evacuated their post at Nelson's Ferry. On the 15th, Fort Granby, with 352 tuen, capitulated. General Marion turned his army against Georgetown, and on the first night after the Americans had broken ground, the British retreated to Charleston. The troops under Rawdon did not halt until they reached Monk's Corner."#
Thus, in less than one month after General Greene appeared before Camden, he had compelled the British General to evacuate that important post, forced the submission of all the intermediate posts, and was now upon the banks of the Congaree, in the heart of South Carolina. ready to advance upon Ninety-Six (the only remaining fortress in that State. except Charleston, in the enemy's posses- sion), and to detach a force against Augusta, in Georgia; comprehending in this decisive effort the completion of the deliverance of the two lost States, except the two fortified towns of Charleston and Savannah-safe because the enemy ruled at sea.+
*Bancroft, vol. 5. 1. 5'0. iLee's Memoirs. p. 352.
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General Pickens, with such force as he had col- lected in the upper districts, had been ordered to concentrate his force before Augusta, then defended by Colonel Brown, an American lovalist.
. General Greene now attached Maior Pinketham Eaton, of North Carolina. with his 200 men, militia from Guilford Court-House, to Lee's Legion, and commanded Lee to join Pickens at Augusta.
On the 21st Lee captured Fort Galphin, below Augusta, by a stratagem. Appearing before it with a very small force, the garrison sallied out in pursuit, when Captain Rudolph, who was concealed. rushed into the fort. Those outside surrendered. This gave the Americans "powder, ball, small arms, liquor, salt, blankets," and other valuable and much needed articles.
The defences at Augusta were Fort Cornwallis, in the centre of the town, and Fort Grierson, a half mile up the Savannah River. The regulars were with Brown in Fort Cornwallis, and the loyalist militia in Fort Grierson.
It was determined by General Pickens to attack Fort Grierson first, and carry it by storni. Colonel Lee gives the following graphic account of the affair, which took place June the 5th, 1781 :
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