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 26
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"We are now in camp half way between the Nation Ford on the Catawba, and Fish Dam Ford on Broad River, in a fine situation ; plenty of good water. It hath one failing -- it will not make grogg. The General seems very umeasy about the delay of the drafts of Salisbury district and the desertions that frequently happen by reason of the forced number of Tories into the service, and as soon as they receive the bounty they desert. I have received nigh 300 men and will not have above two hundred in the field. I did everything in my power to bring out the drafts of this district, but all to no purpose; there is one-half at home yet, and remain without molestation ; as for clothing, there was little or none
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sent, fit for a negro to wear, except from Rowan. I am sorry that I ever had anything to do with such slothful officers and neglected soldiers ; there is a number of them now almost naked, and when cold weather sets in they must be discharged, for no officer would pretend to put them on duty: The neglects that we have labored under heretofore, together with the present, makes the service very disagreeable to every officer in camp ; weare without money, clothing, or any kind of nourish- ment for our sick, not one gill of rum, sugar or coffee, 110 tents or camp kettles or canteens, no doctor, no medicine. Under these circumstances we must become very indurable.
"I wish it had been my lot to have gone with you to Virginia, where we would have been under your imme- diate care, and shared the fate of the other drafts and other officers of the State. I am fully satisfied that you were not acquainted with our circumstances here, or otherwise it would have been removed. I have received yours of the rath inst .. directing me to order the Lewis' to the field again; one is dead, the other is a member of the Assembly, and Joel resigned and denies serving any longer: I am afraid that in a short time you will have but few officers in the field, by reason of the shameful neglect of the State. We seem rather a burden than a benefit to them; we are tossed to and fro like a ship in a storm. We cannot learn what has become of Major Eaton's men; Saunders has a few to the southward of this.
"McCree, Lytle and Brevard were sent back with the prisoners, to Salisbury; I have about ninety (of Eaton's men) in camp. I will do my best to gather them all to camp, if possible, and make you a full return."
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Since the gallant Major's death. on the 5th of June, at Augusta, his command seems to have been broken into several detachments, and Colonel Arm- strong had not been able to gather up more than "ninety" of them. The others were to the " south- ward."
Colonel Armstrong disappears now from our correspondence until after the battle of Eutaw Springs. In July, 1782, he apologizes for delay and excuses himself on the ground that he "had the misfortune to be wounded in a duel with Major Lewis, and that his wounds were not yet well." It may be it grew out of the order alluded to in the above letter.
General Summer was at Frohawk's Mill, in Mecklenburg County, on the 16th July, lamenting the delay of Major Murfree and Captain Doherty : but his heart, no doubt, leaped for joy when he received the gladsome intelligence, contained in a letter from "J. Prvor, Charlottesville, Virginia," dated July roth, saying :
"Some days since I was ordered by the Honorable Major General Marquis de Lafayette to send on 300 stands of arms to you by the most safe and convenient route. The movements of a detachment of the enemy on the south side of James River proved a great obstacle, . but since hearing they had passed toward the southward, I have ventured them on under the care of Mr. Edward Moore, whose precaution and diligence, I am in hopes, will convey them safe, and in time, to your camp.
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" Two hundred and fifty-three of the arms are very fine and complete, seat from Philadelphia, intended for Virginia new levies, of which I must beg the greatest care be taken. Forty-seven are not so complete."
It was these fine muskets that did the fine work at Eutaw Springs.
Colonel John B. Ashe was ready, on the 14th day of July, to march for Greene's camp, and received from General Sumner the following order, to be executed on his arrival :
" You are to take charge of all the Continental troops from this State in camp now, under the command of Major John Armstrong, and incorporate them as of the first regiment of the four Continental regiments of Con- tinental troops of this State."
On the same day, 14th of July, Sumner writes Governor Burke a letter, dated from Salisbury:
"My expectation of being supplied with arms is now otherwise, 300 wanting repairs. We shall, however, be able to march, three hundred (300) rank and file, equipped, except bayonets, this evening (14th July) or very early to-morrow morning. I shall leave Major Hogg and Major Blount at this place, who are to follow as soon as a number of these muskets can be put in repair. I have left Captain Chapman at Harrisburg Station, who is also to act as a detail officer there until further orders. Major Murfree, of Edenton district, and
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Captain Doherty, have not yet joined me, but might be far advanced on their march."
General Summer had reached Hanging Rock. South Carolina, by July goth, as he informs Gov- ernor Burke.
I copy the following from Major Blount :
"SALISBURY, August ist, 1781.
"'SIR :- I have the pleasure to inform you that Captain Goodman arrived at this post on the 28th (July) with about 120 men, on the same day the arms arrived from Virginia, which I shall take on to you unless ordered to the contrary. I shall be able to leave this place in about five days, and not sooner. Many of the soldiers are barefooted and can't march without shoes. I have pro- cured an order from the clothes General for as many shoes as will do them by sending to Davidson's for them.
"You should have been furnished with a general return of what men there are at this post, but Captain Goodman has not time to make one since he arrived. If you have any order relative to the arms or the troops, I should be happy to receive them as soon as possible.
"I am sir, yours, " READING BLOUNT. " To General Sumner."
General Summer had now taken the field in person, his Lieutenants, Ashe and Armstrong, were with him, and Blount was ready to follow from Salisbury in five days.
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From the foregoing correspondence we learn that, June 13th, 178r. Colonel John Armstrong had
sent forward to Greene's camp, . - ISO
He followed very soon with 200
General Sumner left Salisbury. July 14th, with 300 August the ist. 17SI, Major Blount had ready -
- - to march. - - 120
Total, Soo The Guilford Court-House militia, with Greene were - - -
- - 90 "To the southward" there was another detach - ment of this milititia, about - IIO
Aggregate, - - 1000 men, whom North Carolina sent forward from the 6th of April to the ist of August, 1781, as regulars. Perhaps 200 deserted or were unfit for active service, leaving at least Soo effective men with Greene, in August, 1781, under the command of General Sumner.
We have no further correspondence showing the route taken by these troops. Fighting and march- ing were resumed, and the pen, never fertile in Summer's hand, seems to have been put away. They no doubt reached General Greene's camp at the High Hills of the Santee in a fortnight, and while in this salubrious location and enjoying immunity from battle, they received training, drill- ing, and exercise necessary to "mechanize" the soldier. Then they met with the men of Eaton's
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battalion and heard them recount their exploits at Augusta, and repeat the sad tale of their leader's death, and how his comrades of all arms grieved over his untimely fate. These new levies learned from the old veterans, who bad followed Greene so long, that the British were not invincible, even with the bayonet in their hands, and were encouraged to imitate the day.of Cowpens. They saw what splendid soldiers experience and discipline had made out of the militia of Guilford Court-House, and how nobly those men had wiped out their reproach in the charge on Fort Grierson, and they were eager to share in that glory on the next field of battle. Sumner, thoughtful of all their necessities and comforts, rigid in discipline, sharing in their toil and privations and giving them an example of endurance and courage, infused into them his own heroic spirit. Ashe. Armstrong and Blount, all veteran soldiers, who had passed through the dangers of many battles, with reputations for exalted courage, were models for their imitation, and that esprit de corps, so necessary to confidence, and combined attack or defence, was generated among officers and men around the camp-fires of the "Hills," and on the parade grounds of the regiments. Mutual acquaint- ance, friendship and State pride grew up among them and united them as one man, in one cause, with one glorious end in view-the independence of the American colonies.
In addition to this brigade of North Carolina regulars, there were five hundred North Carolina
:
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militia who joined General Greene" at this camp, but it was not possible to arm but two hundred of them. North Carolina bad sent more troops to the field than the General Government and the States combined could arm.
These, however, were not all the North Caroli- nians in this camp. General Sumter had been authorized by Governor Rutlege to raise a brigade of regulars and most of these men had been recruited in North Carolina. I state this upon the authority of Joseph Graham, and it is fully sustained by cotemporary evidence. in the University Maga- zine, June, 1856, the narrative of General Graham is published as follows:
"Shortly after the battle of Guilford ( March 15th, 1781), Governor Rutlege, of South Carolina, who had been invested with full power by the Legislature of that State, authorized General Sumter to raise a brigade of State troops for the term of ten months, each man to find his own clothing. horse, arms and equipments, but to be found in forage and rations by the public, and receive a grown negro for his pay. Colonel William Polk. Wade Hampton. William Hill and Middleton, commanded. The greater part of the regiments of Polk, Hampton and Hill were raised in the, then, coun- ties of Mecklenburg and Rowan, between the Yadkin and Catawba. The act of Assembly of North Caro- lina, 1781, exempted those counties from levies, for the Continental line, which had furnished men for General Sumter. Many of them might be considered
*Johnson, vol. 2, p. 203.
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as seasoned to a camp life, and from the services they had seen, accustomed to endure hardships and privations and encounter dangers. How well they acted their part in the summer of 1;SI, until after the battle of Eutaw, is recorded in the history of the war within the State of South Carolina. They sustained considerable loss of both officers and men in that action, in the autumn ; but suffered much more from the climate in that low country. Many of them never returned."
In another communication from General Graham. published in the University Magazine of October, 1855, he says:
"It may further be remembered that the brigade of State troops raised by the State of South Carolina, in the spring of 1781, where each man furnished his own horse and military equipments, the regiments commanded by Colonels Po'k, Hampton and Middleton, were mostly raised in the counties aforesaid.
"It is admitted that some, of both officers and soldiers, of the militia of South Carolina, were as brave and enterprising as ever went to a field of battle, but those well affected to the cause of independence were but fer in number.
"The most of the lower districts (except Marion's brigade) were endeavoring to save their property, either by moving to North Carolina or Virginia, or the greater number by taking protection from the enemy.
"From the conduct of the few, before alluded to (who were not disaffected), Ramsay's History gives char- acter to the whole militia of the State, when it is well known a great majority of them saw little military
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service. The coanties of Mecklenburg and Rowas not only furnished the greater part of the troops commanded by General Sinter, but it was in all cases his place of retirement when menaced by a superior force of the enemy, and from whence he mostly organized and set out on his several expeditions.
"The writer, finding those things unfairly represented, has undertaken in his plain way to present a more cor- rect account of several transactions than has heretofore been given, and to take notice of some which have been entirely omitted, which, in his opinion, are worthy of being preserved.
"For the truth of the facts he states, he appeals to those who were present on the several occasions related, of whom, it is believed, more than a hundred are living. "Some of the details may appear minute and trivial, but not so to those who were present, and it is expected the present generation will read with some interest the part their fathers and relatives acted in those times, more especially when they have a personal knowledge of the very spot where each transaction took place."
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CHAPTER X.
- Battle of Eutaw Springs, Fought the 8th day of September, TySI -- The Noble Fart borne by North Carolinians in this Batti .--- Greene Retires to the High Hills of the Santer -- Hears of the Fall of Yorktown -- The War Virtually Ends.
TE now return to the movements of General Greene. On the 22d of August he issued an order to his troops in these words:
"The army will march to-morrow morning by the right, in the following order: The North Carolina brigade, two pieces of artillery ; Virginia brigade, two pieces of artillery : Maryland brigade ; the baggage in the usual order according to the line of march. The General will beat at 4 o'clock, when all the small guards will join their corps ; the assembly in forty min- utes after, and the march at 5 o'clock."
The two armies were only sixteen miles apart, but the Santee intervened, and it was not safe to attempt its passage in the face of the enemy. The route, therefore, lay up the Santee and above the junction of the Congaree and Wateree; then cross- ing the Wateree first and descending its southern side, then crossing the Congaree-in all a circuit of seventy miles. The weather was so sultry that the army only moved in the cooler hours of the day, in the morning and evening.
As soon as Stewart was informed of Greene's movement, he fell back down the Santee, to Eutaw
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Springs, forty miles distant, in the direction of Charleston.
Lord Rawdon had, previously to this, sailed from Charleston for England. but was captured by a French vessel on his way and was now a prisoner. He was an unwilling witness to the surrender of Yorktown, and returned, a captive, with Lord Cornwallis. .
He was a fit subject of retaliation for the execu- tion of Colonel Isaac Hayne, but Colonel Fanning, the Tory leader, about this time, made his celebrated incursion to Hillsboro and carried off Governor Burke. This gave the British a hostage for the life of Rawdon, and, perhaps, saved his lordship from the gibbet.
General Greene's march was necessarily slow. On the 28th of August he reached Howell's Ferry, where he received intelligence that the enemy had been reinforced and were making preparations for a permanent post at Eutaw. It did not seem to occur to the British commander that Greene would have the temerity to attack him in his camp, but that was exactly what Greene was preparing to do.
The American commander sent back all his heavy baggage, on the line of retreat, under a suitable guard, mostly militia, and took with him only two wagons, ladened with hospital stores and rum (the latter, in that day, considered the most in- dispensable article for an army, next to medicines).
On the 5th of September General Greene, in his order of the day, informed the army of a brilliant
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victory of General Francis Marion, over a British convoy of three hundred men, in which twenty of the enemy were killed and eighty wounded, with inconsiderable loss to the American force.
The victory was announced in glowing words and aroused the greatest enthusiasm and confidence in the hearts of the army, and they were eager for an opportunity to add more victories to the cam- paign.
On the 7th day of September, General Marion joined General Greene at Burdell's plantation.
Colonel Stewart lay in fancied security at Eutaw, wholly unapprised of the approach of his adversary. Every messenger or scout from his army had been captured or killed by the vigilance of the Ameri- cans, and no tidings had reached him.
On the morning of the Sth, Colonel Stewart had sent out his "rooting party," as they were called, to gather sweet potatoes for his army, and these the advance of Greene's army discovered, and, after a feeble resistance, captured.
The same morning, however. two deserters from Greene's forces made their way to the British camp and communicated the news of the proximity of the American army. Colonel Coffin, commanding the British cavalry, was sent immediately to recon- noiter the situation, and coming in contact with the American vanguard, soon gave information of the fact.
Colonel Stewart began at once to dispose his
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troops for battle. Few situations were more favor- able to: defence.
"On the right was the Eutaw Creek, which, issuing from a deep ravine, ran under high banks, thick bordered with brush and underwood. The only oben ground was a large field which had been cleared of its timber on both sides of the road, and this was commanded by a brick house two stories high, with garret windows, which answered the 'purpose of a third story, and with walls thick and strong enough to withstand the light artillery of the Americans. In the rear of the house there was a garden surrounded by a strong palisade, and cov- ering the space between it and Eutaw Creek. A barn and some smaller buildings near it afforded good rallying points in case of disaster. The ap- proach to the rear was embarrassed by springs and deep hollow ways, and on the right by the ravine from which the creek flowed, and a thicket, rendered almost impenetrable by a low shrub, called, in the language of the country, 'black-jack.' On every side the woods came down in dark masses to the border of the clearing. Midway through the clear- ing, and dividing it into almost equal parts, a road had been recently opened, which, forking directly in front of the house and garden, and about fifty yards from them, formed two branches, one of which led to Charleston, and the other to a planta- tion on the Santee. The British camp lay in the field under cover of the house and on both sides of
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the road, and when the troops marched out to form for battle their tents were left standing."#
Colonel Stewart, as was the usual custom of British officers, drew up his army in only one line of battle, with a strong reserve in the rear to act as emergencies might require. This line was in the woods, a few hundred yards west of the open field, where they had their camp, and extended on both sides of the Congaree road, with the artillery in the centre, and moving along this highway. Eutaw Creek covered the right wing effectually, the left was in the woods to the south of the road and cov- ered by the cavalry under Major Coffin, a dashing and skillful officer. Major Majoribanks, the hero of the battle, was in command of the right wing, with his troops protected by the thick growth along the bank of Eutaw Creek, and the scrubby black- jack oaks which extended out a short distance from the creek bank. It was impenetrable by cavalry, and almost unassailable by infantry. To the south and left of the light infantry battalion, under Majoribanks, came, in their order, Cruger's com- mand, which was composed of several broken corps, then the "Buffs," with their left resting on the Congaree road. To the south of the road were the 63d and 64th, two veteran regiments. Two sepa- rate bodies of infantry in the rear formed the reserve. A small detachment of infantry was thrown in front of the line of battle as skirmishers, with orders to fall back into the main line.
*Greene's Life of General Greene, vol. 3, p. 353.
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The British officer, fully realizing the strategic importance of the brick mansion-house in his rear, as a rallying point in which a small garrison might. in case of disaster, be thrown, ordered it to be occu- pied, together with the barn, outhouses and pali- saded garden, and this judicious foresight saved his army from utter destruction.
The British troops were well armed, and equipped with every necessary military outfit, and were inured . to service and under the best discipline. It was, indeed, what. in this day, is called a " crack corps" of soldiers. Many of them were American loyalists and deserters, good marksmen, whose deadly aim was severely felt in the action. They were aware. to use a common figure of speech, that they fought with "halters around their necks." and that the penalty of desertion would be promptly meted out to them if captured. They, therefore, went into the fight to win or die.
The approach of the American army was from the west along the Congaree road. General Greene had placed his militia in front at Guilford Court- House, and he was discomfited; at Hobkirk's Hill, he reversed this order, and his front line was composed of his veteran troops; but still fortune forsook him and the disaster was worse than at Guilford; now, at Eutaw, the American commander determined to re-assume the arrangement made at Guilford Court-House, by again placing his militia in the front line. The militia, at this time, under Greene, had the advantage over those at Guilford.
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in that they had seen service and been trained in his camp, on the Santee, for the duties of the field. They were, in fact, well-drilled troops, and as the tide of victory had steadily set with the American army, they were inspired with the spirit of triumph and were impatient to end the long struggle by one determined effort to destroy the British army.
They were fresh from the rest, and strong from the plenty they had enjoyed in camp. Physically, they were in the best trim for the fight and eager for it to begin.
"Greenc, wishing his troops to form with cool- ness and recollection, halted his columns, and after distributing the contents of his rum casks, ordered his men to form in order of battle."
"The column of militia, when displayed, formed the first line; the South Carolinians, in equal divisions, on the right and left, and the North Carolinians in the centre. General Marion com- manded the right, General Pickens the left, and Colonel Malmedy, a French nobleman, who held a commission from North Carolina, commanded the centre. Colonel William Henderson, with the South Carolina State troops, including Sumter's brigade, 'covered' the left of this line, and Lien- tenant Colonel Lee, with his Legion, 'covered' the right."
"The column of regulars, also displayed into one line (the second); the North Carolinians, under Brigadier General Jethro Sumner, occupied the right, divided into three battalions. commanded
.
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respectively by Colonel J. B. Ashe and Majors John Armstrong and Reading Blount; the Marylanders, under Colonel Williams on the left, divided into two battalions, commanded by Colonel Howard and Major Hardman; the Virginians in the centre. under command of Colonel (Richard, Campbell, were also divided into two battalions, led by Major Sneed and Captain Edmonds. The two three- pounders, under Captain Gaines, moved in the road with the first line, which was equally distributed to the right and left of it; and the two six-pounders, under Captain Brown, attended the second line in the same order. Colonel William Washington still moved in the rear in columns, with orders to keep under cover of the woods, and hold himself in reserve."*
The American army had begun its march at 4 o'clock in the morning, but it was S o'clock before the advanced parties of the British army were driven in and the battle begun in earnest. " The day was clear and calm and the sun was rising in a cloud- less sky."
The advanced guard of the British was encount- ered by Lee's Legion and Colonel William Hender- son of the South Carolina State troops ( mostly North Carolinians, as we have seen).+ Coffin was soon thrown into confusion and fled pell-mell, leaving forty prisoners behind him.
*Johnson, vol. 2, p. 223.
+Colonel Henderson was in command of Sumter's brigade. Sumter had not recovered from his wound.
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The regular Hines, as before indicated, were formed, and "a steady and desperate conflict en- sted" between the militia in the front line, North and South Carolinans, and the veteran regulars of the British-service. The duel between the artillery was "bloody and obstinate in the extreme; nor did the American artillery relax for a moment from firing until both pieces were dismounted and dis- abled. One piece of the enemy shared the same fate."
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