USA > South Carolina > Orangeburg County > The history of Orangeburg County, South Carolina : from its first settlement to the close of the Revolutionary War > Part 36
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* "Near Ferguson's Swamp, Sept. 11, 1781.
"In my dispatches of the 25th of August, I informed your excellen- cy, that we were on the march to Friday's Ferry, with the intent of forming a junction with the troops of the State and the corps of mili- tia that were assembled, and to attack the English army, encamped near M'Leod's Ferry.
"On the 27th, upon our arrival there, I received advice that the enemy had retired. We passed the river at Howell's Ferry, and our first post was Motte's plantation, where I learnt that the enemy had stopped at Eutaw Springs, about forty miles from us."-Gen. Greene to the President of Congress.
The plantation of Sir James Colleton, who-by the way-sided with the Americans.
#Eutaw Springs are situated just across the line that then separated Orangeburgh and Charlestown districts.
COL. HENRY LEE.
GEN. ANDREW PICKENS.
[By permission, from Weber's History of South Carolina, Ginn & Company, Publishers.]
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The advance of the British to Eutaw did not, on their part, result in any increase of vigor. They took post at Fludd's plantation, three miles above Nelson's ferry. Their force of over two thousand was so much larger than Greene's that it gave the enemy the undivided command of the country to the South of the Santee and Congaree, and westward to the Edisto. But Greene received reinforcements and within two months of the battle of Eutaw was again ready to act. Marion was ordered to operate between the Santee and Charlestown, and Sumter, with his brigade of State troops, and some companies of his militia brigade, was ordered to take post at Orangeburgh and defend the country against the loyalists from Charlestown .*
Gen. Sumter crossed the river in the beginning of November, and advanced upon the enemy. He soon fell in with a strong party of Tories under Gen. Robert Cuningham, who had advanced upon Orangeburgh, and one of his officers, a Major Morris, suffered him- self to fall into an ambuscade, in which he sustained some loss. The forces of Sumter and Cuningham
*"Gen Sumter has orders to take post at Orangeburg, to prevent the Tories in that quarter from conveying supplies to Town, and his ad- vance parties will penetrate as low as Dorchester; therefore you may act in conjunction with him" &c .- Extract from a letter from Gen. Greene to Gen. Marion, Nov. 5, 1781.
"Gen. Sumter is gone to take post at Orangeburg."-Greene to Marion, Nov. 11, 1781.
"Orangeburg, Nov. 23, 1781.
"Sir:
"I have some reason to think Gen. Greene don't mean to move downward until the lower posts are well explored, and the number and situation of the enemy accurately ascertained." * * * * "The enemy in this quarter are numerous in horse, but not formid- able."-Sumter to Marion.
"Would you wish to have a part of the militia of Gen. Sumter's Brigade? they are at Orangeburgh and Four Holes-please to inform me. I suppose you have heard of the General's resignation; Col. Henderson is thought of to succeed him."-Gen. Greene to Gen. Ma- rion, March 1, 1782.
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being nearly equal, operated as mutual checks upon each other. Cuningham, who had issued from Charles- town on a pillaging expedition into the upper coun- try, was checked in his progress; while Sumter, to con- tinue this restraint upon his enemy, and maintain him- self in safety, fell back for the present, and secured himself by a carefully selected position.
About this time the news of the fall of Cornwallis at Yorktown reached South Carolina. It gave confi- dence to Greene and caused Stewart alarm.
On November 18th, Greene struck camp at the High Hills, and took up the line of march on the route by Simons's and McCord's ferries, through Orangeburgh, to Riddlespurger's; thence by the Indian field road to Ferguson's mill, where that road crosses the Edisto. The remainder of Greene's operations were to the South of Orangeburg District. The country from the Edisto to the Santee became thrown open in conse- quence, for a time, to the ravages of the enemy: and a party of Tories, under the command of William Cun- ingham, ("Bloody Bill.") escaped from the lower coun- try, passed through Orangeburg District, and ascended the Saluda with a body of three hundred horse .*
By the beginning of the year 1782 the British held no posts outside of Charlestown, but they did not for- mally retire from that city until December 14th, 1782. In the meantime about the only warfare waged in South Carolina was that waged between Whigs and Tories. Several events of this warfare have been re- corded. Two by Dr. Johnson, in his "Traditions", con- cern us. Of the first of these he says, p. 548:
*Dr. Johnson, says, p. 505: "It is supposed, that when Bill Cunning- ham made his bloody incursion into the up-country, in 1781, his aim was to surprise and capture Hammond." (Col. Samuel.) But on the other hand he did not surprise Hammond, but was worried by him until Gen. Pickens joined Hammond and chased Cuningham from the Saluda to Orangeburgh.
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"Near the close of these troubles in South-Carolina, in May, 1782, Captain Watson* heard of a body of to- ries in Dean's Swamp, near Orangeburg, and, in con- junction with Captain William Butler-his friend and neighbor-it was dertermined to attack them. Wat- son's men were mounted militia, armed with rifles and muskets; Butler's command were cavalry, armed with pistols and cutlasses. In order to surprise the tories, the associates marched forward at sunset with great rapidity, captured a disaffected man, named Hutto or Hutton, and hurried him along with them under guard. As they approached the tory encampment, Hutton made his escape, and gave notice to the tories of Watson's approach. They immediately paraded in ambush to surprise and oppose the whigs. When Hutton's es- cape was reported to the two captains, Watson declared his opinion that the expedition should be abandoned, but Butler, for various reasons, thought otherwise, and they accordingly continued to advance. When they approached the edge of the swamp, two men were ob- served, as if endeavoring to hide themselves. Butler, Watson, and Sergeant Vardel-a very brave man- rode rapidly forward to capture them. Watson first discovered that these men were only a decoy, and, when too late, warned the others that the whole of the tories were there concealed. They arose, on being dis- covered, and poured on their assailants a well-directed fire, which brought down Watson, Vardel, and several others of the foremost whigs. Although sorely galled, Butler brought off the wounded men, and now found, to his mortification, that the infantry had little or no ammunition left, and that the enemy were advancing upon him with double his numbers. In this emergen- cy, he appointed a brave young man, named John
*Michael Watson.
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Corley, his lieutentant, and made a desperate charge on the enemy's line, so unexpectedly as to throw them into confusion. He pressed on them so hotly, ming- ling in their disordered ranks, and hewing them down with his broad swords, that they had not time to rally -their superior numbers only increased their confu- sion and destruction. Butler continued his impetuous attack, until the tories took refuge in the swamp. As the whigs returned in triumph, the gallant Vardel made an effort to rise and wave his hand in hurra, but fell immediately and expired. They buried him- where the brave are proud to lie-on the field of vic- tory.
"Watson survived until the Americans reached Orangeburg. In that village he was buried with the honors of war, and his grave was watered with the manly tears of his fellow soldiers.
"The following incidents occurred in this expedition to Dean's Swamp. A smart young man, who had never been engaged in battle, was very anxious to become an officer in Watson's company, and very desirous of distinction. He was elected, and advanced in his com- mand very gallantly to the attack mounted on a beau- tiful filly. When the enemy were discovered, he dis- mounted with the rest, and having hitched his horse, was advancing on foot, when the tories rose and de- livered their destructive fire. Seeing the number that fell with Captain Watson, the young officer's courage suddenly evaporated from his finger ends. He turned his back, and, forgetting his horse, became more dis- tinguished in the flight than in the fight, and never stopped until he reached home, spreading a report that the party had been ambushed and all killed but him- self. The horse was saved by those who brought off the wounded. When they reached Orangeburg, find- ing that the owner would not return to claim her, they
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sold the mare, and expended the money in rum and other refreshments."
In the sketch of Captain James Ryan to be found in Johnson's "Traditions of the Revolution" the follow- ing paragraph concerns us:
"In the latter part of the year 1782, while advancing with his usual impetuosity, and perhaps too much temerity, upon a party of tories that were encamped near Orangeburg, he received a musket ball in his shoulder, which he carried to his grave. Not at all disconcerted or discouraged, although unable to pro- ceed, he ordered, with great presence of mind, his first lieutenant, William Butler, to lead on the attack and continue the pursuit."
This warfare between Whigs and Tories did not even end with the war, though waged without the sanction of the law. But at any rate we will consider the Revo- lutionary war as closing in South Carolina, and in Orangeburgh District, on the day when the British vessels containing the British army sailed out of Charleston Harbor, December 14th, 1782.
"Three hundred noble vessels Rose on the rising flood, Wherein with sullen apathy Embarked those men of blood."
The following list of battles fought on the soil of what is now Orangeburg County, was kindly furnished by General Edward McCrady from the manuscript of his forthcoming volume on the history of South Carolina during the Revolutionary period:
1. THOMSON'S PLANTATION, 22 and 23 February, 1781. Sumter attacks British post at, is repulsed, but next day captures wagon train and guards on way to Raw- don.
2. ORANGEBURG, 11 May, 1781. Sumter attacks Brit- ish post at, and makes captures.
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3. FORT MOTTE, 12 May, 1781. Taken from the Brit- ish by Marion and Lee.
4. FORKS OF THE EDISTO, May, 1781. Captain Con- naway Royal Militia of Orangeburg attacks Whig par- ty, kills many and disperses rest.
5. -, November, 1781. Maj. Morris, Whig, is surprised and defeated by Tories under Cun- ingham.
6. , 27 November, 1781. Colonel Richard Hampton is surprised and defeated by Tories under Cuningham.
7. DEAN SWAMP, May, 1782. Captains Watson and Butler attack Tories. Led into ambush. Watson and Vardell killed, Butler defeated.
Section 6. The Germans and Scotch of Orangeburgh in the Revolution.
The German people who resided in Orangeburgh Dis- trict have never received justice in regard to their con- duct during the Revolution, at the hands of any of our historians, and for that reason outside historians have been free to declare that the large German settle- ments in South Carolina were of Tory sentiments.
On this subject Lorenzo Sabine in his work, "Amer- ican Loyalists", says, speaking of the conduct of South Carolina in the Revolution: "The population, com- posed as it was, of emigrants from Switzerland, Ger- many, France, Ireland, and the northern colonies of America, and their descendants, was, of course, defi- cient in the necessary degree of homogeneity, or same- ness of nature, to insure any considerable unanimity of political sentiment." After giving the above as one of the principal reasons why the people of South Car- olina were not true to the cause of Independence, Sa- bine continued by making many assertions to the effect
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that South Carolina's conduct was reproachful, but proved nothing.
In his admirable pamphlet, "South Carolina in the Revolution", Mr. Simms refutes many of the slanders of Sabine, but even he has fallen into the error, that so many other historians had fallen into, in regard to the conduct of the German and Scotch elements of our population. Mr. Simms says on p. 17 of his pamphlet: "The Scotch, a people remarkable for their loyalty, were naturally with Great Britain. The German pop- ulation found no arguments equal to the conclusive fact that George the Third was a Prince of Hanover." Again on p. 71 he says: "Her numerical force was lessened by the Scotch, German and Quaker settle- ments of the interior all of which were loyalists."
Dr. Joseph Johnson, in "Traditions of the Revolu- tion", pp. 101-2, makes the same error. He says: "The Germans in South Carolina generally refused to take part in the revolution, either for or against the govern- ment, saying that the King was of German descent, and that they did not understand the dispute."
Quotations from other historians might be cited, but these will suffice.
Now, the bulk of the German people of South Caro- lina lived in the districts of Orangeburgh and Ninety- Six-that part of Ninety-Six now embraced by New- berry and Saluda counties.
This work does not concern the conduct of the Ninety-Six Germans, but extensive research as to the conduct of the Orangeburgh Germans, shows that among them were some of the truest Whigs in South Carolina, and we must insist that only a very small percentage of them were Tories, outlaws or neutrals.
A careful examination of the Giessendanner Record, given in the second chapter of this work, will disclose the names of the German families of Orangeburgh
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District. A comparison of those names with those to be found on various Revolutionary documents will show that prominent representatives of almost every one of those families were ardent Whigs, and as the same men had been leaders among their fellow-coun- trymen before the Revolution began, it is reasonable to suppose that their leadership was still followed dur- ing the Revolution, especially when we consider that as a race the Germans are particularly given to stick- ing together and following their leaders when in a foreign country. We see illustrations of that before our very eyes almost daily.
Again we have seen that at least two strong mili- tary organizations existed among the German Whigs in the immediate vicinity of Orangeburgh village, and the only roll extant (so far as we know) of one of those companies contains about sixty German names out of a total membership of sixty-five. That there were other German soldiers fighting in other branches of the service it is reasonable to suppose; else why should Governor Rutledge have selected Orangeburgh, as his headquarters in 1779, and as the place of ren- dezvous of the militia, if it was not a Whig strong- hold? And from the letter of Col. Charles Pinckney to Gen. Moultrie, of March 2nd, 1779, (p. 491.) we infer that Governor Rutledge expected to raise 2,700 men in the vicinity of Orangeburgh, and with four Ninety- Six militia regiments added, he expected to have a force of 5,000. We have shown that from his camp at Orangeburgh he detached, on the 13th of April, 1779, Col. Simons with a thousand men to Gen. Moultrie at Black Swamp, and yet retained a force of six or seven hundred men. We have also seen that after sending out several detachments, amounting to one or two hundred men in all, he joined Gen. Moultrie in Charlestown with about 600 militia.
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ORANGEBURG COUNTY.
From the proofs already furnished, it is quite cer- tain that Orangeburgh District furnished a large mili- tia force during the Revolution, and as a large per- .centage of the inhabitants of the District were Ger- mans, then a large percentage of the militia of the District must necessarily have been Germans. And of the large militia force assembled in 1779, by Gover- nor Rutledge, right in the heart of this, the principal German settlement in South Carolina, surely a good proportion of it must have been from the country around, and as a very large majority of the people around there were German people, then a fair propor- tion of the Orangeburgh militia with Governor Rut- ledge must have been Germans. We have likewise seen that many of the regulars in Thomson's regiment were from Orangeburgh, and many of these were necessarily Germans also. The same thing may be said of the company of fifty men recruited by Capt. Thomas Pinckney in Orangeburgh in July, 1775. And here it may be proper to ask why Capt. Pinckney went among the Germans to recruit if they were op- posed to the Revolution, and how it happened that he secured three fourths of his men from among them ? And in Col. Rowe's regiment; and in Col. Beard's mi- litia regiment; and in those three militia companies mentioned by Col. Thomson as existing in his inime- diate neighborhood; and in that militia company commanded by Capt. John Salley, there must have been some Germans. And of the four Continental veterans of Orange Parish who drew pensions from the United States government in 1840, two were Germans, while the only one of St. Matthew's Parish was a Ger- man.
General Knox, who was Secretary of War under President Washington, reported that during the Revo- lution South Carolina had furnished 35,507 enlistments
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to the Continental service. When we consider that the maximum white population of South Carolina for that period was only about 90,000* this seems incredi- ble. But as the war lasted seven years, and as the longest term of enlistment was for three years; and after that had expired, for six months or longer, or for the war, many had a chance to serve out a first en- listment and then re-enlist; a thing which they must undoubtedly have done. Again it must be taken into consideration that a small boy at the beginning of the war was old enough to enlist long before the end of the war. South Carolina furnished fifteen regiments to
*When the six regiments of South Carolina regulars were first raised in 1775-76, the men enlisted therein were enlisted for three years, so that when, in 1776, these six regiments were taken into the Continental service they were already engaged for three years, al- though the Continental Establishment only required enlistments for six months at a time. This is one reason why Massachusetts could furnish 67,907 to South Carolina's 35,507. The New England States enlisted their regular troops for six months. The following note from page xviii of Drayton's Memoirs (vol. i. ) will be of interest in this connection:
"When the Congress began to consider of a Continental army, they were for leaving the army in Massachusetts, as belonging to the Colo- ny, which they were willing to pay-and besides, to raise a Conti- nental one. But the N Delegates said, this army has stood the brunt -you are willing to pay them-why deprive them of rank? Well, they were made continentals. The regulations came on next; the British, were proposed. No, said they, they have signed other arti- cles; and will you impose others upon them? And, this was yielded. The term, was next; the six months the New-Englanders has enlist- ed for, was thought too short: no, said they, the war will be over in that time-besides, will you make these men serve longer, than they have agreed for? Well, then, they were answered, rescind the re- solve for making them continentals. No. And thus it was, that the ruinous policy of short enlistments obtained .- This from J. Rut- ledge."
+In 1774, the population of South Carolina was estimated by the Continental Congress at 225,000; but that included the negroes, and negroes did not, strictly speaking, count as population (but as proper- ty) in that day-a Republican "Committee on Elections" was, a thing, at that time, yet to be created.
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the Continental service, and besides, she was never with less than three militia brigades of her own- sometimes five. So that with her Continentals, mili- tia, State troops, (which sometimes acted as Continen- tals,) old men, women and children very few of her population of 90.000 were left for Tories or neutrals. Consequently, very few of the large number of Ger- mans in Orangeburgh could possibly have been else- where than with the Whigs.
Eighteen men were appointed on the "Committee for carrying into execution the Continental Associa- tion" for Orangeburgh District in February, 1775; and of this number Henry Felder, Lewis Golson, Adam Snell, Christopher Zahn and Godfrey Drier were un- doubtedly Germans, while several other names on the list have a German sound. Surely if all of the Ger- mans were opposed to the Revolution, five Germans would not have been put on a committee of eighteen from one district alone. And again, in August of that same year, of the six members of the State legislature returned for St. Matthew's Parish, one, Henry Felder, was a German. Of the thirty-six justices of the peace for Orangeburgh District, appointed in 1776, five, per- haps more. were Germans. And on that grand jury, which in May, 1776, made such an able and eloquent presentment to Chief-Justice Drayton, the German names Felder, Leitner, Snell, Rickenbacker, Whet- stone, Crum and Drehr appear. Henry Felder was the foreman, and it is probable that he wrote the present- ment which speaks nothing but the loftiest words of Whig, patriotism. Henry Felder was probably edu- cated in Zürich before he left that place, and was doubtless well able to write such a paper, since we have it as a traditionary joke that "whenever he got up in the legislature to present a bill it became a law before he sat down", from which we infer that he must
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have been a John T. Morgan in his day and time. (And there are those who seem to believe that the ability to say a great deal is really ability.) And if handwriting is any test of education then Henry Rick- enbacker, of the same jury, must have been educated. for he wrote a beautiful hand, almost like copy plate. There were doubtless many well educated Germans among the Orangeburgh settlers. Their pastor, Rev. Giessendanner, was characterized as "a man of learn- ing, piety and knowledge in the Holy Scriptures". and his book clearly shows that he was at least a man of learning.
But to return to their immediate share in the Revo- lution. On the list of tax collectors for 1777, for Orangeburgh District, were the German names Felder, Stroul, Kaigler and Geiger. And on the Orangeburgh grand jury, that in 1778, presented as a grievance, "the want of a publick general test by which the foes may be distinguished from the friends of the American cause", and recommended that "the abjuration oath be made general", we find the German names Lewis Golson (foreman), Felder, Whetstone, Harrisperger, Rickenbacker, Drehr and Snell. Surely a loyalist, or a neutral who "did not understand the dispute", would not, in the first place, have been on the grand jury, or have signed such a presentment.
And so on, throughout the war, we find a large per- centage of the civic officers of the district, Germans. Much to the same effect might be said of the Germans elsewhere in South Carolina, but this essay deals only with Orangeburgh District.
Now, while the Cuninghams, Evan McLaurin, Moses Kirkland, John Stuart, Joseph Robinson, and other Scotch settlers of the "back country" were Tories, by no means all of the Scotch settlers of South Carolina were Tories. In fact the Tory element in South Caro-
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lina was confined to no special race or creed; they were representatives of every nationality then settled in America, and they were usually either the latest arrivals, or the scum of the ante-Revolutionary socie- ty; while the majority of them were the "driftwood" of the NORTHERN colonies.
But in Orangeburgh Township there were several true and tried Scotchmen whose names were scarcely ever absent from the council rolls of the State during the Revolution. Among these were Col. Christopher Rowe, Henry Rowe, Samuel Rowe, and Donald Bruce the latter of whom had, up to 1774, been a mer- chant in Charlestown; though we are told that it was among the Scotch merchants of Charlestown that the most dangerous Tory sentiments were to be found. And even he has been unintentionally misrepresented by that earnest and painstaking historian, Wm. Gil- more Simms, who speaks, in "The Forayers", of the "widow Bruce" as a loyalist. The fact is there was no widow Bruce until ten years after the close of the war, and her husband was not only a member of the State legislature for several years during the Revolu- tion, but likewise belonged to the Whig army, as was shown by an old letter, written by him during the war, lately in the possession of one of his descendants.
In the dark days just subsequent to the fall of Charlestown the tories of Ninety-Six District, backed by the British army, committed all manner of crimes; murdering, plundering, burning and riding rough shod over the people, while at the same time the people of Orangeburgh District were enjoying comparative quiet, and all because the Tory sentiment was not so strong in that district, and because the post at Ninety-Six was more strongly garrisoned by British regulars than that at Orangeburgh.
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