The history of South Carolina, from its first European discovery to its erection into a republic: with a supplementary chronicle of events to the present time, Part 10

Author: Simms, William Gilmore, 1806-1870. cn
Publication date: 1840
Publisher: Charleston, S. Babcock & co.
Number of Pages: 372


USA > South Carolina > The history of South Carolina, from its first European discovery to its erection into a republic: with a supplementary chronicle of events to the present time > Part 10


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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


Among the fruits which this battle produced, was a lib- eral concession of favor to the loyalists at home, by the leaders of the revolutionary party. Victory, which in- spires generosity in all noble foes, prompted the Carolini- ans to set free the leaders of the opposition, whom they had taken into custody. There may have been some pol-


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icy in this. The state wished to conciliate their friend- ship rather than provoke their hostility, and restored them to the rights and privileges of the citizen. But the venom was not withdrawn with the weapon. Their minds rank- led under a sense of injury, which was increased rather than diminished by the defeat of the British arms; and they remembered, in bitterness and blood, in long succeed- ing years of strife, the mortifications to which they had been exposed, and the wrongs which they believed them- selves to have suffered.


The successful defence of Fort Moultrie gave a respite of three years to South Carolina, from the calamities of war. In that period, however, the Carolinians were not suffered to be idle. Two expeditions were projected against Florida, where large bodies of British and royal- ists were banded together,-but they both proved abortive. Better success attended the arms of the state in an inva- sion of the Cherokee country. There, the active machi- nations of John Stuart, an officer of the crown, had suc- ceeded in exasperating the Indians against the Americans, and in rousing them to arms. A plan was arranged by Stuart, in concert with the royal governors, to land a Brit- ish army in Florida, which, uniting with the Indians on the western frontiers of Carolina, and the tories in Florida and elsewhere, would fall upon the back parts of the state, at the same time that a fleet and army should invade it on the sea coast.


The plan was fortunately discovered by the Carolinians, and timely preparations led to its partial defeat ; but so ac- tive had been the royal emissaries among the Cherokees, that, simultaneously with the battle of Fort Moultrie, they


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commenced their massacres upon the frontiers. This in- vasion was marked by the usual barbarities of Indian war- fare. Poorly provided with arms, the borderers betook themselves to stockade forts, in which they were shut up. Col. Williamson, who was charged with the defence of the back country, succeeded in raising a force of five hundred men. A small affair with the Indians, in which they were defeated, led to a discovery which opened a new and bloody page in southern history. Thirteen of their number, who were taken, proved to be white men, disfigu- red, disguised, and painted so as to resemble Indians. Henceforth, a warfare between the civilized was to ensue, so savage in its atrocities as to justify the description given of it by general Greene, who asserts that the "par- ties pursued each other like wild beasts." Other states knew nothing of the horrors which were the consequence of the domestic feuds of the south. The news of the defeat of the British fleet produced the best effects when it reached the theatre of this bloody warfare. The patriots were encouraged, the tories dispirited. The former turn- ed out with alacrity, and Williamson soon found himself at the head of twelve hundred men. With a detachment of three hundred horse, he advanced upon a tory and In- dian force at Occnoree creek. His approach was known, an ambuscade laid for him, and he found himself in the thick of a desperate conflict, for which he was only partially prepared. His horse was shot under him, an officer slain at his side, and under a dreadful fire his army thrown into disorder.


It was rallied by colonel Hammond, the thicket was charged and the day retrieved. Marching through the


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Indian settlements, Williamson proceeded to lay them waste. With an army of two thousand men, he pen- etrated their country where the people were most nu- merous. Entering a narrow defile, enclosed on each side by mountains, a second ambuscade awaited him. Twelve hundred warriors from the surrounding heights, poured in a constant fire upon his troops, from which they were only saved by the charge of the bayonet. The In- dians fled after a severe conflict, in which they lost ground rather than men. The Carolinians suffered severely from their fire. Williamson proceeded on his task of destruc- tion, which in a short time was made complete. Penetra- ting their planted and beautiful vallies, he destroyed their crops and villages. All their settlements eastward of the Apalachian mountains were laid waste; and to avoid starvation, five hundred of their warriors fled to join the royalists in Florida. The conquest of the country was complete, and the Cherokees sued for peace. They were compelled to cede to South Carolina, all their lands beyond the mountains of Unacaya. These lands form at this moment, the flourishing districts of Greenville, Anderson, and Pickens.


The declaration of American independence, by the congress at Philadelphia, followed hard upon the battle of Fort Moultrie. The latter event took place on the 23th of June; the former on the 4th of July following, 1776. The representatives of South Carolina in the continental congress, at this exciting period, were Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Thomas Lynch, and Arthur Middleton. For this event South Carolina had been long prepared. She had in fact maintained


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an independent government for two years before; and the solemn declaration of her own and the liberty of her sister states, while it gave a more imposing aspect to the revolution, could not well add any thing to the firmness of her resolution, or the determined character of her op- position to the royal authority. It was received with welcome by the greater number of her people, amidst the ringing of bells, the beating of drums, and the discharge of cannon.


For nearly three years after the battle of Fort Moultrie, the arms of the British were employed at the northward. South Carolina, during this period, felt few of the suffer- ings of war, other than those which we have just narrated. She was in possession of a lucrative commerce, and her people were fortunate and prosperous. In 1777 and '78 Charlestown was the mart which supplied with goods most of the states south of New Jersey. An extensive inland traffic sprung up, in consequence of the presence of the British fleets upon the northern coasts, in which a thousand wagons were constantly employed. The pros- perity which followed this trade was an additional argument in favor of the revolution. The American alliance with France, by giving them a new importance in the eyes of so great a foreign power, was another ; and three cam- paigns which the united forces of America had sustained, if not with brilliant success, at least with a degree of man- hood which utterly falsified those prophets who had predicted their annihilation under the crushing power of the British lion,-contributed to confirm the people of South Carolina in a resolution to be their own masters, from which they never afterwards departed ; though, in


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process of time, victory fled from her banner, and defeat upon defeat followed her fortunes, and threatened the ruin of her fondest hopes. A flag sent into the port of Charles- town, under which the commissioners of Great Britain to the Americans denounced the extremities of war against her, if she continued to prefer the alliance of France to a reunion with the mother country, was met by the instant defiance of her government, by which the flag vessel was commanded to depart immediately from the waters of the state.


The campaign of 1779 opened with a renewal of the British hostilities against South Carolina. Savannah had fallen the year before, and in the rapid extension of the British arms, under colonel Campbell, over the state of Georgia, South Carolina had become a frontier. The proximity of her enemy called for early preparation, and major general Lincoln, of the continental army, was chosen to command her troops and conduct the defence of her territory. This gentleman was particularly desig- nated by the leading patriots of the south for the station which was assigned him. He brought to the southward great reputation, and, under many disadvantages and a small army, preserved the state for fifteen months against a superior enemy ; still it may be permitted us to wish henceforward, that the commanders of our troops may be found among our own people, with a knowledge of the character and interests of those whom they defend, and an equal knowledge of the soil, the situation and circum- stances under which they fight. Commanders wanting in this knowledge, have led many thousand gallant men to defeat, when they might have been led to victory.


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The continentals in South Carolina, under the command of Lincoln, did not exceed six hundred men. The rest of his force consisted of militia, whose term of service changed every second or third month. He established his first post at Purysburg, on the Savannah river, for the purpose of maintaining a watch upon the movements of the British army in Georgia. Moultrie was stationed at Port Royal island, from whence he drove major Gardiner, at the head of a British force two hundred strong, which had been sent from the royal army at Sa- vannah for its capture, and to explore the way for a greater enterprise. His own force, wholly of Charlestown mili- tia, comprised about the same number of men. The British suffered severely, and lost nearly all their officers.


This little success prevented their contemplated invasion of South Carolina for a time, and they confined their ope- rations to the upper country, where their emissaries were active among the tories. Hundreds of these were now embodied upon the western frontier of the state. Here they were encountered by colonel Pickens, at the head of three hundred men. After a vigorous contest of nearly an hour, the royalists were defeated with great slaughter, their commander, colonel Boyd, being among the slain. The prisoners taken, were tried as traitors to South Car- olina, of which they were subjects, and to which they owed obedience. A regular jury determined on their offence, and seventy of them were condemned to death- a sentence, however, carried into effect upon five only of the principal leaders. The rest were pardoned.


The failure of this second insurrection of the tories, and the severity of their punishment, defeated their plans


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for a time, and deprived them of their vigor. Unsup- ported by the British, they fled and dispersed themselves over the country, while a few sent in their adhesion to the new government and cast themselves upon its mercy.


As the British extended their posts on the south side of the Savannah, Lincoln made encampments at Black Swamp and opposite Savannah. From these points, he crossed the river in two divisions, with the view of limit- ing the operations of the enemy to the sea coasts of Georgia only. In the execution of this design, he sent general Ashe, with fifteen hundred North Carolinians and a few Georgians, across the river at a point a little above the British army. Ashe proceeded to Briar Creek, where he suffered himself to be surprised by lieutenant colonel Prevost ; the militia were thrown into confusion and fled at the first fire. Several were killed, many were drowned in attempting to cross the river, and a large number was made captive. Sixty men, the few continentals under colonel Elbert, attached to Ashe's army, fought with the greatest bravery, but were forced to surrender.


This unhappy event deprived Lincoln of one-fourth of his army, and opened a communication between the British, the tories and Indians of the states of North and South Carolina. It also emboldened Prevost to undertake an expedition of considerable daring, which was almost successful. Availing himself of the critical moment when Lincoln, with the main force of the south- ern army, was one hundred and fifty miles up the Savan- nah river, he crossed with two thousand chosen troops, flanked by several hundred Indians and loyalists, and pres- sed on with all despatch for the conquest of Charlestown.


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Moultrie had been left in command at Purysburg with one thousand militia. With this inferior force, he threw himself in the path of the British general, striving, while retreating to the defence of the city, to impede his pro- gress as much as he could, and gain time for the citizens to improve their fortifications. Lincoln could not be per- suaded that the march of Prevost was any more than a feint by which to divert him from his operations in Georgia. When the real object of the enterprising enemy was ascertained, the American general set forth with all possible expedition on his return. But for the firmness of Moultrie, and the zeal of the citizens, he would have arrived too late. When Prevost crossed the Savannah river, Charlestown was almost defenceless. Invasion on the land side, while Moultrie lay at Purys- burg, and Lincoln was in Georgia, was an event so unexpected, that no provision had been made against it ; but zeal compensated for past remissness, and a brief delay of Prevost along the road, lost him the prize he aimed for.


This delay enabled the citizens to fortify Charleston neck with lines and an abbatis. The militia in the vicinity were collected. The whole country was in commotion. Five several armies were marching for the capital. Moultrie, with his thousand men, pressed by Prevost, was hurrying in, less with the view to his own safety than to throw himself into the city. Lincoln, with four thousand men, seeking to recover lost ground and time, was pressing on the footsteps of Prevost. Rutledge, governor of the state, with six hundred militia from Orangeburg, and colonel Harris with a detachment


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from Augusta of two hundred and fifty, were seeking to re-inforce Moultrie. These three last reached Charleston in season.


On the 11th of May, nine hundred of the British army crossed the Ashley river ferry and appeared before the lines. Their cavalry were encountered as they advan- ced, by the infantry of an American legion, under count Pulaski, a distinguished Polish exile. A bloody conflict ensued, in which the Americans were forced to retreat ; but not till they had shown a degree of desperate courage which inspired equal confidence in the citizens and caution in the enemy.


The whole army of the British took post about a mile above the lines. Unfurnished for a seige, their only hope of success lay in an assault ; and to meet this, the garri- son stood to their arms all night. A false alarm during the night, led to a general discharge of musketry and field pieces along the city lines, by which unfortunate mistake, major Benjamin Huger, at the head of a patrol, was killed with twelve of his party.


The next day the surrender of the town was demanded by Prevost; and in the temporary panic which his presence with so strong a force inspired, the proposal was actually entertained by a portion of the citizens. The negotiation was finally left to Moultrie, whose answer was an unhes- itating defiance. "I will save the city," was the confi- dent answer of this brave man, and it restored the confi- dence of the citizens. The assault was not even attempted. The firmness of the citizens, and the approach of Lincoln with his army, determined Prevost to forego the conquest so nearly in his grasp. He decamped that night, being


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warned by an intercepted letter from Lincoln, that the delay of another day would compromise the safety of his whole army.


Prevost hurried to James island, where he committed some petty depredations. He was closely watched by the force under Lincoln, and on the 20th of June, detach- ments from the two armies encountered near Stono ferry. The British, to the number of seven hundred men, had entrenched themselves, having three redoubts with a line of communication. Field pieces were planted in the intervals, and the whole was secured by an abbatis. The American detachment numbered twelve hundred men. That the enemy might be harassed, or lulled into security, they were alarmed by small parties, for several nights preceding the action. When the real assault was made, two companies of the seventy-first regiment sallied out to support the pickets. These were charged with so much valor, that but nine of their number got safely within the lines. All the men at the British field pieces were either killed or wounded ; but after an attack of an hour and twenty minutes, the victory was taken from the grasp of the assailants by the appearance of a re-inforce- ment. The Americans were drawn off in good order, without loss ; and the enemy, availing themselves of the respite, fled by way of the islands to Port Royal, from whence they made their way to Savannah.


Thus ended the second expedition of the British against the metropolis of South Carolina.


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This invasion of general Prevost was creditable nei- ther to the valor nor the honor of British soldiers. His troops distinguished themselves by predatory depreda- tions only. Private houses were robbed of their plate, persons of their jewels ; the very vaults of the dead were broken into for concealed treasures, and three thousand slaves were carried off and sold to the planters of the West Indies. Numbers of these unfortunate people, fol- lowing the camp of the British, fell victims to disease, being left to perish without medicine or attendance, wherever they sank down. Hundreds of them expired of camp fever on Otter island, their unburied carcasses being surrendered to the beasts of the forest. For years after, the island was strewed with bleaching bones,-a miserable memorial of their own folly, and of the inhu- manity of those who first seduced them from their homes, and then left them to perish.


A brief calm succeeded the action of Stono, in the affairs of Carolina. The Americans and British retired to their respective encampments, until the arrival of a French fleet on the coast aroused them to immediate activity. This fleet, commanded by count D'Estaing, consisted of twenty sail of the line. Its arrival at once led to the adoption of a joint resolution of the allied troops, to attack Savannah; and orders were issued to the militia of Carolina and Georgia, to rendezvous in the


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neighborhood. Flushed with the belief that the fall of Savannah was certain, the Americans turned out with alacrity, and on the 16th of September, 1779, Savannah, beleaguered by the united force of Lincoln and D'Estaing, was summoned to surrender. The garrison requested twenty-four hours to consider the demand. Unhappily, this delay was allowed, and the fortunate moment lost, in which an assault might have proved effectual. In that time, a detachment of British troops, which had been sta- tioned at Beaufort, under the command of lieutenant colo- nel Maitland, succeeded in throwing itself into the belea- guered city.


The arrival of such a re-inforcement determined the garrison to risk an assault. The besiegers were reduced to the necessity either of storming or regularly besieging the place. The former measure was resolved upon. On the evening of the 23d, they broke ground, and on the 4th of October following, opened a fire upon the city from nine mortars and thirty seven pieces of cannon from the land side, and sixteen from the river. These contin- ued to play with little intermission for four days, but without making any serious impression on the defences of the place. Preparations were then made for an as- sault. This measure was forced on D'Estaing, by the necessity of withdrawing his fleet without delay from a coast which is so dangerous to shipping at such a season of the year. The morning of the 9th of October was fixed upon for the attack. Two feints were made with the country militia, and a real attack on the Spring Hill battery, with 2500 French troops, 600 continentals and 350 of the Charlestown militia ; the whole being led by


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D'Estaing and Lincoln. The assault was ordered to take place at 4 o'clock in the morning; but some miscal- culations having been made, it was broad day light when the troops advanced to the attack, when all their move- ments were perceptible to the enemy.


By the desertion of a grenadier the night before the assault, the British were also apprised of the contempla- ted arrangements, and were enabled to strengthen them- selves in the Spring Hill battery by additional forces, which were withdrawn from those points against which the feints were to be made. Under these disadvantages, the allied troops nevertheless marched forward with great boldness to the assault, but under a heavy and well directed fire, not only from the batteries, but from several armed gallies which lay in the river and threw their shot directly across their path. This cross-fire did such fearful execution as to throw the front of the column into confusion. A general retreat was commanded, after it had stood the enemy's fire for fifty-five minutes ; but not before the ramparts were carried by the South Carolina regiment. Lieutenants Hume and Bush planted its col- ors upon the walls, but they were shot down a moment after. These colors had been presented to the regiment for its gallant conduct at Fort Moultrie. It was a point of honor that they should not be lost. Lieutenant Gray endeavored to save them, and received his mortal wound in the attempt. Jasper, the brave man who replanted the crescent flag of Fort Moultrie on the merlon in the hottest fire of the foe, was more successful. He bore them back from the bloody heights and delivered them in safety to his comrades ; but he too received a mortal wound in


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doing so, and died in a little time after. Dearly did the little regiment pay for the preservation of this object of military pride.


In this unfortunate attempt upon Savannah, the combi- ned armies sustained a heavy loss. D'Estaing himself received two wounds, and nearly a thousand men were slain or wounded in the brief but sanguinary conflict which ensued.


After this repulse, the idea of taking the place by regular approaches was resumed, but soon discarded. D'Estaing was uneasy at the exposed situation of his fleet ; and the militia were no less anxious to return to their homes. The leaguer was conducted without spirit and was soon discontinued. D'Estaing soon after re-em- barked and left the continent, while Lincoln returned to Charlestown. With this affair, the campaign of 1779 ended in the south. The arrival of the French, if pro- ductive of no other good, served for awhile to confine the British to the ramparts of Savannah, prevent them from overrunning the back settlements of Georgia and Carolina, and bringing into activity the malignant and discontented partizans of royalty, who were scattered in great numbers throughout the country.


But this respite was of brief duration. The failure of the attack upon Savannah, prepared the way for the fall of Charlestown. The departure of the French fleet re- moved the chief obstacles to this enterprise. There were several other concurring causes that invited the invasion of Charlestown. An unfortunate expedition against Florida had totally broken up the Southern army. The Carolina regiments were thinned, by sickness, to


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mere skeletons ; the northern forces were all melted away, chiefly by the expiration of their time of enlist- ment. The Georgia regiments filled the prison ships of the invaders. The possession of Georgia by the British disarmed the patriotic citizens, and gave strength and activity to the royalists and Indians. South Carolina was, in brief, a frontier, on three sides hemmed in by bitter and uncompromising enemies. The loyalists of North Carolina, Georgia and Florida,-the Indians al- ways ready for war, which is a kindred life with that of the hunter-were gathering in restless and roving bands upon her borders. The conquest of Charlestown promis- ed to be easy, and with its possession, particularly if the southern army should fall with it, the British ascendancy in the south would be complete. The reduction of the whole state, and probably that of. North Carolina, would ensue; and no obstacle would then remain in the way of an uninterrupted backward path of conquest through Virginia, from the Savannah to the Delaware. The enemy were also well acquainted with the embarrassments of the state in procuring men and money. Of the six regiments of South Carolina, but 800 men could be rai- sed ; and so miserably depreciated was the value of her paper, that the price of a pair of shoes was seven hundred dollars. The invasion of Carolina was resolved upon.




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