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 17
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roism în death, extorted from his enemies the confession that " if he did not die in a good cause, he must, at least, have acted from a pursuasion of its being so."
The execution of such a man as colonel Hayne, under such circumstances, and with so little show of justice, was not an event to escape the consideration of the American general, or to pass from the memories of the Carolinians. Unsatisfied by the explanations that were offered by the British commander, Greene declared his purpose of retaliation on all such British officers as should fall into his hands,-a declaration which was induced by the voluntary self devotion of all the officers of the southern army. These brave men met together and ad- dressed to him a memorial, in which, after declaring .what had reached their ears of the enormous cruelties practiced by the British, and of the bloody execution which has just been recorded, they recommend measures of immediate retaliation by a similar treatment of all British subjects ; avowing their perfect readiness to abide by a recommendation which, in the event of capture, at once placed themselves entirely without the pale of mercy from the enemy. " But," concludes this noble document ; "we had rather commit ourselves to the most desperate situations, than prosecute this just and necessary war upon terms so dishonorable."
Fortunately for the cause of humanity, but a little time elapsed after this, when the policy of the war rendered unnecessary the adoption of such rigorous measures. Still, the American general wore the countenance of one who was inflexible in his determination. A very few days after the execution of Hayne, Marion's cavalry captured
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three British officers with an enemy's party; and the affair of the Eutaws, which will be recorded in the next chapter, placed in the hands of Greene, a prisoner sufficiently distinguished to awaken all the apprehensions of Balfour for his safety.
CHAPTER XXIV.
Colonel Stewart, whom lord Rawdon had left in com- mand of the British army, had been watched by the American commander with intense anxiety. In com- mand of nearly three thousand troops, he was too strong to apprehend any assault from a force so poorly provided, and so feeble in most respects, as that of the Americans ; and, but for discontents among his men, and the great fatigues to which his new Irish regiments had been subjected before reaching him, he would have been in good condition to turn upon the steps of Greene. Some weeks elapsed before Stewart was ready for a move- ment of any kind, and during this time the American general was held in suspense as to his future objects. Not doubting, however, that the necessity of providing for his army would carry his adversary to the banks either of the Congaree or Santee, measures were taken for the removal of all the provisions upon the northern side of both these rivers. This proceeding necessarily increased the resources of the American, while diminishing those of the British army.
When Stewart moved, he took post amidst the hills near the confluence of the Wateree and Congaree. Here the two armies lay in sight of each other's fires ; but the heat of the weather precluded operations of any kind, and, as if by mutual consent, their swords remained undrawn in their scabbards for a season. The intervention
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of two large rivers, secured them equally from sudden attack, and their labors were confined to the watching of each other, to the capturing of convoys, and the conquest of detachments and foraging parties. In this service, the Americans soon proved their superior activity.
Greene, speaking of his cavalry in these expeditions, asserts them to be unexcelled by any in the world. Washington was detached down the country across the Santee, and soon made himself felt in the capture of two bodies of the enemy's horse. Lee, crossing the Congaree with his cavalry, penetrated between the main body of the British army and the post at Orangeburg, and in sight of the latter place, drove in, dispersed and captured several of their detachments. No inequality of numbers seem, at this time, to have impaired their confidence in themselves or lessened their courage; and such was their audacity, that the enemy was compelled to send out large detachments from his main body for the protection of his convoys. For every wagon load of provisions, he paid the price in blood. Equally active with these officers, were Marion, Mayhem and Harden, in covering the country below. The embarrassments produced by these united operations, the great difficulty of procuring provisions, and the necessity of lessening his main army to strengthen his posts below, in order to cover his com- munications between Orangeburg and Charlestown, ren- dered the position of the British commander particularly uncomfortable.
A movement of Greene, and the concentration of most of the detachments of the Americans, at a general ren- dezvous, determined the movements of colonel Stewart.
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Falling back upon his re-inforcements and convoys, he took a post forty miles from his late position, at the Eutaw springs. He was followed by colonel Lee, who was pushed forward to watch his movements, while general Pickens, with the state militia, advanced with a similar object, in the neighborhood of the enemy's post at Orangeburg. The main army of the Americans, mean- while, crossed the Congaree, moving slowly down the south bank, toward the post at Motte's, where Greene, having resolved upon a discontinuance of the pursuit, determined to await the progress of events.
This resolution, as it seemed to indicate a want of confidence in the American commander, encouraged the British. Halting upon his ground at Eutaw, he prepared to meet and fight his enemy. Withdrawing the garrison from Orangeburg, (which he established at Fairlawn,) he called in to his aid that which had been maintained at the latter post as a foil to Marion. This movement he was enabled to make in consequence of the disappearance of the " swamp fox," who, in one of his secret expeditions, had rapidly crossed the country to Pon Pon, where colonel Harden was closely pressed by a British force of five hundred men. To pass through both lines of the British communication with Charlestown; to surprise, defeat and disperse this force, numerically superior to his own ; to return by the same route, pass the Santee, put his prisoners in safety ; then advance upon the Eutaw, in order to a closer co-operation with the army under Greene ;- was but the work of a few days and of ordinary labor with this able warrior. The junction of Marion with Greene, preceded by a brief interval of time the advance of the American commander upon the foe.
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The memorable battle of Eutaw springs, was fought on the 8th of September, 1781. The number of the Americans, rank and file, was about two thousand. That of the British, was something more than two thou- sand three hundred. The day was fair, and intensely hot ; but the battle opened in a wood, the shade of which afforded some relief to the combatants. At four o'clock in the morning, the American army moved in four columns from its bivouac. The state troops of South Carolina, with Lee's legion, formed the advance, under command of colonel Henderson. The militia of South and North Carolina, under Marion, followed next. Then came the regulars under general Sumner. The rear was closed by Washington's cavalry, and Kirkwood's Dela- wares, under colonel Washington. So completely had the detached parties of the Americans cut off those of the British, that the advance of their army was unsuspected. The only patrol had been captured during the night ; and so entirely secure did Stewart esteem himself in his position, that an unarmed party of an hundred men, had been sent out to gather sweet potatoes. Two deserters from Greene's army, conveyed to the British commander the first intelligence of the approach of the Americans, and captain Coffin, at the head of his cavalry, was sent out, as well to recall the potatoe " rooting party," as to reconnoitre. The American advance, when encountered, was immediately charged by Coffin, with a confidence which showed his ignorance of its strength and of the greater force of which it was the precursor. He was repulsed ; the firing alarmed the potatoe diggers,
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who all fell into the hands of the Americans. In the mean time, Stewart pushed forward a detachment of in- fantry to keep the Americans employed, while he pre- pared for battle. But Greene, persuaded by the audacity of Coffin that the whole British force was at hand, proceeded to form where the encounter took place. 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. Marion commanded the right, Pickens the left, and colonel Malmedy the centre. Henderson, with the state troops, including Sumter's brigade, covered the left of this line, and Lee, with his legion, the right. The column of reg- ulars, also, displayed in one line. The North Carolinians, under general Sumner, occupied the right ; the Mary- landers, under colonel Williams, the left ; the Virginians
the centre, under colonel Campbell. The artillery, consisting of four pieces, was equally distributed with the two lines. Washington's cavalry, under cover of the woods, formed the reserve. In this order the Americans advanced to the battle. When the first line reached the advanced parties of the British, it was ordered to move on in order, driving them before it. In this manner, firing as it advanced, it went resolutely forward, while the enemy sunk back and found shelter in their own line.
About two hundred rods west of the Eutaw springs, the British army was drawn up in a single line, extending from the Eutaw creek beyond the main Congaree road. The creek covered their right ; the left was supported by Coffin's cavalry, and a detachment of infantry, held in reserve under cover of the wood. The ground on which
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the British army was displayed, was altogether in wood ; but at a small distance in their rear was a cleared field, extending west, south and east from the dwelling house, and bounded north by the creek flowing from the springs.
This creek is a bold one, having a high bank, thickly bordered with brush and undergrowth. From the house to this bank, ran a garden enclosed with palisadoes, and the windows of the house, which was two stories high, with garret rooms, commanded the whole surrounding fields. The house was strongly built of brick, and surroun- ded with various offices of wood ; one of which, a barn of some size, lay to the south east, a small distance from the principal building. 'The Americans approached from the west. Their great superiority in cavalry, made the house a point of great importance to the British com- mander, who gave orders to major Sheridan to occupy it at the first symptom of defeat, and to cover the army from the upper windows. On the right he had made a like cautious provision. Major Majoribanks was posted in the thickets bordering the creek, with three hundred picked troops, to watch the flank of the Americans, should it be opened at any time to attack. The British artillery was posted in the main road.
The disappearance of the skirmishing parties from the main opposing bodies, was the signal for a desperate and steady conflict. The militia of the first American line rushed with shouts into the hottest of the enemy's fire, even after their artillery had been demolished. Their valor and unflinching perseverance amidst the continual falling of their comrades around them, was the admiration of both armies. They did not falter until it
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was impossible for human courage longer to continue a conflict which human wisdom could no longer approve. They had fired seventeen rounds before they hesitated, and were then succored by the North Carolinians, under Sumner. With the appearance of Sumner's relief, colonel Stewart brought up the infantry of his reserve into line on his left, and the struggle between these fresh troops began with renewed fury. At length Sumner's brigade, after sustaining the conflict with numbers far superior to their own, fell back also. Elated at this result, and conceiving the victory to be now sure, the British rushed forward in pursuit, and their line became deranged in consequence. At this important crisis, the American commander issued his orders to colonel Williams, who remained in command of the second line, to advance and sweep the field with his bayonets. This order was promptly obeyed. The two brigades received it with a shout, and advanced with a degree of impatience which scarcely heeded the deliberate and measured guidance of their officers. When within forty yards of the enemy, the Virginians of the line delivered a destructive fire, and the whole body, with trailed arms, rushed forward to the charge, through showers of grape from the British artillery, and seemingly unmoved by the stream of fire that blazed incessantly before them. The advanced left of the enemy recoiled beneath the desperate resolution of this charge. Their disorder became visible, and was con- firmed by the prompt movement of colonel Lee. Wheel- ing the legion infantry round from its position on the extreme right, he poured in upon the British left a close enfilading fire, and their confusion became irretrievable.
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The centre and right of the British army still re- mained much more numerous than the American, and awaited the threatened charge with a constancy that seemed unshaken. But the disorder and flight of the left had its effect upon the other divisions of the army ; and the pressure of the fugitives from the left, upon the centre, imparted a portion of their panic to the rest of their companions. The advance of the Marylanders, at this lucky moment, helped to increase the confusion of the foe. They delivered their fire with deliberation and fatal effect, and along their whole front the enemy yielded.
Completely triumphant, as they now supposed them- selves, the Americans pressed forward to prevent the Brit- ish from rallying, and to cut them off from the brick house, to which the fugitives naturally turned their eyes. Suc- cessful in this, the victory would have been complete. The great loss which the enemy had sustained, must have compelled his surrender, unless he could secure this shel- ter, which was now his object. It was in striving to defeat this object, that the Americans sustained their greatest loss ; and the affair which so far had promised a glorious victory, ended in the complete disappointment of the conquering army, and the temporary defeat of its proudest hopes.
At this stage of the battle, Majoribanks still stood firm in the thickets which covered him. General Greene saw that he must be dislodged from a position which would soon enable him to renew the fight with disadvantage to the Americans. Colonel Washington, with his cavalry, was dispatched on this duty ; but, on attempting a charge, he found that he could not penetrate the thicket
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with his horse. An attempt to gain the enemy's rear, brought upon him a destructive fire, which slew many of his men and horses, and drove the rest in confusion. He was succeeded by colonel Hampton ; and Kirkwood's in- fantry, with their bayonets, rushing at the same time to revenge their companions, succeeded in expelling the Brit- ish from this strong position. But Majoribanks retired slowly, still holding on to the thickets, and making for a new position, of nearly equal strength, behind the palisa- does of the garden.
Here the British army had partly rallied, though nothing could well exceed the alarm in their encamp- ment. Every thing was given up for lost. The commis- saries destroyed their stores ; the numerous retainers of the army, mostly loyalists and deserters, who dreaded falling into the hands of the Americans, seizing the horses wherever they might be found, fled in terror, carrying consternation where they went, even down to the gates of Charlestown. Their alarm might not have been groundless, had it not been for the misfortunes of the Americans, in the losses of Washington's cavalry, and the rash pursuit, by the infantry, of the disordered British. So severely had Washington's command suffered in the affair with Majoribanks, that but two of his officers could return into the action. The colonel himself had his horse shot under him, and owed his life to the clemency of a British officer.
By the time that Majoribanks had gained the palisadoes, Sheridan had thrown himself into the house, and some of the routed companies from the British left, had made good their retreat into the picketed garden, from the in-
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tervals of which, they could fire with security and effect. The whole British line was now in full flight before the American bayonet. Their retreat lay directly through their own encampment, where their tents were all stand- ing, and a thousand objects scattered around in grateful profusion, which, to the famished troops of Greene, were too tempting to be withstood. Fatigued and almost naked, panting with heat and suffering from thirst-at the same time believing their victory to be secure,-the pursuing Americans fell into acts of insubordination, to which the fire of the British from the contiguous houses eminently contributed. The shelter of the tents from this fire, became an excuse, of which these brave men did not scruple to avail themselves. Here the American line got into irretrievable confusion. Its officers, nearly abandoned by their soldiers, became conspicuous marks for the British party, who now poured their fire from the windows of the house. In vain did they seek to rescue their men from the baneful consequences which had fol- lowed their entrance into the encampment. They had dispersed without order among the tents, had fastened upon the intoxicating liquors, and had now become utterly unmanageable.
The British officers availed themselves promptly of this miserable condition of things. Majoribanks and Coffin made simultaneous movements ; the one from his thicket on the left, the other from the wood on the right of the American line. Greene soon saw the dangers that threatened him, and issued orders to Lee, of the legion, to fall upon Coffin. In the absence of Lee, major Eggleston, with a detachment of the legion cavalry, pro-
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ceeded to obey, but was repulsed by Coffin, who immedi- ately after hastened to charge the rear of the Americans, now dispersed among the tents. Here, however, he encountered Hampton, and, by him, was successfully charged and beaten in turn. A sharp fight resulted in Coffin's retiring from the conflict. A moment after, the command of Hampton was almost annihilated by a fire from the picketed garden, where Majoribanks had con- cealed himself. This skillful officer, to whom the British army chiefly owed its safety, having scattered the cavalry of Hampton, proceeded to the performance of another movement, which was decisive of the strife.
The British artillery, which had been captured by the Americans, had been brought up and opened upon the brick house, where the enemy were strongly sheltered. Unfortunately, in the hurry of the fight, the pieces had been brought too near the house, and were commanded by its fire, which very soon killed or disabled all the ar- tillerists. Majoribanks, as soon as he had scattered the cavalry of Hampton, sallied into the field, re-captured the pieces, and hurried them under cover. Then, being re-inforced by parties from the house and garden, he charged the Americans scattered among the tents, and drove them before him. They found safety only in the cover of the wood where the army of Greene had rallied ; and the British, too much crippled to venture into conflict beyond the shelter of the houses, slowly fell back upon their position.
Thus ended the severe battle of the Eutaw, in which both parties claimed the honors of the victor. There is no difficulty in settling the question between them. The
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British were driven from the field of battle at the edge of the bayonet, and took refuge in a fortress. So closely had they been pressed, and so narrow was their escape, that a forward party of the Americans were only prevented from entering with them, by a precipitate closing of the doors in the face of some of their own officers and men, who were taken prisoners in consequence, and interposed by the captors as shields for the protection of their persons while retreating under the mouths of the musketry which lined its windows. The Americans were simply repulsed from a fortress to which they had driven their enemy in fear and with great slaughter. That the Americans should have completed their victory by taking the house, is undeniable. This must have been the case, had they not yielded to the temptation presented to their wistful eyes by the unknown luxuries of a British encamp- ment. The spoils of the enemy proved more fatal to their virtue, and, in consequence, to their victory, than his weapons had done to their lives. The reproach of losing a victory within their grasp, is greater than if they had suffered defeat. The last may be due to fortune, to unequal strength, to a thousand influences beyond the courage, the conduct, or the skill of man. The first can only arise from his wilfulness, his vices, or his mis- conduct.
That the Americans fought well, and conquered while they fought, is undeniable ; that they did not complete their conquest, is a reproach, painfully increased in its severity, by the reflection, that their failure was fol- lowed by an unhappy loss of valuable lives, which otherwise might have united in the shout of trium, h with
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the survivors. Among these victims, was the gallant colonel Campbell, who fell a moment before the final charge of the Americans which drove the British from the field at the point of the bayonet. The shouts of victory revived him in his dying moments. He demanded the cause of the shouting, and being told that the enemy was in full flight and utterly routed, exclaimed, with the holy satisfaction of the patriot soldier, " I die contented." These were his last words.
CHAPTER XXV.
In this severe engagement, the Americans made five hundred prisoners; and if farther proof were needed to establish their claim to victory, it was found in the events of the succeeding day. Colonel Stewart, leaving his dead unburied, and seventy of his wounded to the humanity of Greene, breaking the stocks of one thousand stand of arms, and destroying his stores, abandoned his position and retreated with precipitation before his ene- my. The Americans advanced within five miles of him, to Ferguson's swamp, where he made his first halt. It was Greene's intention to have renewed the action the next day ; and he dispatched Marion and Lee to watch the line of communication between the Eutaws and Fairlawn, where the British had a strong force, under colonel Mc Arthur, in order to prevent the junction of this body with the enemy's main army. The simultaneous movements of the two corps, enabled them to meet at mid distance, and to out number the American detachment. By this movement, their junction was secured the evening of the day after the battle, and their retreat im- mediately continued. Greene pressed the pursuit during the whole of one day, but without success. The escape of Stewart was secured for the time, and the American general was compelled to forego his object and yield his earliest attention to the prisoners and wounded in his hands.
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But though Stewart succeeded in escaping from his pursuers, the British power in South Carolina was com- pletely prostrated by the battle of Eutaw. He had lost in killed, wounded and missing, nearly one half of the force which he brought into action. The British regu- lars lost something more than this, in the failure of their charm of power,-their reputed invincibility. Their regu- lars had been foiled with their own peculiar weapon, the bayonet ; and, perhaps, almost entirely owed their safety to the sharp shooting of native Americans, by whom their ranks were too much filled from the beginning ; and who, in almost all their victories, made a numerous and efficient part of their armies. By a very inferior force had they been driven from the field, and their courage fell in proportion to the daily increase of confidence, in their own prowess, on the part of the Americans. Nothing seemed wanting to make the American soldiers as good as any in the world, but a moderate length of practice, and frequent exercise in actual conflict.
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