USA > South Carolina > The history of South Carolina in the Revolution, 1775-1780 > Part 65
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
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 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72
Tarleton, as usual, claimed the result of the action as a victory, and so reported it to Earl Cornwallis, and his lordship allowed it as such. On the 23d of November he writes to Tarleton : -
" I have no doubt but your victory will be attended with as good consequences to our affairs as it is with honor and credit to yourself ; I shall be very glad to hear that Sumter is in a condition to give us no further trouble ; he certainly has been our greatest plague in this country."
Sumter's wound prevented him from annoying them during the remainder of his lordship's sojourn in South Carolina; but he was soon again to be in the field, as great a plague to the British as ever. Cornwallis accepted Tarleton's claim of victory in the action at Blackstock, but subsequent English historians have refused to recog- nize it as a success to the British army. Mckenzie in his Strictures on Tarleton's work demonstrates that it was
1 McCall's Hist. of Ga., vol. II, 346; Life of Lacey (Moore), 23; Tarleton's Campaigns, 179-180.
830
HISTORY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
not ; 1 and sober British authorities have ceased to claim it as a success. Steadman adopts Mckenzie's account. He says that it was compiled from the concurrent testi- mony of several officers present in the action, and it has been preferred to Tarleton's own account because his claim of victory is evidently inconsistent with some other circumstances which he admits, - particularly this, that he did not gain possession of the field of action until the next morning, after it had been quitted by the Americans in the night.2
On his retreat to Winnsboro Tarleton made captive a number of old men and stout boys, and carried them to headquarters as trophies won in the recent action ; many of his captives, however, proved their loyalty to the King, and obtained their liberty ; the others were doomed to a tedious imprisonment in Camden jail. A victory in these times could scarcely pass without a hanging, and as Tarle- ton claimed Blackstock as a victory on his part, he must celebrate it by an execution ; so he hanged Mr. Johnston, a respectable man and the father of a numerous family of young children.3
The Whigs, soon after the battle, crossed over the Tyger, and the part of the army raised for the occasion was disbanded. Colonel Lacey kept the field with his mounted infantry. He established his camp and head- quarters at Liberty Hill on Turkey Creek in what is now York County, from which position he greatly an- noyed the enemy by cutting off his foraging parties.4 Colonel Clarke and Lieutenant Colonel McCall determined to press on in the movement on Ninety-Six. This dis- trict, since the surrender of Charlestown, had been less disturbed by the operations of the war than any other in
1 Strictures on Tarleton's Hist., 75.
3 McCall's Hist. of Ga., vol. II, 348.
2 Steadman's Am. War, vol. II, 231. 4 Life of Lacey (Moore).
831
IN THE REVOLUTION
the State, except in. the Low Country to the south of Charlestown. The British post at Ninety-Six, under Lieu- tenant Colonel Cruger, was indeed the only one which had not been assailed by the patriot forces. The conduct of Williamson and the strict view which Pickens had taken of the binding force of the parole he had given had the effect of preventing any uprising of the people in this section ; but the unexampled cruelties and pillage which had been practised and encouraged by the British had drawn many into arms, however unwillingly. The best- affected settlement to the cause of independence in the neighborhood of Ninety-Six was that of Long Cane. To this Clarke and McCall turned their attention for recruits to their force and to annoy the enemy about Ninety-Six.
After resting a few days near Berwick's, or Wofford's, Iron Works, they advanced by an upper route toward Long Cane early in December, and on their way were joined by Colonel Benjamin Few of Georgia, with a part of the refugees from that State. Colonel Few assumed the command. The position of their encampment was favorable for the increase of their numbers, and the pros- pect was flattering that in a short time they would be sufficiently strong to confine the British within their stronghold. Colonel Cruger, who commanded at Ninety- Six, aware of the consequences which would result from permitting Few to remain unmolested in his position, determined to attack him in camp, and hoped to take him by surprise. On Sunday, the 10th of December, Cruger dispatched Lieutenant Colonel Allen with two hundred regular troops, two hundred Loyalists, and fifty dragoons. Marching about twenty miles, they halted on Monday afternoon, the 11th,1 within three miles of Few's camp before he was aware of their approach. Colonel
1 So. Ca. and Am. Gen. Gazette, December 23, 1780.
832
HISTORY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
Clarke, Lieutenant Colonel McCall, and Major Lindsay were ordered by Few to meet the enemy, commence the action, and sustain it until the main body could be brought up to their assistance. Clarke, McCall, and Lindsay advanced about a mile and a half, and, dismounting, tied their horses within one hundred yards of the enemy's front, which was composed of Loyal militia. These they at once engaged, and the action became lively. They had attacked so quickly that the regular troops were but just formed when the action began. In about ten minutes the Loyalist militia retreated ; some of them fled, and the remainder formed in the rear of the regular troops. Clarke sent an express to Few to hasten the march of the main body, and with his troops advanced on the regulars, delivering a fire which wounded some of them. Unfortunately, just at this juncture, he received a wound in his shoulder, which was at first supposed to be mortal, and was carried from the field.
Colonel Allen received the advancing Americans with a fire and the bayonet, and brought up the Loyalists he had rallied on the American flank. About this time McCall was also wounded and his horse killed. The horse falling upon him, McCall narrowly escaped with his life. Major Lindsay also was wounded. All their leaders having thus fallen, the Americans retreated and were charged by the enemy's dragoons. Major Lindsay, who had received three wounds, was sabred upon his head and arms, and one of his hands was cut off by Captain Lang of the dragoons, as he lay on the ground. Fourteen Americans were killed, and several others who were wounded and unable to make resistance were slain on the ground where they lay. The atrocities of Tarleton's massacre of Buford's men at the Waxhaws were thus repeated on a smaller scale. The killed amounted to fourteen, and the wounded who escaped with
833
IN THE REVOLUTION
life to seven. The British claimed to have killed and wounded about sixty. They admitted a loss of three wounded.1
When the remains of Colonel Clarke's command returned to the camp, they found Colonel Few and the main body of troops under orders for retreat and ready to move off, without having given any previous intimation to those in advance. Some harsh observations were made by some of the officers who had been engaged, relative to Few's con- duct, whether justly on that occasion is not certain. He had previously given proof of courage and good conduct. He justified himself by saying that the intelligence he had received after Colonel Clarke was engaged induced a belief that the force of the enemy was so far superior to his own that it would have been imprudent to have met them in a general engagement. But this surely did not justify him in withholding from Clarke notice of his intentions, or in making an effort to secure his retreat. The whole Amer- ican force was about 500, the British 450.2 But 100 of the Americans were actually engaged.
On the 13th of January, 1781, Congress adopted the following resolution : 3 __
" Congress taking into consideration the eminent services rendered to the United States by Brigadier General Sumter of South Carolina at the head of a number of volunteer militia from that and the neigh- boring State, particularly in the victory obtained over the enemy at Hanging Rock on the 6th of August, in the defeat of Major Wemyss and the corps of British Infantry and dragoons under his command at Broad River on the 9th day of November, in which the said Major Wemyss was made prisoner, and on the repulse of Lieutenant Colonel Tarleton and the British cavalry and infantry under his command at Blackstock on Tyger River on the 20th of November last, in each of
1 McCall's Hist. of Ga., vol. II, 349, 350 ; So. Ca. and Am. Gen. Gazette, December 23, 1780.
2 McCall's Hist. of Ga., vol. II, 350, 351.
3 Sumter MSS. VOL. III. - 3 H
834
HISTORY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
which actions the gallantry and military conduct of General Sumter and the courage and perseverance of his troops were highly conspicuous.
" Resolved, therefore, that the thanks of Congress be presented to Brigadier General Sumter and the militia aforesaid for such reiter- ated proofs of their patriotism, bravery, and military conduct which entitles them to the highest esteem and confidence of their country and that the commanding officer of the Southern department do forth- with cause the same to be issued in general orders and transmitted to General Sumter."
The district of Ninety-Six had thus far, in a great measure, escaped the ravages of the war. Colonel Cruger's wise conduct, his gentle yet firm course, had held quiet the people in that section, who were indeed generally loyal to the King ; and in this he had doubtless been aided by the rigid regard which Colonel Pickens had persistently held to the parole he had given. The example of Pickens's conduct, in inflexibly adhering to what he considered that his honor required in maintaining his word, had doubt- less influenced the conduct of others who might have been inclined more lightly to regard the obligations of theirs. But fortunately for the cause of his country, just at this critical time a raid was made by Dunlap upon Pickens's plantation, his house plundered, his family insulted, and his friends and neighbors alike ill treated. This violation of the protection which had been pledged him when he had given his parole, he regarded as releasing him from its reciprocal obligations. Sending word to Colonel Cruger of his determination, against the advice and entreaty of the British officers whose friend- ship he had won during his parole, he now took the field and brought to the cause of liberty the great weight of his high character. The story of his advent to the Ameri- can cause, the particular circumstances of his coming, as well as his subsequent distinguished career, belong, how- ever, more appropriately to the coming campaign under General Greene, of which we shall hereafter tell.
CHAPTER XXXVII
1780
THE year 1780, so memorable in the history of South Carolina, though devoid of activity, was not without inci- dent in the Northern States. Sir Henry Clinton had hur- ried from Charlestown to New York to avoid the French fleet, and had reached that port in safety a month before the fleet appeared on the coast. On the 18th of July Washington received intelligence of the arrival on the 12th at Newport of the Count de Rochambeau and the Chevalier de Ternay, with land and naval forces from France. The naval force consisted of eight ships of the line, two frigates, and two bombs, and upwards of five thousand men.1 Although it was now midsummer, the French commander found the American forces unprepared for active and offensive cooperation. In anticipation of the arrival of the French auxiliaries, Washington had in vain endeavored to obtain from Congress some assurance of the strength of the reinforcements upon which he could rely. In this he was seconded by the French Minis- ter, who addressed Congress on the same subject, and transmitted the answers he received to the Commander-in- chief. To the French Minister Congress stated at large the measures they had taken to recruit the new army and to obtain supplies of provisions. The present weakness of their military force was attributed principally to the
1 Washington's Writings, vol. VII, 113.
835
836
HISTORY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
fall of Charlestown, to a diversion of a large portion of it to the Southern Department, and to the heavy losses sus- tained from fatigue and desertion during a long and tiresome march.1
Writing to the President of Congress on the 18th of November, 1779, Washington had submitted an abstract taken from the muster rolls of the troops of each State in October (South Carolina and Georgia excepted), contain- ing a return not only of the whole strength of each, and of the independent corps at that time, but of the different periods for which they stood engaged. From this return it appeared that the whole force amounted to 27,099, of which 410 were invalids, 14,998 were engaged for the war, and the terms of enlistment of the remainder would expire at different periods during the succeeding year. It was no doubt true, as Washington went on to observe, that it could not be supposed the whole of this number were either actually in service or really in existence, as the amount of an army on paper would always exceed its real strength.2 But allowing for all such inaccuracies and proper deduc- tions, there could scarcely have remained less than 25,000 men properly on these rolls. And this was indeed the number Congress assured the French Minister they could bring into the field.3 Granting, however, that the troops sent to the South were to be deducted from this estimate, to what did these amount ? There had been sent to Lincoln the North Carolina brigade under Hogan, which when it passed through Philadelphia numbered 700, the Virginia line, which, including those whose terms of enlist- ment would shortly expire, and who were retained by Washington, was supposed to amount to over 3000
1 Marshall's Life of Washington, vol. IV, 249.
2 Washington's Writings, vol. VI, 402.
3 Marshall's Life of Washington, vol. IV, 248.
837
IN THE REVOLUTION
men ; 1 but of which only 1950 reached the South- ern Department, to wit : Colonel Heth's corps 400, the remains of Bland's and Baylor's dragoons under William Washington 100, and of Moylan's under Colonel White, Woodford's brigade, 700, Buford's 350, and Porter- field's 400. Then Gates and De Kalb had brought the Maryland and Delaware lines and Continental artillery numbering 1500. So the diversion of the army to the Southern Department, which Congress represented to the French Minister as the cause of the smallness of Washing- ton's force, took away in all but 4150 men, which should have left to the Commander-in-chief considerably over 20,000 from the Northern States to oppose the garrison of New York and its dependencies, which in January were supposed to be reduced to 10,000 or 11,000 effectives,2 and which in April did not in fact exceed 8000 men,3 nor after the return of Sir Henry Clinton from South Carolina in June 12,000 regulars.4 But Washington had not near so many as 20,000 men left after sending off the reinforcements to the South.5 Though the winter was so severe that the Hudson was frozen, and Lieutenant General Knyphausen, left in com- mand of the garrison at New York during the absence of Sir Henry Clinton and Lord Cornwallis, was thus exposed to attack by the American army crossing the ice, Washington
1 Lincoln's Letter to Washington, Year Book of the City of Charleston, 1897 (Smyth), 355.
2 Marshall's Life of Washington, vol. IV, 197.
3 Washington's Writings, vol. VII, 23.
4 Marshall's Life of Washington, vol. IV, 232.
5 By General Knox's report the whole number of troops furnished in the ten States during the year 1780 (i.e. excluding the Carolinas and Georgia) was 21,015. Deducting those of Delaware (325), Maryland (2065), and Virginia (2486), in all 4866, there should still have re- mained 16,149 of the Northern States under Washington's command. Not all, however, of the troops of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia had been sent to the South.
838
HISTORY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
was too weak to take advantage of the favorable circum- stance. Indeed, he was so weak that on the contrary he was subjected to the humiliation of an invasion of the Jerseys by the reduced British garrison, and the burning of the flourish- ing settlement known as the Connecticut Farms, six miles from Elizabeth, as well as the village of Springfield. By a return of the whole army under Washington's immediate command, made on the 3d of June, there did not appear to be present and fit for duty more than 3760 men rank and file.1
The reduction of Washington's army to an inferiority to that of the British, even after their larger detachments to the South, was owing to causes much more serious than the diversion of a part of it to meet the British invasion in South Carolina. The truth is, that the American cause was at a lower ebb at the North when the French allies arrived than even in South Carolina, which had been over- run in every section by British troops. In South Caro- lina, as the invaders swept over the State, they converted friends into foes, and patriots and heroes arose in every direction to renew the struggle against oppression. At the North, except in the immediate vicinity of the armies, there was languor, indifference, and unwillingness to longer contribute men or supplies. To so low an ebb, indeed, had the tide of American affairs fallen in this year, 1780, that, as has before appeared, Lord George Germain could write from Whitehall exultingly to Sir Henry Clinton, that by the return of the Provincial forces in the King's service he had transmitted it appeared that more Ameri- cans were enlisted in her Majesty's cause than were en-
1 Marshall's Life of Washington, vol. IV, 228. At this time the Brit- ish Provincial forces-that is, troops raised in America - amounted to 8954. So. Ca. in the Revolutionary War (Simms), 55, quoting State Paper Office.
839
IN THE REVOLUTION
listed in the Continental army to fight for the rights and liberties of America.1
The emission of the full sum of $200,000,000 in Conti- nental bills of credit, which Congress had solemnly re- solved not to exceed, had been completed in November, 1779, and was entirely expended. The requisitions in the State to replenish the treasury by taxes had not been fully complied with, and had they even been strictly observed, would by no means have produced a sum in any degree equal to the public expenditure. It became therefore necessary to devise other measures which should afford the means of carrying on the war. During the distresses which brought the army almost to the point of dissolution, these measures were under consideration. As early as December, 1779, it had been determined to change the mode which had been adopted for supplying the army by purchases, and instead to make requisitions of specific articles in the several States. In this, Con- gress was but seeking to avoid its own responsibility and endeavoring to cast it upon the individual States. Nor could this change be brought into immediate operation. The legislatures of the several States by which it was to be adopted and carried into execution were, many of them, not then in session. A greater part of the summer must necessarily therefore pass away before supplies could thus be obtained. In the meantime, until a new scheme of finance could be adopted, there being no regular fund to be certainly relied on for the support of the army, a desperate scheme of raising money was devised. Mr. Jay, who had succeeded Henry Laurens as President of Congress, had been sent at the end of the year 1779 as plenipotentiary to Spain, where he landed in January, 1780 ; and Congress was now about to send Henry Laurens to Amsterdam
1 Clinton-Cornwallis Controversy, vol. I, 335.
840
HISTORY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
to negotiate a commercial treaty with the Netherlands. Without waiting to learn whether Mr. Jay would be received at Madrid, or even for the departure of Mr. Laurens upon his mission, bills to the amount of £100,000 sterling, payable at six months' sight, were directed to be drawn on these gentlemen, and were sold in small sums on pressing occasions. Loan offices were also opened in the several States for borrowing from individuals.1 Mr. Jay was not recognized at Madrid, and the bills drawn on him were a source of great annoyance and embarrassment in his mission. Mr. Laurens did not reach his destina- tion. He was captured on his voyage, taken to England, and thrown into the Tower of London. Another financial scheme was adopted on the 18th of March, which was nothing more than a second essay to substitute credit for money, unsupported by solid funds, and resting solely on public faith. But neither could this go into operation until sanctioned by the legislature of the several States, many of which were yet to convene ; and when they should meet, they would surely add their own emissions to the new currency of Congress.
Expecting assistance from France, Congress determined upon the establishment of the army for the campaign of 1780 at 35,211 men ; the raising of these men was of course left to the States, which were called upon to bring them into the field by the first day of April. Washington, though disapproving, was unremitting in his endeavors to render the plans of Congress as perfect in detail as possible, and to give to their execution all the aid which his situation en- abled him to afford. But his efforts and appeals were un- availing. New Jersey, in which the largest division of the army was stationed, although much exhausted, exerted her- self, and her quota of supplies was promptly furnished. She
1 Marshall's Life of Washington, vol. IV, 209.
841
IN THE REVOLUTION
availed herself, however, of the provision of Congress in regard to the furnishing of supplies, " That any State which shall have taken the necessary measures for furnishing its quota and have given notice thereof to Congress shall be authorized to prohibit any Continental quartermaster or commissary from purchasing within its limits."1 This most extraordinary measure of Congress, by which it dis- abled itself from procuring its supplies in the open markets of any States which should undertake to provide its quota, operated most disastrously, as might have been expected. It was obvious that the demand in any State, which should become the theatre of war, would be much greater than its quota in the general apportionment, and experience had shown that transportation of specific articles from distant places was always difficult and expensive, and sometimes impossible. New Jersey did her duty so far as furnishing the proportionate supplies demanded of her ; but her leg- islature passed an act prohibiting, under severe penalties, the purchase by the staff of the Continental line of pro- visions within her borders, and declined authorizing its own agents to provide for any emergency, however press- ing.2 The supplies furnished by New Jersey afforded but a temporary relief, and when they were exhausted, the army was again distressed for food. The supplies for the forage department failed, and a great proportion of the public horses perished or became unfit for use. No means were possessed for the purchase of others, and Gen- eral Greene, the quartermaster general, found himself un- able to transport provisions from distant magazines to the camp. In this dire distress Washington was reduced to the necessity of calling for voluntary contributions under the penalty of military impressment - a measure little short of using the army against its own people.
1 Marshall's Life of Washington, vol. IV, 205.
2 Ibid., 207.
842
HISTORY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
The want of food and transportation were not the only difficulties. Others of a serious nature also presented themselves. The pay of an officer, says Marshall, was now reduced by the depreciation of money to such a mis- erable pittance as to be unequal to the supply of the most moderate demands. The pay of a major general would no longer have compensated an express rider, and that of a captain would not have furnished the shoes in which he marched when leading his company against the enemy. Many of the officers had expended their own means in supplying themselves with decent apparel ; and those who possessed none could rely only on the State to which they belonged for such clothing as the State might be willing or able to furnish. These supplies were so insufficient and so unequal as to produce the most extreme dissatis- faction. In the lines of some of the States the officers in a body gave notice of their determination to resign on a given day, if some decent and certain provision should not be made for them. Upon the appeal, however, of Wash- ington, they offered to serve as volunteers until their suc- cessors should be appointed, and on the absolute rejection of this proposition, they were with difficulty induced to remain in service.
Among the rank and file the condition of things was even worse. The first efforts made toward the close of the campaign of 1776, to enlist troops for the war, had in some degree succeeded ; so that, as has been seen, in October, 1779, there were very nearly fifteen thousand men upon the rolls enlisted for the war. In some of the States, especially in Pennsylvania, a considerable portion of these had been engaged upon but small bounties. But as the war went on, and it became more difficult to obtain recruits, the States had actually bidden against each other in the amount of bounty for soldiers. The result was, as of
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.