USA > South Carolina > The history of South Carolina in the Revolution, 1780-1783 > Part 36
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
428
HISTORY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
headquarters, and the manner in which he was discussed in the correspondence between Greene and Lee, and of Greene's declared sentiments in regard to him, he might well have claimed in the language of the king of Israel of old, "Consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me," for Greene was at this time, with Lee, privately nursing still another grievance against him. He was now, at the instigation of Lee, charging to Sumter's account the burning of Georgetown. On the 29th of July, Colonel Lee wrote to General Greene : -
"I at this moment learn by certain authority that General Sumpter has detached Captain Davis to Georgetown to seize for public use the goods of every sort that may be found. It seems that the Tories left much linen cloth &c. &c. in the hands of Whigs on the evacuation of that place, and that these goods are now making their appearance for sale. Your officers are naked and I presume no order of men have greater claim to your attention." 1
The only plausible cause, it was said, ever given by the enemy for the destruction of the place was " that the Whigs were about to draw from it supplies for their army "; that the raking of the streets by the fire from a galley whilst the town was consumed was to prevent the merchants from saving their goods; that it was known that that place had begun to open a trade with Havana, and that fast sail- ing boats did afterwards actually contribute much to sup- ply the wants of the army through this port; that General Greene was making arrangements at the time for drawing by purchase from Georgetown supplies to a considerable amount; that Captain Conyers was detached for that pur- pose, and arrived only in time to witness the melancholy conflagration. In short, most of the town was burnt because of Sumter's order to Captain Davis.2
When Judge Johnson wrote he had only the letter of 1 Johnson's Life of Green, vol. II, 215. 2 Ibid., 216.
6 f b 0 u a is in
pr
1
429
IN THE REVOLUTION
Lee to Greene which he quotes as authority for the fact that Sumter had sent Captain Davis upon such an errand, and so only hypothetically condemns Sumter if Lee's charge was true. There is no doubt that Sumter did send Cap- tain Davis for the purpose. Nor was there at the time any concealment or mystery about the matter, Sumter reporting it to General Greene.1 The original order is still extant in the possession of a descendant of Captain Davis, and is as follows : -
" CAMP AT GREAT SAVANNAH, " 25 July, 1781.
" DEAR SIR : With a detachment of the State troops under your command you are requested forthwith to proceed to George Town with all expedition & there by every possible means in your power secure all articles of property belonging to the enemy & all persons abetting or in any wise acting inimical to the interests of the United States of America.
" And all articles so obtained you'll be pleased to transport with the utmost expedition to this place. You are hereby authorized to im- press negroes, teams, wagons, oxen & every other requisite to expe- dite & carry this business into execution.
" You are to move or cause to be removed all the Indigo salt hospi- tal stores & all other articles suitable & wanted for the army from every person without distinction except so much as may be necessary for family use. You are to observe that all property or articles sold by the enemy still vests in the public which is to be taken & disposed of accordingly, the situation & nature of the service requires the utmost circumspection & vigilance - the worst of consequences is to be apprehended from delays.
"To the end that friends may not be injured or enemys go unpun- ished you'l endeavor to make the necessary discrimination & act inflexibly.
"You'll inform me as early as may be of your proceedings, the progress you have made & prospects in view so that if necessary hereby success & support may be afforded you.
" I am ever your most obdt. & h'l'b servt.
" THOS. SUMTER. "CAPT. W. R. DAVIS."
1 Sumter's letters, Year Book, City of Charleston, 1899, Appendix, 52.
f
430
HISTORY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
Wherein was the impropriety of this order it is difficult to conceive. Governor Rutledge had not, at this time, the last of July, yet returned to South Carolina, and Sumter was in command of all the militia and State troops, and was daily in communication with General Greene, who depended upon him in a great measure for supplies and horses which Sumter was taking from the Tories,1 and the very day upon which he issued this order to Captain Davis, Sumter sends to General Greene an inventory of all the property taken from the enemy during his expedition in the Low-Country.2 Surely, under these circumstances, independently of his own authority as commanding the State forces in South Carolina, he had every reason to suppose himself authorized and charged by Greene him- self to seize and secure the enemy's property, and to im- press all articles necessary for the support of the army, whether in the hands of friends or foe. If there really was any occasion for excepting Georgetown from Sumter's vigilance and action, it behooved General Greene to inform him of it. But why attribute the burning of Georgetown to Sumter's order, which there is no evidence that Captain Davis carried out, nor of which is there any that the enemy were even aware, rather than to the fact which Judge Johnson himself states, namely, that an attempt was being made to open this port to communication with Havana ? The fact "that the Whigs were about to draw from it [Georgetown] supplies for the army " coming in from Havana, would very much more naturally account for the enemy's destruction of the place, than the mere fact that Sumter had sent an officer to seize the enemy's property
1 See Greene's letters to Sumter, April 19, 1781, Year Book, City of Charleston, 1899, Appendix, 90; April 30, ibid., 93; May 4, ibid., 95; May 6, ibid., 97; May 17, ibid., 101-102 ; June 23, ibid., 115-116.
2 Year Book, City of Charleston, 1899, Appendix, 48.
t G g L ce of al Six
431
IN THE REVOLUTION
in the town. It is difficult to avoid the impression that this suggestion was nothing more than excuse for a quar- rel, and was fitly concluded by a letter from Lee to Greene, joining in denunciation of Sumter, which ends with this extraordinary statement : 1 " General Sumter is become almost universally odious, as far as I can discover. I lament that a man of his turn was ever useful, or being once deservedly great, shall want the wisdom necessary to continue so, and preserve his reputation."
The suggestion in regard to furloughing his men, and the order to Captain Davis for the seizure of property in Georgetown, were the two events, it is said, which led General Greene into that review of General Sumter's whole conduct since he had command in the department, from which General Greene imbibed the opinion that he had never been cordially supported by that officer, and from which he only doubted whether to attribute General Sumter's conduct to want of cordiality in contributing to the success of measures which should crown the com- mander of the Southern Department with honors, or an avidity for personal distinction which impelled him to a deviation from the plan of others that he might enjoy the undivided honor of his own achievements.2
There can be no doubt that Sumter differed radically with General Greene as to the conduct of military opera- tion in the State; but so also did Marion and Lee. Greene was, with one notable exception, always for some grand general engagement, while Sumter, Marion, and Lee believed in the slow but surer process of attrition, in ceaseless activity upon the outposts and communications of the enemy. Greene, in his general engagements, was always defeated, as at Guilford, Hobkirk's Hill, and Ninety Six, and, indeed, again, as we shall soon see, at Eutaw;
1 Campaigns in the Carolinas (Lee), 450. 2 Ibid., 214.
432
HISTORY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
while Sumter, Marion, and Lee, though not always victori- ous, achieved many brilliant results, and were uniformly successful in accomplishing their purpose of wearing away the enemy in smaller affairs. There was another point of difference as between Greene and Lee on the one side, and Sumter and Marion on the other. And that was in the assumed superiority of the former as regulars over the latter as militia. Sumter and Marion, as we have had occasion before to observe, had each begun his military career in the French War in expeditions against the Ind- ians, and had both been in the service as Continentals, and in that part of the army Marion had probably seen as much service as either Greene or Lee, if not more. While in the volunteer line the two had kept up the war without Greene or Lee, and had accomplished more than either of them could boast. It was the just complaint of both Sumter and Marion that Lee was allowed to reap alike the honors and material advantages of their plans and work. To such an extent had they felt this, that within a few days of each other each had tendered his resignation. But there was no ground whatsoever to charge Sumter with standing off from Greene's support when he had it in his power to aid him. True, he was not able to furnish a thousand men himself, independently of Marion, when their united forces did not reach that number, with which to join Greene in a great battle upon his return to the State. True, too, he did urge that those whom he could bring out would be best employed in Rawdon's rear, and not in a general engagement; but in this Greene had yielded to his views as being sound, and Sumter, carrying them out, had compelled Lord Rawdon's evacuation of Camden, though his lordship had beaten Greene in the field. When the occasion did present itself for one decisive blow upon the retreating enemy, already well-nigh routed,
a a d a
433
IN THE REVOLUTION
Greene had turned aside, against Sumter's advice, for the siege of a post in his rear, which was about to fall of itself, and which was only saved from doing so by his effort to take it.
Was it not Greene himself who, as appears by his corre- spondence, was avaricious of personal distinction, and jeal- ous for the undivided honor of his achievements ? It is in this spirit that he writes to Lee, when giving his reason for abandoning South Carolina and going to Virginia, that the plans being laid and the position taken in South Carolina, the rest would be a war of posts, and the most that would be left to the commanding officer would be to make de- tachments, and give the command of them to the proper officers, to whom the glory would belong for executing the busi- ness.1 The same spirit prompted his letter to Governor Reed, belittling the achievements of Sumter and Marion, and declaring that they did little more than keep the dis- pute alive.
Though General Greene had been disappointed that the militia of Rowan and Mecklenburg counties had not joined him as he had expected, he nevertheless received a consid- erable reenforcement from North Carolina while at his camp of rest. When, before Ninety Six, he had become satisfied that he must no more rely upon drawing horses or men from Virginia, he despatched Colonel Malmedy, who, it will be recollected, escaped from Charlestown be- fore its fall2 and who had now recently joined him, to wait upon the legislature of North Carolina, then in session, and press upon them the necessities of his situation. The application was promptly met, and 200 horses, a monthly draft of militia to keep constantly in the field 2000 men, and an immediate draft of 1500 to march forthwith to the
1 Campaigns in the Carolinas (Lee), 356.
2 Hist. of So. Ca. in the Revolution, 1775-80 (McCrady), 489. VOL. IV. - 2 F
434
HISTORY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
army, and to serve there three months, were voted without hesitation.
While the main body of the army was resting on the hills, Colonel Washington was detached down the country across the Santee to strike all the communications between the enemy and Charlestown, and to cooperate with Marion and Maham in covering the country on the lower Santee. Lee was sent upwards along the north bank of the Congaree to operate with Colonel Henderson, in command of Sum- ter's brigade. Colonel Harden at the same time, with his mounted men collected beyond the Edisto, was keeping a watch upon the enemy in that quarter. Unfortunately, the execution of Colonel Hayne had much of its desired effect in detaining the inhabitants of this section from joining Harden. General Greene, in speaking of the efforts of the cavalry in their expeditions, asserts that their enter- prise was never excelled in the world. Washington suc- ceeded in falling in with two parties of the enemy's horse and making fifty prisoners. Lee, crossing the Congaree with the cavalry, penetrated between the main body of the enemy and his post at Orangeburgh, and in sight of the latter place dispersed or captured a number of their patrol parties.1 Harden, on the other hand, was not so fortunate ; a Captain Connaway of the Royal militia of Orangeburgh, about the 1st of August, attacked one of his parties in the forks of the Edisto, at the head of Four Mile Creek, and killed eighteen and dispersed the rest; 2 and two able and daring partisan leaders of the British Loyalists made their way to the upper country about this time, and began a series of the most sanguinary attacks upon the small posts in that region. One Hezekiah Williams, on the 6th of September, attacked a party of Whig militia in Turkey Creek, a branch
1 Johnson's Life of Greene, vol. II, 207.
2 The Royal Gazette, September 12, 1781.
- in
435
IN THE REVOLUTION
of the Savannah, in what is now Edgefield County, killing and wounding ten.1 The other was the notorious Bloody Bill Cuningham, whose exploits will presently be related.
For some time after the removal of Colonel Stuart to his position near McCord's Ferry, his difficulties in obtain- ing provisions became very great. All the grain that could not be removed across the river had been destroyed ; and every boat above and below the confluence of the Con- garee and the Wateree was either removed or sunk and concealed. The consequence was that within arm's reach of plenty Colonel Stuart found himself obliged to depend on the country below for supplies. This compelled him to strengthen his post at Dorchester in order to cover his communication by Orangeburgh, and to post Major McArthur at the Colletons' place, Fair Lawn, near the head of the navigation of Cooper River, from which sup- plies received from Charlestown were transported by land to his headquarters. And as this communication was interrupted and watched by Washington, Marion, and Maham, in order to secure the means of communicating with the opposite bank of the Congaree and drawing sup- plies from thence, the British commander was under the necessity of transporting boats from Fair Lawn to the Congaree on wagon wheels.2
Both armies had thus settled down to comparative in- action for the rest of the heated season, when events at the North and in Virginia compelled General Greene to resume offensive operations before the season had half elapsed. It was not until the month of June that the army under General Washington moved out of winter quarters and
1 The Royal Gazette, September 12, 1781. This officer's name is given in the Gazette as Jeptha Williams; but in the issue of October 13 this is corrected, and his name given as Hezekiah.
2 Johnson's Life of Greene, vol. II, 208.
436
HISTORY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
the campaign of 1781 was commenced in the North. Up to this time the French army, which had arrived in July, 1780, had remained quietly at Newport.1 At an interview between General Washington and Count de Rochambeau it had then been agreed to inaugurate a campaign by offensive operations against New York; and the French army approaching the North River, the 2d of July was appointed for the attack, but the plan failed. The ap- pearance of the combined armies had, however, induced Sir Henry Clinton to recall a large portion of the British and German troops from Virginia, when, on the other hand, the arrival of a reenforcement of three thousand men from Europe allowed Sir Henry to countermand this order; but in doing so he directed Lord Cornwallis (who, having marched from Wilmington and, notwithstanding the opposition of the Marquis de Lafayette, had overrun Virginia) to take some strong post on the Chesapeake from which he might either reenforce Sir Henry in New York, or proceed to execute the plans meditated against the States lying on that bay, as future events might demand. In this condition of affairs at the North and in Virginia it will be perceived how important a service to the coun- try at large were the operations in South Carolina, which constrained Colonel Gould to land the three regiments appearing off Charlestown bar, and to employ them here in serving Lord Rawdon rather than reenforcing Lord Cornwallis as intended.
Early in August, Washington learnt that De Grasse, with the long-expected second division of the French fleet, was to have sailed from Cape François on the 3d of that month, with a squadron of the line having on board thirty- two hundred soldiers, but that he was under engagements to return to the West Indies by the middle of October.
1 Hist. of So. Ca. in the Revolution (McCrady), 846.
437
IN THE REVOLUTION
Whatever use was to be made of this force it was thus imperative should be determined on at once. The time allowed was deemed too short for operations against New York, and Washington turned his views to Virginia, and resolved to lead the Southern expedition in person. Gen- eral Heath was placed in command of the force left before New York to employ the attention of Sir Henry Clinton, while Washington, with all the troops of Rocham- beau and a strong detachment from the Continental army, on the 19th of August, began his march for Virginia. It was anticipated that, as soon as Cornwallis found himself cut off by the French fleet from communication with Sir Henry Clinton, he would attempt to escape by a sudden march to Charlestown. To meet this, Lafayette was re- quested to make such a disposition of his army as should be best calculated to prevent the movement, and Greene, receiving letters from the Commander-in-chief of the con- dition of affairs, determined to resume offensive opera- tions in South Carolina so as to prevent any assistance from this quarter.1 Thus was it that the Camp of Repose on the High Hills of Santee was broken up earlier than had been anticipated.
On the 22d of August Greene called in all of his detachments except those under Maham, Harden, and Marion, and appointed a general rendezvous at Friday's Ferry. Great rains had now laid all the swamps which border the Wateree four miles in width under water, and without great difficulty and some danger to his advance, Greene could not cross the river without ascending it to Camden. By that route he reached Howell's Ferry on the Congaree on the 28th, and ordered his detachments to join him at that place, intending immediately to cross the river and advance upon Colonel Stuart. That officer, however,
1 Marshall's Life of Washington, vol. IV, 469, 541.
438
HISTORY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
learning of the movement, fell back upon his reënforce- ments and took a position at the Eutaw Springs.
As the British army had moved by forced marches to a distance of forty miles below its position at the mouth of the Congaree, it was no longer in the power of the Ameri- can commander to force it to action. He therefore deter- mined for the present a discontinuance of the pursuit, and, crossing the Congaree, moved slowly down the south bank, intending to take post at Motte's and await events. Colonel Lee, in the meantime, was pushed forward to watch Stuart's movements, and General Pickens, who had now, in the absence of Sumter and Marion, taken command of all the State troops present with Greene, was ordered to move leisurely down and take a position to observe the British garrison still remaining at Orangeburgh. These slow movements, indicative of a want of confidence, prob- ably induced Colonel Stuart to halt and give battle. He ordered up the detachment from Fair Lawn to reinforce him, while the garrison at Orangeburgh proceeded across the country below and replaced the garrison drawn from Fair Lawn.1 This movement Stuart was enabled to make without fearing for the safety of his post at Fair Lawn, for Marion at that time had disappeared from that neighbor- hood. His movements now require our attention.
Harden, who was still operating on the Edisto, was at this time hard pressed by a British party of four or five hundred, recruited from the Loyalists who had been driven to Charlestown, while on the other hand his own party was dwindling under the necessity which the rav- ages of these men imposed upon his followers to look to the safety of their families, and the terror excited by the execution of Hayne. In this distress Harden appealed to Marion, who lay at Peyree's plantation in St. Stephen's
1 Johnson's Life of Greene, vol. II, 216, 217.
S
a n
ca
jung elo cad flady dlea fin h more
th
439
IN THE REVOLUTION
Parish. This officer at once applied to Greene to be allowed to undertake an enterprise for Harden's relief.
As soon as permission was obtained, Marion, collecting up his men who had been resting, detached a mounted party under Captain George Cooper to the neighborhood of Dorchester and Monck's Corner to create a diversion there, whilst he with about two hundred picked men by a circuitous route and forced march of at least one hun- dred miles, crossed the Edisto, joined Harden on the 31st of August, and approached the British. When sufficiently near he drew up his men in a swamp upon the road near Parker's Ferry, and sent out some of his swiftest horses to lead the British into the ambuscade. While lying there a small party of Tories crossed at the ferry, and passing on, one of them called out that he saw a white feather, and fired his gun. This occasioned an exchange of a few shots on both sides, but, as is supposed, it was thought by Major Fraser, who commanded the British, to be only Harden's party that was in the swamp; he pur- sued the horsemen sent out as a decoy, and led his corps in full charge within forty or fifty yards parallel to the ambuscade. A deadly fire from the swamp was the first notice he had that a greater force than Harden's was there. Fraser attempted to wheel and charge into the swamp, but only exposed his men the more, as they were thus delayed before the fire, and were wedged up on a cause way so closely that every shot had its effect. Find- ng all his efforts ineffectual, Fraser at length retreated long the road, and thus passed again the whole ambus- cade. A large body of British infantry were now seen advancing, and Marion retreated without counting the lead, but men and horses were seen lying promiscuously n heaps on the road. Marion's retreat was probably owing more to the want of ammunition than to the advance of
e
e
at
av
the
440
HISTORY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
the British infantry, accustomed as he was often to en- counter the enemy with success. A party under Captain Melton went over the battle-ground next day and counted twenty-seven dead horses ; the men had been buried. But though the loss could not be ascertained, the effect of this well-conducted affair soon became evident, for at the battle of Eutaw, nine days after, the enemy had but few cavalry in the field.
In the meantime Captain Cooper passed on to the Cypress swamp, and there routed a party of Tories, and then, proceeding down the road, he drove off the cattle from before the enemy's fort at Dorchester. Thence he moved down the Charlestown road, and finding a body of Tories in a brick church within twelve miles of the town, he charged and drove them before him. Then passing into the Goose Creek road he proceeded to the Ten Mile House, returned and passed over Goose Creek bridge, took a cir- cuitous route around the British at Monck's Corner, and arrived in camp at Peyre's plantation, where Marion now lay, with many prisoners and without the loss of a man.1
To cross the country from St. Stephen's to the Edisto, passing through both lines of the enemy's communication with Charlestown ; to surprise and defeat and disperse parties much superior to his own ; to return by the same route, pass the Santee safely ; to deliver his prisoners and return twenty miles below Eutaw Springs to watch the communication between that place and Fair Lawn; ther at the call of Greene to make a circuit and pass the enemy so as to reach a position on the south side of the Santee ir the track of Greene's advance,-was all the work of six days These movements of Marion and of his gallant officer merited and received the particular thanks of Congress.2
1 James's Life of Marion, 126-128.
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.