USA > South Carolina > The history of South Carolina in the Revolution, 1780-1783 > Part 54
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
It was a serious question, it was claimed, how far the army of the United States, under the confederation, when operating within a State, was bound by the State laws as to the loss or acquirement of property in war. "It was," says Johnson, "obviously a struggle between State and United States powers ; and probably the first party ques- tion smacking of federalism and republicanism ever agitated in South Carolina; but fortunately no collision had yet occurred on the subject of impressment. General Greene convened a numerous council of war to whom he referred the subject; and it stands recorded that an eminent char- acter of the State, then a colonel,2 and then and now not less esteemed for profound law knowledge than for every quality that can render man amiable and estimable, stood
1 Johnson's Life of Greene, vol. II, 326.
2 Colonel C. C. Pinckney.
666
HISTORY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
alone in support of State rights -no small ground of claim (we respectfully suggest) to be the acknowledged protosire of South Carolina republicanism. Habitual def- erence 1 would incline us to side with the minority; but we cannot help thinking that the only difficulty lay in the ill-defined tenor of most of the grants of power under the old confederation. The general power of conducting war would seem to have vested in Congress the right to legislate on captures ; whether they had legislated with a view to postliminy cases," says Johnson, "is what we are not able to decide. It is probable they had not."2 They certainly had not. General Greene made no claim to the protection of any such legislation, but rested on the civil - the international - law in which he was so well read - as we are told.
The governor's council on this occasion appear to have "assumed a very positive tone, but the representative and delegate of congressional power would make but one con- cession ; he permitted those who claimed their horses to receive them on stipulation according to the practice of prize courts, and referred the subject to Congress." 3
It is not amiss to observe that, as there were no South Carolina Continental troops in the service under Greene, except those recently raised, as we have seen, General Pinckney, the only member of this council of war to whom the commander referred this delicate question, was probably the only Carolinian, and the only lawyer, upon the board. Certain it is, that, if not the only lawyer, he was the only lawyer of reputation upon it. This was doubtless one of the occasions of the bitter feeling which already had begun to be entertained in the State,
1 Judge Johnson, the author, who thus writes, studied law under Gen- eral Pinckney.
2 Johnson's Life of Greene, vol. II, 345. 8 Ibid.
Gr
OV se
I
W
t re B
d
667
IN THE REVOLUTION
not only against its commander, but against the whole Continental army within its borders.
Another enterprise of Kosciuszko's, of the same kind, was to occasion the last bloodshed of the Revolution. Just a month before the evacuation, Kosciuszko suggested to Captain Wilmot and Lieutenant Moore of the Maryland line to surprise a party of woodcutters from Fort John- son, on James Island. So much was the accuracy of the information doubted, that many believed that the negro who gave it had been sent expressly to decoy the Ameri- cans. Certain it is the party found the enemy prepared, and received so deadly a fire that Wilmot and several others fell lifeless, while Moore with others remained on the field, covered with wounds. Kosciuszko, although his weapon was shattered in his hand and his coat pierced by four balls, escaped unhurt. A British dragoon was killed by Mr. William Fuller, a very young and gallant volunteer who had joined the expedition, while in the act of cutting Kosciuszko down. The British buried Wilmot with the honors of war, and showed the greatest attention to Moore, who was removed to Charlestown to receive the best surgical attention. He died under his wounds a few days after the evacuation.1
It is related of Marion that about this time Kosciuszko wrote to him, calling his attention to a watering party at Lemprière's Point, so situated as to afford him an oppor- tunity of attacking it with success. To which Marion replied that he had not overlooked the situation of the British at that spot, but he viewed the war in Carolina as over, and as the enemy were preparing to go away he had sent a party to protect them from being annoyed by his own men ; that his fellow-citizens had already shed blood
1 Ramsay's Revolution in So. Ca., vol. II, 375 ; Johnson's Life of Greene, vol. II, 345; Garden's Anecdotes, 91.
668
HISTORY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
enough in the cause of freedom, and that he would not spill another drop of it now that it was unnecessary, - no, not for the highest honors that could be conferred upon him.1
Such was the difference between the patriot and the soldier of fortune.
General Moultrie, who had been a prisoner of war since the fall of Charlestown, was, on the 19th of February, 1782, exchanged for General Burgoyne, and had arrived at Waccamaw in June, where he learned that Greene's army lay inactive at Ashley Ferry. He remained at Winyaw till late in September, when he paid a visit to General Greene. He thus describes his journey : -
" It was the most dull, melancholy, dreary ride that any one could possibly take, of about one hundred miles through the woods of that country, which I had been accustomed to see abound with live-stock and wild fowl of every kind, was now destitute of all. It had been so completely checquered by the different parties that no one part of it had been left unexplored ; consequently, not the vestiges of horses, cattle, hogs, or deer, etc., were to be found. The squirrels and birds of every kind were totally destroyed. The dragoons told me that on their scouts no living creature was to be seen except now and then a few camp scavengers,2 picking the bones of some unfortunate fellows who had been shot or cut down and left in the woods above ground. In my visit to General Greene's camp, as there was some danger from the enemy, I made a circuitous route to General Marion's camp, then on Santee River, to get an escort, which he gave me, of twenty infantry and twenty cavalry; these, with the volunteers that attended me, made us pretty strong. On my way from General Marion's to General Greene's camp my plantation was in the direct road, where I called, and stayed all night. On my entering the place, as soon as the negroes discovered that I was of the party, there was immediately a general alarm and an outcry through the plantation that, 'Massa was come ! Massa was come !' and they were running from every part with great joy to see me. I stood in the piazza to receive them. They
1 James's Life of Marion, Appendix, 8.
2 Turkey buzzards.
669
IN THE REVOLUTION
gazed at me with astonishment, and every one came and took me by the hand, saying, 'God bless you, Massa ! I'm glad to see you, Massa !' and every now and then some one or other would come out with a ' Ky l' and the old Africans joined in a war-song in their own language of ' Welcome the war home.' It was an affecting meeting between the slaves and the master. The tears stole from my eyes and ran down my cheeks. A number of gentlemen that were with me could not help being affected at the scene. Many are still alive, and remember the circumstances. I then possessed about two hundred slaves, and not one of them left me during the war, although they had had great offers; nay, some were carried down to work on the British lines, yet they always contrived to make their escape and return home. My plantation I found to be a desolate place, - stock of every kind taken off, the furniture carried away, and my estate had been under sequestration. The next day we arrived at General Greene's camp. On our near approach, the air was so affected with the stench of the camp that we could scarcely bear the smell ; which shows the necessity of moving camp often in summer in these hot climates. General Greene's expecting the evacuation to take place every week from the month of August was the reason he remained so long on the same ground." 1
The army had moved in July from the neighborhood of Bacon's bridge, down the Ashley River, to Ashley Hall, about twelve miles from Charlestown. The position af- forded good spring water, and a high and dry situation, and was a comparatively healthy one, that and the adjoining plantation of Middleton Place being inhabited by the families of the wealthy owners during the whole year. Great pains were taken to preserve the health of the troops, and it was obviously better at this place than the former. But even here great care was required to preserve health during the fall, and it was impossible to enforce the precautions necessary in a discontented and inactive army. General Greene deemed it necessary, however, to remain in this position during the autumn months, and even he did not escape an attack of fever. Many of the officers
1 Moultrie's Memoirs, vol. II, 354, 357.
670
HISTORY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
suffered in the same way. To the honor of General Leslie it is to be stated that, as the war was now practically over, as far as in his power, he relieved the unhappy situation of his opponents. Many of the American officers were permitted to retire, under safe conducts, for their health, to the salubrious ocean air, a courteous indulgence which was granted to the wife of General Greene, who had joined him upon the first appearance of approaching peace.
But the condition of the army at this time was truly deplorable, half naked, badly fed, never supplied with salt food, but uniformly only with rice, to which they were unaccustomed, and fresh beef, the latter of an inferior quality, with a very moderate quantity of salt. Other diseases attacked them than those incidental to the climate. To add to their discomforts, dysentery began to make dread- ful havoc among them. To this disease many fell victims, and to the real suffering and loss which it occasioned was added that depression of spirits which generally affects an army attacked by it, an effect not a little aggravated by the state of listless inactivity to which the main army was sub- jected. The deaths became alarmingly frequent. Scarcely an officer, it is believed, was entirely free from sickness, and the report of the inspector, when he mustered the men a short time afterwards, presented a dreadful return of the mortality that had prevailed.1
General Leslie had pressed his preparations for evacuat- ing the town with energy and despatch, but so much was to be done that, although the evacuation was officially com- menced on the 7th of August as a measure soon to be adopted, and the fleet to carry his army had arrived on the 6th of September, it was not until the 14th of December that it actually took place. In the meanwhile the dis- 1 Johnson's Life of Greene, vol. II, 348, 354.
671
IN THE REVOLUTION
tresses resulting from his confined situation had been greatly relieved by his wise measures. By giving permis- sion to the Loyalists to return and make their peace with their countrymen, General Leslie had relieved himself of great numbers ; even General Cuningham had availed him- self of this license. Some, who carried with them a great number of plundered slaves, had been furnished with trans- ports to take them to St. Augustine; and finally, after he had advanced far in levelling the recently reerected works of the town and Fort Johnson, he ordered all who were well affected to the American cause to quit the town in twenty-four hours, under penalty of being considered spies. This measure, whilst it disembarrassed him of a number of useless mouths and suspected friends, was ingeniously calculated to give pretexts to many for casting themselves upon the mercy of their country, who had not availed themselves of the governor's proclamation or had been excepted from its benefits.
Having nearly completed his preparations for sailing, General Leslie opened a communication with General Greene upon the subject of his peaceable departure. As there were many persons in his army whose hearts were swelling with revenge, and from whom he apprehended some attempts to fire the town, his conduct was not only prudent, but magnanimous ; and as no possible advantage could be taken of him, but by an attack upon his rear guard, an injury that could be amply revenged on the town from his shipping, an agreement was entered into that the Americans should take possession as the enemy's rear guard retired, that no attempt should be made upon the latter, and no injury done the city either before or after their departure.1
General Wayne was accordingly ordered, on the 13th of 1 Johnson's Life of Greene, vol II, 366.
672
HISTORY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
December, to cross Ashley River at what is now known as Bee's Ferry, with a corps consisting of three hundred light infantry, under the command of Major Hamilton, eighty of Lee's cavalry, and twenty artillery, with two six- pounders, and to move down towards the British lines, which were near Colonel Shubrick's, the present Belvidere Farm,1 north of Magnolia Cemetery, which consisted of three redoubts. There General Leslie sent him word that he would leave the advanced works at the firing of the morning gun the next day; at which time it was arranged that General Wayne should move on slowly and take pos- session ; and from thence to follow the British into the town, keeping at a respectful distance, about two hundred yards. This plan of movement was carried out. At the appointed time the British abandoned the redoubts, and took up the line of march down what is now the King Street road, - then the only road into the city, - and after passing through the town gates filed off to Gadsden's wharf, at the foot of what is now Calhoun Street. The movements of the two armies were conducted with great order and regularity, but were necessarily very slow, as time had to be allowed for the British troops to embark as they reached the water ; so that now and then the British called to General Wayne that he was too fast upon them, which occasioned him to halt. It thus occupied about four hours to make the march of three miles; and it was about eleven o'clock A.M. when the American troops, march- ing into the town, took post at the State-House at the corner of Meeting and Broad streets.
At three o'clock P.M. General Greene conducted Governor Mathews and the council, with some other citizens, into the town. They marched in the following order : an ad- vance of an officer and thirty men of Lee's dragoons, then
1 Now the property of the Country Club of Charleston.
i
673
IN THE REVOLUTION
followed the governor and General Greene, then Generals Moultrie and Gist, then the council, citizens, and officers in all about fifty, a body of about one hundred and fifty cav- alry brought up the rear. The party halted in Broad Street, opposite where the Charleston Library now stands ; there they alighted, and the cavalry were dismissed to their quarters.
It was, says Moultrie, whose account of the reentry of the American troops we have followed, a grand and pleasing sight to see the enemy's fleet (upwards of three hundred sail) lying at anchor from Fort Johnson to Five-fathom Hole, in a curved line, and what made it more agreeable, they were ready to depart from the port. The great joy that was felt on this day by the citizens and soldiers was in- expressible. The widows and orphans, the aged men, and others who from their particular situations were obliged to remain in the town, many of them cooped up in one room of their own elegant houses for upwards of two years, whilst the other parts were occupied by British officers, not a few of whom were rude and uncivil, were now re- leased from mortifying situations which must have been truly distressing. "I can never forget," writes the old hero of Fort Moultrie, "the happy day when we marched into Charlestown with the American troops; it was a proud day to me, and I felt myself much elated at seeing the bal- conies, the doors, and windows crowded with patriotic fair, the aged citizens, and others congratulating us on our return home, saying, 'God bless you, gentlemen ! You are wel- come home, gentlemen !' Both citizens and soldiers shed mutual tears of joy. It was an ample reward for the tri- umphal soldier, after all the hazards and fatigues of war which he had gone through, to be the instrument of releas- ing his friends and fellow-citizens from captivity, and
VOL. IV. - 2 x
674
HISTORY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
restoring them to their liberties and possession of their city and country again." 1
The embarkation, which was not only of the army but of many of the Loyalists and their slaves, had begun the day before. It was necessarily a slow and tedious business, for nine thousand civilians and slaves, besides the British soldiery, were crowded into the fleet. The following figures of the exodus are preserved among the manuscripts of the 1 Massachusetts Historical Society : 2-
TO WHAT PLACE
MEN
WOMEN
CHILDREN
BLACKS
TOTAL
Jamaica .
600
300
378
2613
3891
East Florida
630
306
337
1653
2926
West Florida
166
57
119
558
900
England .
137
74
63
56
330
Halifax
163
133
121
53
470
New York
100
40
50
50
240
St. Lucia
20
...
...
350
370
1816
910
1068
5333
9127
To these are to be added the negro slaves which the British had attached to their army, eight hundred of whom were said to have been carried off by Colonel Moncrief,3
1 Moultrie's Memoirs, vol. II, 358-361. "The British evacuated Charles- ton. The American regular army entered it in triumph ; but our poor partisans were thought too irregular, too ragged of raiment to share this triumph ! They were not too ragged to fight, only too ragged for show. It was a most ungenerous and ungrateful exclusion from the scene of the very men to whom the best part of the grand result was due ! They were disbanded here and there in swamp and thicket, wherever the moment found them ; disbanded without pay or praise, naked, starving, having the world before them, but losing from that moment all their customary guides but Providence ! " - Russell's Magazine, vol. IV, 128.
2 Year Book, City of Charleston, 1883 (Courtenay), 416.
& Johnson's Life of Greene, vol. II, 369.
675
IN THE REVOLUTION
making a loss of population to the State by this exodus of probably ten thousand.
One of the most striking incidents of the evacuation was the astonishing number of deserters left behind. The author of the Life of Greene states that he had in his possession the names of 350 who reported themselves dur- ing the year 1782, but this was whilst it was necessary to surrender themselves to the army. After the evacua- tion, as such report was unnecessary, none was made. Hundreds made their appearance from cellars and chimneys as soon as it could be done with safety. Not a Hessian went back but under compulsion ; and even of the other troops few appeared disposed to adhere to their colors but those who had previously deserted from the American standard or enlisted in the country.1
1 Johnson's Life of Greene, vol. II, 367.
CHAPTER XXX
1782-83
THE British fleet had scarcely crossed the Charlestown Bar, and disappeared at sea, before the most serious con- troversies arose between General Greene, as commander of the Continental forces, and the State authorities.
Upon the evacuation of the city the greater part of the American army, now composed entirely of Continental troops, the most of whom had come only after all the fighting in South Carolina was over, and whose only achievement in the State had been a mutiny, were now marched down to James Island and stationed there for the winter. The Virginia cavalry, to the number of two hundred under Major Swan, were posted near Combahee, as well to be at hand for the protection of Georgia from the British force at St. Augustine as for the convenience of forage. The Legion was posted in the vicinity of George- town.
The army was now well clad; but the circumstances under which the clothing had been obtained, coming to light immediately after the evacuation, were such as to bring General Greene's conduct under suspicion of personal corruption. Unfortunately, too, it was in the full tide of the excitement caused by this affair that the general most unwisely, and, to say the least of it, indecorously under- took to address the governor and legislature of the State, not only as to their duty in supplying his troops, about
676
0
to
677
IN THE REVOLUTION
which he went so far as to threaten them with his army, but also in regard to another matter of the policy of the State, with which he had no concern.
While the Southern army was retreating from Ninety Six, Major Robert Forsyth, who, it will be recollected, General Greene, upon his coming to the South, had had appointed deputy commissary for the Southern Depart- ment, relieved Colonel Davie from the duties of commissary upon General Greene's immediate staff, duties which Davie, says Johnson, had performed with unusual applause,1 but whose faithful service, it may here be observed, Greene's biographer is forced to admit, had not been able to shield that officer from his commander's expression of dissatisfac- tion.2 It was through this Major Forsyth that General Greene was now involved in the unfortunate transaction with which his name must ever be associated.
Some few weeks before the evacuation of Charlestown, one John Banks, who had been in the business of contract- ing for the supplies of the army, happened to be in Georgetown, and hearing there of the action of the governor and council in granting leave to the British merchants to remain after the evacuation, and of the de- plorable condition, not only of the army, but of the citizens, both for themselves and their negroes, for the want of clothing, saw at once the immense profit to be made if he could secure the purchase of the necessary materials in the hands of the British merchants before the evacuation, and thus monopolize, or, to use the language of the times, engross the articles of clothing of which there was such great need. In pursuance of his scheme, he obtained a flag from Colonel Lushington, who commanded the militia garrison at Georgetown, and under it proceeded to Charlestown. There he made his bargains with the
1 Johnson's Life of Greene, vol. II, 361. 2 Ibid., 248.
678
HISTORY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
merchants to the amount of £23,000 sterling, but to carry out such a large transaction he needed financial assistance. To obtain this he secured another flag, one from General Leslie to the American camp. Arriving there, he was introduced to General Greene through Major Forsyth, with whom he had had commercial transactions at Fredericksburg in the spring of the year, while pursuing his duties in Virginia as commissary of purchases, and who, with Major Burnet, another officer of General Greene's family, he interested in the transaction to the amount of one-fourth each.
Thus presented to General Greene, Banks represented himself as an agent from the merchants in Charlestown, and submitted to him an offer from them, to take his bills on Mr. Morris, the financial agent of the United States, at par for the value of the clothing, provided the sum of 1200 guineas could be obtained as a cash payment. General Greene accepted the offer. But how was the 1200 guineas to be raised ?
It happened that Mr. George Abbott Hall was at the time in South Carolina as the receiver in behalf of the United States to receive from the State the quota of the $8,000,000, the amount of the Continental estimate for the year 1782 apportioned to the State, to meet which the Jacksonborough General Assembly had passed the act for furnishing supplies to the amount of $373,598; and also to receive the five per cent duty proposed to be levied on imported and prize goods. To Mr. Hall, General Greene applied for an advance of the 1200 guineas. Mr. Hall objected that the money had been confided to him by Mr. Morris to take up his notes and those of his bank.
es 1 He admitted, however, "that he was authorized to let General Greene have small sums upon the most pressing occasions." General Greene conceived that a pressing occa-
679
IN THE REVOLUTION
sion had arrived, and notwithstanding Mr. Hall declared that he should be bankrupted by the demand, insisted upon and obtained 1200 guineas, which he at once turned over to Banks, and gave him also bills to the amount of £8000 drawn on Mr. Morris. As soon as Banks received the bills, he forwarded them through the agency of Major Forsyth by the government express, to his partner, Hunter, n Fredericksburg, Virginia. It happened that Captain Shelton, of the wagon master's department, to whose care the package was committed, overlooked Major Forsyth while that officer was making up the package, and, hav- ng his suspicions aroused as to the transaction, commu- hicated them to General Scott of Virginia, through whose ands it was to pass.1 Upon this, General Scott broke pen the package upon receiving it, and in it found a etter from Forsyth, dated the 7th of November, and nother from Banks, giving a full account of the transac- ion and sending the bills as the first fruits of it. Major Burnet was mentioned as one of the copartners, with a he che of for the for articular request that his interest should be kept secret. The next day another communication to Hunter arrived y the line of expresses, the only mail conveyance then xisting. This was also franked by Major Forsyth, who, s commissary of purchases, had the right to transmit espatches by this conveyance. General Scott opened also nis letter also. It proved to be from Banks, and from it appeared that Banks, during his residence in Charles- wn, had been dealing largely in the corrupt practices hich a state of war never fails to introduce or develop commercial communities. Unfortunately, there were 1 1, d le t. he
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.