THE 
 
 LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 OF 
 
 GEN. FRANCIS MARION 
 
 WITH 
 
 AN APPENDIX. 
 
 CONTAINING: 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES OF GREENE, MORGAN, PICKETS, 
 
 SUMPTER, WASHINGTON, LEE, DATIE, AND OTHEB 
 
 DISTINGUISHED OFFICERS OF THE SOUTHERN 
 
 CAMPAIGN, DURING THE AMERICAN 
 
 REVOLUTION. 
 
 BY H. N. MOORE. 
 EMBELLISHED WITH EIGHT ENGRAVINGS. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 PUBLISHED BY LEAEY, GETZ & CO., 
 
 224 NORTH SECOND STREET. 
 
according to act of Congress, in the year 1845, by 
 
 JOHN B. PERRY, 
 In the office of the Clerk of thn Eastern District of Penn a. 
 
THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 OF 
 
 FRANCIS MARION. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Some account of Mar toil s family his birth early life 
 his voyage to sea, and shipwreck remains at home 
 a planter. Indian insurrections. Marion s first cam 
 paign against the Chcrokees frightful picture of In 
 dian warfare. Marion s letter. Marion among the 
 first to espouse the cause of his country in its struggles 
 with British tyranny his active measures elecled a 
 captain under the gallant Moultrie bombardment of 
 Fort Sullivan by the British fieet gallant defence of 
 the fort anecdotes, etc. 
 
 As a man and a patriot, bright is the example we have 
 in the career of Francis Marion. Asa soldier, his name, 
 more than any other, is identified with the stratagic wis 
 dom, heroic exploits and military successes of the parti- 
 zan war in the Carolinas, during the Revolution ; a war 
 in which he " and his brigade were so distinguished," 
 says Dr. Ramsay, " and at the same time so detached 
 in their operations, as to merit and require particular 
 notice." In following him through the trying times in 
 which he acted, much cause as we shall have to glory 
 in him as a military chieftain, we shall have no less 
 reason to admire the self-command, rectitude, and ever* 
 active humanity of his character. 
 
 (7) 
 
8 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 The family of Marion was one of the many Pro 
 testant ones who who fled from France in consequence 
 of the persecutions they experienced under the reign of 
 Louis XIV. These dissenters from the Catholic reli 
 gion were termed Huguenots, and our hero s grand 
 lather, towards the close of the seventeenth century, 
 left France and emigrated to the shores of America. 
 His son, Gabriel Marion, was the father of Francis 
 Marion, whose birth occurred at a place called Winyah, 
 (S. C.) in the year 1732 or 1733. Biographers differ 
 as to the year, but we are inclined to receive the earlier 
 date as the more correct of the two. Francis Marion 
 was the youngest of several children. He had four 
 brothers and two sisters. " I have it from good author 
 ity, 1 says Weems,* " that this great soldier, at his birth, 
 was not larger than a New-England lobster, and might 
 easily enough have been put into a quart pot." And 
 all the accounts we have, concur in regard to the fact, 
 that he was a puny and sickly infant ; so much so, that 
 it was thought he would never survive till manhood. 
 He however, lived through infancy, and at the age of 
 sixteen, such had been the change of his constitution, 
 he was an active and daring boy, who had already con 
 ceived a strong notion of leaving the farmer s life he 
 had been brought up to, and entering upon that of a 
 sailor. The quiet life of the farmer was not one suited 
 to his disposition, and though his mother endeavored 
 to dissuade him from his inclination, his mind was de 
 termined, and she finally yielded a reluctant consent. 
 He started, as a sailor before the mast, upon a voyage 
 to the West Indies, and had the .misfortune to be ship 
 wrecked. The ship foundered, says tradition, from the 
 injury done her by the stroke of a large whale. The 
 
 * Weems Life of Gen. Francis Marion, 
 
INDIAN INSURRECTIONS. 9 
 
 crew escaped from the sinking vessel in the jolly-boat, 
 and were tossed about on the ocean in a helpless condi 
 tion for more than a week, when they were picked up 
 by a passing vessel. While in the boat, they were 
 without provisions, and had subsisted on the raw flesh 
 and blood of a dog, which, as the ship was sinking, 
 jumped into the boat. Six persons had entered this 
 boat, but only four were taken from it by the passing- 
 vessel. The captain and mate, in a state of phrenzy, 
 produced from exposure to the rays of a scorching sun, 
 and the use of salt-water, had the day before thrown 
 themselves overboard, and perished. Marion and three 
 others finally reached their homes. Marion, in com 
 pliance with the earnest entreaties of his mother, re 
 sumed his occupation of farming, at which he indus 
 triously continued, and, at the death of his father in 
 1758, he settled himself, at the age of twenty-six, upon 
 a place that is called Pond Bluff. 
 
 The colony of South Carolina, like other provinces 
 of North America, was much harrassed by the preda 
 tory incursions of Indians, and in the beginning of the 
 year 1759 a war broke out between the colonists and 
 the Cherokee tribe, and Marion turned out with the 
 militia ; but a treaty of peace was soon concluded, the 
 Indians not finding matters in the train they expected, 
 and by which they anticipated a butchering conquest 
 over the white men. Scarcely were the militia dis 
 banded before the treacherous Cherokees again showed 
 signs of hostility, and, such were their agressions upon 
 the frontier settlements, that it was the next year decided 
 that the country of the Indians should be invaded. The 
 command of the whole forces now raised was given to 
 Col. Grant of the British army, and Marion was ap 
 pointed lieutenant of a native regiment, under the imme- 
 
10 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 diate command of Col. Moultrie, himself under the 
 command of Col. Middleton. 
 
 The combined forces under Colonels Grant and Mid 
 dleton advanced (in June 1761) into the Indian. country. 
 The approach was of course, from the kind of warfare 
 carried on by the enemy, conducted with caution, and 
 finding that the adversary was advantageously posted 
 behind the thick wood crowning a mountain, through a 
 dark defile of which the road lay. This, it was re 
 solved, should be forced rapidly by a small body of 
 soldiers, whilst the main army passed. For this peril 
 ous enterprise a " forlorn hope" of thirty men, headed 
 by Francis Marion, was chosen. Marion, with a heart 
 undaunted by the almost certain death that awaited him, 
 took the lead of his chosen band, and advanced with 
 courageous rapidity, whilst the main army followed to 
 support him and effect their passage. No sooner had 
 Marion and his men entered the dark defile, than the 
 loud war-whoop resounded from all sides, and a de 
 structive fire blazed forth from behind the trees. Twenty 
 one of the forlorn hope instantly were killed, and the 
 hideously painted savages rushed forth in pursuit, with 
 demonical yells and brandished tomahawks. Marion 
 and his remnant of men fell back to the main army. 
 
 The commanding officers, fully aware that a sangui 
 nary conflict was at hand, animated their soldiers on, 
 and represented the peculiar demand there now was for 
 exertions of valor, inasmuch as if defeated they would 
 be the victims of an indiscriminate slaughter. The 
 soldiers cheered, and advanced gallantly to the conflict, 
 determined to yield then only with their lives they 
 knew no quarter would be shown to a prisoner, and that 
 they must gain the victory or die on the spot. The Indians, 
 too, were defending the most important pass into their 
 
INDIAN WARFARE. 1 1 
 
 country, and it could not be otherwise expected than 
 that they would fight with signal bravery. And now 
 followed the sharp crack of rifle after rifle; here, there, 
 and on all sides, the flash illumed the dark lurking place 
 of the foe; the bayonet of the soldier would be plunged 
 into the thicket, its point penetrating the breast of an In 
 dian, and at the same instant a ball reaches his own 
 heart, he and his enemy falling dead side by side. 
 Long the contest continued without any decisive result, 
 and terrible was the carnage on both sides ; but at last 
 it could be perceived that victory leaned to the side of 
 the army ; that the Indian, who repeatedly dislodged, 
 had as desperately returned to the combat, was now re 
 luctantly yielding. The battle raged with great spirit 
 for three hours, and in an hour more the surviving 
 soldiers of the army had the satisfaction of congratula 
 ting each other upon a hard-fought victory. 
 
 Colonel Grant followed up his victory by pursuing 
 the flying foe into the heart of their country, burning 
 their towns, ravaging their corn-fields, and taking all 
 possible means to punish them for their inhuman ag 
 gressions upon the frontier settlements. Notso much for 
 vengeance was the object, but to deter them from future 
 encroachments by the severe retribution that they must 
 expect from this precedent. It is said that Marion long 
 after looked back upon the horrors of this war with a 
 feeling of sorrow ; and that such was the fact, is corrob 
 orated by his own words in a letter written to a friend. 
 He writes as follows : " We arrived at the Indian 
 towns in the month of July. As the lands were rich, 
 and the season favorable, the corn was bending under 
 the double weight of lusty roasting ears and pods of 
 clustering beans. The furrows seemed to rejoice under 
 their precious loads ; the fields stood thick with bread. 
 
12 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 We encamped the first night in the woods, near the 
 fields, where the whole army feasted on the young corn, 
 which, with fat venison, made a most delicious treat. 
 The next morning we proceeded, by order of Colonel 
 Grant, to burn down the Indian cabins. Some of our 
 men seemed to enjoy this cruel work, laughing very 
 heartily at the curling flames, as they mounted, loud 
 crackling, over the tops of the huts. But to me it ap 
 peared a shocking sight. " Poor creatures !" thought 
 I, " we surely need not grudge you such miserable 
 habitations." But when we came (according to orders) 
 to cut down the fields of corn, I could scarcely refrain 
 from tears. For who could see the stalks that stood so 
 stately, with broad green leaves and gaily-tasseled 
 shocks, filled with sweet milky fluid and flour, the staff 
 of life ; who, I say, without grief could see these sa 
 cred plants sinking under our swords, with all their 
 precious load, to wither and rot untasted in their mourn 
 ing fields ? 
 
 " I saw everywhere around," continues his letter, 
 " the footsteps of the little Indian children, where they 
 had lately played under the shade of their rustling corn. 
 No doubt they had often looked up with joy to the 
 swelling shocks, and gladdened when they thought of 
 their abundant cakes for the coming winter. When we 
 are gone, thought I, they will return, and peeping 
 through the weeds with tearful eyes, will mark the 
 ghastly ruin poured over their homes and happy fields, 
 where they had so often played. " Who did this ? they 
 will ask their mothers. " The white people, the Christ 
 ians did it !" will be the reply. 
 
 The disastrous result of this war, (to the Indians) 
 seems to have broken up all their hopes, and in a mea 
 sure to have crushed their spirit forever. Marion again 
 
STAMP ACT. 13 
 
 retired to private life, fulfilling his duties as a citizen and 
 a farmer, and for fourteen years he continued this peace 
 ful life, and by the honesty of his dealings and the pro 
 bity of his character, he gained the esteem of all that 
 knew him, and it is said no man was so universally 
 beloved by his neighbors. Thus we find him when 
 hostilities commenced between the colonies and Great 
 Britain. 
 
 Everything in South Carolina contributed to nourish 
 a spirit of liberty and independence. Its settlement 
 was nearly coeval with the Revolution in England, 
 (1 688,) and many of its inhabitants had imbibed a large 
 portion of that spirit which brought one tyrant to the 
 block* and expelled another from his dominions. f 
 Every inhabitant was, or easily might be a freeholder. 
 Settled on lands of his own, he was both farmer and 
 landlord. Having no superiors to whom he was obliged 
 to look up, and producing all the necessaries of life 
 from his own grounds, he soon became independent. 
 
 The first statue that roused general and united op 
 position to British taxation was the memorable Stamp 
 Act, passed in the year 1765. By this it was enacted, 
 that the instruments of writing which are in daily use 
 among a commercial people should be void in law un 
 less executed on stamped paper, or parchment, charged 
 with a duty imposed by the British parliament. The 
 indignation which this roused, induced an uniform line 
 of conduct to be adopted by the different colonies, and 
 a congress of deputies from each province was recom 
 mended. This first step towards Continental Union, 
 was adopted in South Carolina before it had been agreed 
 to by any colony to the southward of New England. 
 The example of this province had a considerable influ- 
 
 2 
 * Charles I. t James II. 
 
14 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 ence in recommending the measure to others who were 
 more tardy in their concurrence. The colonies on this 
 occasion not only presented petitions and remonstrances 
 to the British government, but spiritedly entered into 
 associations against importing British manufactures till 
 the Stamp Act should be repealed and they obtained 
 their point. 
 
 The experiment of taxation, however, was renewed 
 in the year 1767, but in a more artful manner. Small 
 duties were imposed on glass, paper, tea, and painter s 
 colors. The colonists again remonstrated, again asso 
 ciated to import no more British manufactures. And 
 a second time did the government make a concession. 
 
 In the year 1773 a scheme was adopted by the East- 
 India company, to export large quantities of tea, to be 
 sold on their account in several capitals of the British 
 colonies. The colonists reasoned with themselves, tha,. 
 as the duty, and the price of the commodity were in- 
 separably blended if the tea was sold, every purchaser 
 would pay a tax imposed by the British parliament as 
 a part of the purchase-money ; *and, determined never 
 to submit to British taxation, they everywhere entered 
 into combinations to obstruct the sales of the tea sent 
 out by the East-India Company. The cargoes sent to 
 South Carolina were stored, the consignees being re 
 strained from exposing it to sale. In other provinces, 
 the landing of it being forbidden, the captain s were 
 obliged to return without discharging their cargoes. In 
 Boston a few men, disguised as Indians, threw all the 
 tea overboard from the ships lying at the wharves. 
 When the intelligence of this reached England, the 
 British parliament proceeded to take legislative ven 
 geance on that city. 
 
 This measure of hostility towards Massachusetts had 
 
15 
 
 for its object the dissevering of the other provinces from 
 her, but its effect was directly contrary. The other 
 colonies determined to support her, and, as has been 
 stated, South Carolina was the first southern province 
 that did so. The whole country resounded with din 
 of martial preparation. Volunteer companies were or 
 ganized in every city, town and hamlet, throughout the 
 provinces. Guns, powder, and the implements of war, 
 were collected, and carefully treasured from the eyes 
 of the government s officers and spies ; and liberal sums 
 of money were contributed by persons of every rank 
 and age, and the liveliest enthusiasm prevailed for the 
 cause of liberty. 
 
 Marion at once espoused the cause of his country 
 his native land ; and that chivalrous feeling which so 
 unhesitatingly prompted his heart to assert the undeni 
 able rights of mankind, at the same time rendered him 
 prompt in action. Not like your milk-and-water pa 
 triots who only talk of liberty, he went boldly forward 
 toc?o. Many of his tory-hearted fellow-citizens wavered 
 between their fears, and doubtful of the issue, desired 
 to be on the successful side. Policy, not principle, 
 governed their craven hearts. Marion, unlike these, 
 convinced of the justice of his cause, was bravely 
 ready to do and die for it, and was one of the foremost 
 of those gallant spirits who enlisted in the army raised 
 by the legislature of his native state. He was also a 
 member of the Provincial Congress of South Carolina, 
 which in the exigency of the case was called together, 
 sitting as a representative from Berkeley County. 
 
 No sooner had the news of the battle of Lexington 
 reached Charleston than the following act was passed. 
 " The actual commencement of hostilities against this 
 Continent by the British troops, in the bloody scene 
 
16 MARION AND HIS TIMES, 
 
 of the 1 9th of April last,* near Boston the increase 
 of arbitrary imposition from a wicked and despotic 
 ministry and the dread insurrections in the Colonies 
 are causes sufficient to drive an oppressed people to 
 the use of arms. We, therefore, the subscribers, in 
 habitants of South Carolina, holding ourselves bound 
 by that most sacred of all obligations, the duty of good 
 citizens to an injured country, and thoroughly con 
 vinced, that under our present distressed circumstances, 
 we shall be justified before God and man, in resisting 
 force by force do unite ourselves, under every tie of 
 religion and honor, and associate as a band in her de 
 fence, against every foe hereby solemnly engaging, 
 that, whenever our Continental and Provincial Council 
 shall deem it necessary, we will go forth, and be ready 
 to sacrifice our lives and fortunes to secure her freedom 
 and safety. This obligation to continue in force, until 
 a reconciliation shall take place between Great Britain 
 and America upon Constitutional principles an event 
 which we most ardently desire. And, we hold all those 
 persons inimical to the liberty of the Colonies, who 
 shall refuse to subscribe to this association."! 
 
 Declarations similar to the above were passed in 
 most of the Provinces, and we perceive that a final 
 separation from the Mother Country was not as yet 
 contemplated, the object in view extended no farther 
 than to a redress of grievances. (It was not until a year 
 later that on the 4th of July 1776, delegates from each 
 state assembled at Philadelphia, and passed that cele 
 brated Declaration which is now the charter of our 
 liberties.) 
 
 Two regiments were to be raised in South Carolina, 
 
 * In the year 1775. t Vide Ramsay, vol 2. page 236. 
 
BATTLE AT FORT SULLIVAN. 17 
 
 and Francis Marion was chosen a captain in the 
 second, of which William Moultrie, under whom Ma 
 rion had served in the Indian wars, was appointed 
 colonel. The officers at once set about making re 
 cruits. Captain Horry, Marion s firm friend through 
 out all his future career, and who was elected an 
 officer in the same regiment at the same time, accom 
 panied Marion on his recruiting exoedition. 
 
 Many amusing incidents are recorded as having 
 occured to these officers in the duty upon which they 
 were now engaged, but we pass over them to follow 
 more particularly the momentous and chivalrous deeds 
 of our hero, merely stating that the officers were suc 
 cessful in raising (notwithstanding the amount of 
 Tory opposition they encountered) two regiments of 
 South Carolinians. 
 
 The erection of Fort Sullivan on Sullivan s Island 
 was now commenced and rapidly proceeded with. The 
 defence of this- fort was confided to the gallant Moul 
 trie, with about four hundred men, and thirty pieces of 
 cannon. Daily in expectation of a British fleet, the 
 men worked with untiring industry, and on the 31st of 
 May,* a fleet appeared in sight. And now, for nearly 
 a month, tides, calms and baffling winds, conspired to 
 frustrate the fleet, and they were not enabled to get 
 within the bar till the 27th of June. In the meantime 
 the works of the fort were carried on, and indefatigable 
 preparations made to receive the enemy. On the 
 morning of the 28th, the fleet, commanded by Sir Peter 
 Parker, came up with a fine breeze, and all sails set, 
 before the fort and dropped anchor. Instantly the 
 bombardment commenced. The British outnumbered 
 
 * 1776. 
 2* 
 
18 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 the Americans in men and guns. From the port 
 holes of nine ships was an unceasing fire kept up, 
 whilst the defenders of the fort, stripping off their coats, 
 (the weather was very hot) fired their guns, loaded, 
 fired again, and worked like men brave in a righteous 
 cause. For eleven hours the action lasted, in which 
 time such terrible destruction was made upon the 
 enemy s fleet that Sir Peter Parker moved off, and the 
 gallant defenders of the fort found themselves victorious 
 over a foe that battled in the cause of tyranny. Con 
 spicuous throughout the action was Marion, and he 
 often leveled the guns himself. He, Moultrie, and 
 several of the officers, (such was their coolness in the 
 midst of the balls that everywhere fell around them) 
 smoked their pipes, laying them down only when their 
 duties called them to give orders, or, as we said of 
 Marion, when they relieved a soldier at a gun. 
 
 During the action a ball from the fleet struck the 
 flag-staff, which fell on the beach, outside of the breast 
 work, Jasper, a serjeant of grenadiers, immediately, in 
 face of the enemy s fire, leaped over the ramparts, 
 picked it up, regained the inside of the fort in safety, 
 and restored the flag to its place. 
 
 At one period of the action, the want of powder was 
 severely felt by the Americans, and Marion, with a 
 small party left the fort, seized upon an armed schooner, 
 (it is said, and we have no reason to disbelieve the 
 tradition) and thus obtained a supply of powder suffi 
 cient to keep up the fire until a quantity was received 
 from Charleston. 
 
 Tradition also awards to the aim of Marion the tremen 
 dous effect of the last shot that was fired from the fort. 
 It was aimed at the Bristol, (the commodore s ship) and 
 entering one of the cabin windows, struck down two 
 
THE BRITISH DEFEATED 19 
 
 officers who were drinking, and, ranging through the 
 bulk-heads and steerage, killed three sailors. This in 
 formation was got from five sailors of the British fleet, 
 who that night deserted and came to the Americans. 
 
 The loss of the British in this engagement, by their 
 own account, was 113 killed and sixty wounded. Sir 
 Peter Parker lost an arm upon the occasion. On the 
 other side their was but about 12 killed arid 25 
 wounded. The vessels of the British, two of them 
 especially, were greatly damaged, and one, called the 
 Acteon run a ground and was afterwards burnt. 
 
 This defence of Fort Sullivan (or Fort Moultrie, as 
 it was subsequently named in honor of the brave man 
 who so successfully commanded it upon this occasion) 
 is one of the most brilliant achievements that the his 
 tory of our country records, and it was of incalcuable 
 importance to the cause of liberty throughout the colo 
 nies. Moultrie was promoted to the rank of Brigadier 
 General ; Marion to that of Lieutenant Colonel in the 
 regular service. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 Declaration of Independence. The British at Savannah 
 arrival of the French Fleet activily oC Marion the 
 battle deaths of Count Pulaski and Serjeant Jasper 
 Charlestown besieged by the British anecdote of 
 Marion surrender of Charleston massacre of the 
 Americans at the Waxhaw settlements hair-breadth 
 escapes of Marion ; he retires to North Carolina, and 
 joins the army under Gates. A description of Marion 
 and his men. Battle. Gates defeated brave conduct 
 - and glorious death of De Kalb. Marion and his men 
 burning boats. 
 
 THE Declaration of Independence, proclaimed in 
 Philadelphia on the 4th of July, was hailed in Charles- 
 ton with great rejoicings, and the news of the battle of 
 Fort Moultrie was welcomed in return with corres 
 ponding manifestations of joy at Philadelphia, and 
 throughout the confederated colonies. 
 
 The inhabitants of all the colonies, while colonies, 
 admitted themselves bound by their allegiance to the 
 king ; but they disclaimed, altogether, the authority of 
 parliament; holding themselves, in this respect, to re 
 semble the condition of Scotland and Ireland, before 
 the respective unions of those kingdoms with England, 
 when they acknowledged allegiance to the same king, 
 but each had its separate legislature. The tie, there 
 fore, which our revolution was to break, did not sub 
 sist between us and the British parliament, or between 
 us and the British government, in the aggregate ; but 
 directly between us and the king himself. The colo- 
 
 20 
 
SERJEANT JASPER. 21 
 
 nies had never admitted themselves subject to par 
 liament. That was precisely the point of the original 
 controversy. They had uniformly denied that parlia 
 ment had authority to make laws for them.* 
 
 The South Carolianians expected another visit of the 
 British, but they kept their fleet otherwise employed 
 on the Northern coast, and it was not until the close of 
 the year 1778 that the fleet again came south, and 
 their destination turned out to be Savannath instead 
 of Charleston. In December four thousand men were 
 disembarked from their fleet of upwards of thirty sail. 
 
 The great number of these loyalists in Georgia, 
 encouraged the British, and, after the disembarkment 
 of their troops and the fall of Savannah into their 
 hands, they rapidly possessed themselves of Ebenezer, 
 Abercorn, and other posts in the interior. General 
 Lincoln commanded the forces of the Americans, but, 
 so small was his number, he was unable to oppose the 
 enemy with any degree of effect. 
 
 While the main army of the British was encamped 
 at Abercorn, the Americans lay but a few miles 
 from them, on the Savannah, at a place called Purys- 
 burg. And while at Purysburg, there occurred an 
 adventure, the hero of which was one of Marion s men, 
 and the gaJlant William Jasper, of whom we had occa 
 sion to speak in account of the defence of Fort Sullivan. 
 " Jasper was a perfect Proteus, in ability to alter his 
 appearance, perpetually entering the camp of the 
 enemy without detection, and invariably returning to 
 his own, with soldiers he had seduced, or prisoners he 
 had captured. "f " He often went out," is the lan 
 guage of Moultrie, " and returned with prisoners 
 
 * Daniel Webster, t Garden s Anecdotes. 
 
22 MAHION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 before I knew that he was gone. I have known of his 
 catching a party that was looking for him. He has 
 told me that he could have killed single men several 
 times, but he would not ; he would rather let them off. 
 He went into the British lines at Savannah, as a de 
 serter, complaining, at the same time, of our ill-usage 
 of him. He was gladly received, (they having heard 
 of his character) and caressed by them. He stayed 
 eight days, and after informing himself well of their 
 strength, situation and intentions, he returned to us 
 again ; but this game he could not play a second time. 
 With his little party he was always hovering about the 
 enemy s camp, and was frequently bringing in pris 
 oners." 
 
 Jasper had a brother who had espoused the other 
 side of the contest, and was at this period in the British 
 garrison at Ebenezer, holding the rank of a ser- 
 jeant. Wishing to see this brother, Jasper made his 
 appearance in the British garrison, much to the alarm 
 of the other. 
 
 " What brings you here, William ! Your name is 
 well known ! You will be hung for a spy !" agitatedly 
 remarked the Tory brother. 
 
 "Give yourself no uneasiness, brother," cooly re 
 plied Jasper " I am no longer an American soldier." 
 
 " I am glad to hear you say so, brother glad to 
 find you ready to serve the King !" exclaimed the Tory. 
 
 "You mistake," said Jasper. " You presume 1 
 have come to enlist myself under the flag of England, 
 but it is not so. Little as is the encouragement I have 
 in fighting for my country, yet I have not the heart to 
 fight against her, brother !" 
 
PRISONERS IN THE FORT. 23 
 
 Jasper remained two or three days with his brother, 
 and there is no doubt he took notice of all that invited 
 his observation in the garrison. Bidding his brother 
 adieu, he stole out of the garrison at night, and re 
 joined the Americans, reporting the amount of informa 
 tion he had picked up. 
 
 Some weeks after this, Jasper took it into his head 
 to pay his brother another visit at Ebenezer, taking 
 along with him serjeant Newton, a comrade, a 
 strong and active man, and fully his own match in 
 feats of daring and enterprize. The Tory brother 
 received Jasper and Newton kindly, and the three 
 passed away the time quite agreeably in the garrison. 
 
 One day a party of prisoners were brought into the 
 fort, on their way to Savannah, to which place a 
 British officer was conducting them for trial. In 
 speaking of the matter, " It will go hard with them," 
 said Jasper s Tory brother. "It s my opinion they ll be 
 hung certain, for they took arms with us and received 
 the King s bounty; but when the American army raised, 
 they broke their faith to the King and joined them." 
 
 The prisoners were hand-cuffed, and presented a 
 pity-impressive sight to both Jasper and Newton, and 
 the wife of one of the prisoners, with her child, followed 
 her husband, deeply sympathizing in his misfortunes. 
 Moved by this scene of distress, Jasper and Newton 
 were deeply affected ; tears trickled from their eyes, 
 and their emotions were of more than ordinary feeling. 
 That distressed mother and her child, how could they 
 look on them unmoved? The poor wife gazing with 
 tear-streaming eyes upon the sad countenance of her 
 hope-forsaken husband, appealing with her looks for 
 pity and assistance ! 
 
 From this distressing sight, the two friends stepped 
 
24 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 aside and conferred together. That the prisoners, 
 under the circumstances in which they had been taken, 
 would be tried, convicted and executed, was a matter of 
 certainty, unless they were rescued from the hands of 
 the guard before they reached Savannah. Talking 
 over the matter, Jasper and Newton determined to 
 risk their lives in an attempt to rescue the priso 
 ners. 
 
 Presently, the prisoners, under a guard of eight men, a 
 serjeant and corporal, left the fort and proceeded on their 
 route to Savannah. Soon after their departure, Jasper 
 and Newton took leave of their Tory friend, and set out 
 from the fort, taking a direction different from that 
 upon which the guard had started with the prisoners. 
 When they considered themselves beyond sight, the 
 two friends struck into the forest and travelled hard 
 after the guard, in sight of whom they came, and re 
 maining unseen themselves, dogged them mile after 
 mile, eager for a chance to strike a blow for the un 
 happy captives. But, sanguine as they had been, the 
 difficulty of accomplishing their object began to be 
 apparent to them, for what could two unarmed men do 
 against a guard of ten, each armed with a musket ? 
 Notwithstanding this hopeless aspect of matters, the 
 two friends followed on. 
 
 Within two miles of Savannah there is a spring, 
 famous for its good water, and at which travellers 
 almost invariably stopped to drink and refresh. It oc 
 curred to Jasper that most likely the guard would halt 
 at this spring ; and the hearts of the two friends were 
 instantly animated with a revived hope that an oppor 
 tunity to rescue the captives might yet present itself. 
 Immediately they hastened on by a short cut through 
 
RESCUE OF THE PRISONERS. 25 
 
 the woods and reached the spring before the guard 
 came in sight. Hiding themselves amidst the foliage 
 and shade of shrubbery growing close to the spring, 
 they lay waiting for the appearance of the guard 
 which shortly came along, and, as Jasper had expect 
 ed, the serjeant commanded a halt. The corporal, 
 with four men, conducted the prisoners to the spring ; 
 the serjeant, with the other four, after grounding their 
 arms near the road, following. 
 
 The long walk had fatigued the hand-cuffed prison 
 ers, and they were granted permission to rest them 
 selves on the earth. They availed themselves of this, 
 and the woman, with her child, sat next to her 
 husband. Two men were ordered to keep guard ; 
 the others were to supply the captives with water 
 from the spring. These last, stood their muskets 
 against a tree, and having drank themselves, refilled 
 their canteens to supply the prisoners. Now was the 
 time for Jasper and his friend, and bursting out from 
 their concealment, they seized upon the two muskets, 
 and at once shot down the two men that were keeping 
 guard. Clubbing their guns, the daring friends rushed 
 forward upon the astonished foe, and a conflict for the 
 loaded guns of the fallen soldiers ensued. The brains 
 of the sergeant and corporal were beaten in, and Jas 
 per and Newton secured the muskets. Such was the 
 panic of the guard, growing out of the audacity and bold 
 decision of the two Americans, that, without any 
 farther resistance, they surrendered. 
 
 The handcuffs of the captives were now broken off, 
 
 and a musket was placed in the hands of each. With 
 
 the captured British, and the released Americans, the 
 
 brave Jasper and his friend now hurried away from 
 
 3 
 
JJ0 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 the spring, and reached the army at Purysburg in 
 
 safety. 
 
 The war was carried on with various success, until 
 September, 1779, when a French fleet, under Count 
 D Estaign made its appearance on the coast. A junc 
 tion between the French and American forces was 
 effected before the walls of Savannah, which resulted 
 disastrously to the Americans in consequence of the 
 ill-advised measures adopted by the French admiral. 
 It is generally believed that if the action had at once 
 commenced, the besiegers would have conquered, or 
 that the alarmed garrison would have struck their 
 colors without firing a single bullet; and we are war 
 ranted in this supposition by the words of several of 
 the English officers who subsequently became pri 
 soners. Marion, and the officers of the Americans, 
 advised a sudden attack, but the French commander 
 thought proper to send a flag, " very politely" as the 
 indignant VVeems sarcastically expresses it, " inviting 
 the town to do him the extreme honor of receiving 
 their surrender" In reply, the British commander 
 asked twenty-four hours to consider upon the matter. 
 The courtly D Estaing committed the fatal error of 
 granting this request, and there was but one opinion 
 throughout the American ranks in regard to this indul 
 gence upon the part of the Frenchman, fully con 
 vinced as they were that the situation of the besieged 
 was in no condition to resist the attack, but that the 
 time granted them for deliberation would be energeti 
 cally employed in fortifying themselves. And such 
 was the case. The British commander promptly sent 
 for reinforcements to Sunbury and Beaufort, from both 
 of which places he was supplied, and his fortress so 
 
SIEGE OF SAVANNAH. 27 
 
 well manned that he boldly defied the combined French 
 and Americans. 
 
 The course pursued by Count D Estaing highly ex 
 asperated Marion. "My God !" he exclaimed,* "who 
 ever heard of any thing like this before ? First allow 
 an enemy to entrench, then fight him ! See the de 
 struction brought upon the British at Bunker s Hill! 
 And yet our troops there were only militia ! raw half- 
 armed clodhoppers, and not a mortar, or carronade ; 
 not even a swivel, but only their ducking-guns ! What 
 then are we to expect from regulars, completely armed 
 with a choice train of artillery, and covered by a 
 breast-work? For my own part, when I look upon 
 my brave fellows around me, it wrings my heart to 
 think how near most of them are to their bloody 
 graves !" 
 
 The suspicions of Marion and his brother officers as 
 to a ruse de guerre intended by the British commander 
 were fully verified, for at the expiration of the twenty- 
 four hours, he announced his determination to defend 
 the place. The siege was now commenced, and con 
 tinued for several days with little or no effect. It was 
 not until the 9th of October that it was resolved to 
 storm the British entrenchments, when " the whole 
 army then marched towards the skirt of the wood in 
 one long column, and as they approached the opeh 
 place, was to break off into different columns, as or 
 dered for the attack. But, by the time the first French 
 column had arrived at the open space, the day had 
 fairly broke; when Count D Estaign, without waiting 
 until the other columns had arrived at their position, 
 placed himself at the head of his first column, and 
 
 * Weems. 
 
28 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 rushed forward to the attack. The column was so 
 severely galled by the grape-shot from the batteries, as 
 they advanced, and by both grape-shot and musketry, 
 when they reached the abbatis, that, in spite of the 
 efforts of the officers, it got into confusion, and broke 
 away to their left, toward the wood in that direction , 
 the second and third French columns shared, suc 
 cessively, the same fate, having the additional discour 
 agement of seeing, as they marched to the attack, the 
 repulse and loss of their comrades who had preceded 
 them. Count Pulaski, who, with the cavalry, preceded 
 the right column of the Americans, proceeded gallantly 
 until stopped by the abbatis ; and before he could 
 force through it received his mortal wound. "* 
 
 Great valor was displayed in this attack, but so 
 strongly posted were the British, and so deadly was 
 their fire, the French and Americans were finally 
 obliged to retreat, with great loss, upwards of six hun 
 dred Frenchmen, and four hundred and fifty Ameri 
 cans, being left dead upon the field and in the ditches. 
 
 Serjeant Jasper, who so gallantly replaced the flag 
 on the ramparts of Fort Moultrie, received a mortal 
 wound in this engagement. A set of elegant colors, 
 (presented to the army after the defence of Fort Moul- 
 Irie by Mrs. Bernard Elliot) during the heat of the con 
 test, were planted on the enemy s entrenchments, and 
 near where they floated in the air, the rage of the bat 
 tle was hottest. Jasper was in thickest of the fight, 
 and conducted himself throughout the action with 
 signal bravery. At the moment the retreat was sound 
 ed, he thought of the colors, and sprang upon the ene 
 my s works to sieze them and bear them off. He sue- 
 
 * Garden s Anecdotes of the Revolution. 
 
ARRIVAL OF THE BRITISH. d 
 
 ceeded, but received a mortal wound in the act. His 
 death was deeply lamented, as was that of Count Pu 
 laski, Lieut. Bush, Lieut. Grey, Alexander Hume,Esq 
 and others. 
 
 After the action a flag was sent to the garrison, the 
 Americans and French asking permission to bury their 
 dead, which sad office to the remains of the brave men 
 who had perished, was done by digging pits in the 
 earth of a size to contain a great number of corpses, 
 which, stripped of their clothes, were promiscuously 
 consigned to their rest. So soon as the burying of the 
 dead was concluded, Count D Estaign, with his artil- 
 Wy and troops, hurried aboard the French fleet, and 
 sailed from the coast. The Americans returned to 
 South Carolina. 
 
 The city of Charleston was now threatened by the 
 enemy. General Lincoln, commander of the Ameri 
 cans, proceeded to the city, leaving Marion in com 
 mand at Sheldon. In February, 1780, Marion was 
 ordered to Bacon s bridge on Ashley river, where 
 troops were daily accumulating to defend the city. The 
 drilling and disciplining of the militia devolved upon 
 him, and the citizens generally exhibited a prompt 
 alacrity in acquiring a knowledge and practice of the 
 duties of military life. That the British would make 
 the attack upon Charleston, scarcely a citizen doubted, 
 so many matters conjoined to incite them on to the 
 undertaking. Their late victory at Savannah, and un 
 controlled sway of Georgia, together with the nume 
 rous tories in North Carolina and Florida ready to as 
 sist them, gave them so much encouragement, that 
 early in the year, Sir Henry Clinton, with ten thou 
 sand troops and a heavy train of artillery, arrived 
 from New York, and invested the city. There were 
 
32 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 of the Americans, in all, four thousand to defend the 
 fortifications, two thousand regular troops, and two 
 thousand militia ; and the small-pox having made its 
 appearance in the city, the country militia were de 
 terred from coming in, dreading the disease much 
 more than they did the formidability of the British. 
 With this small number opposed to the ten thousand 
 of the enemy (the latter fully armed, the former but 
 scantily supplied with arms and ammunition) the be 
 sieged held out for six weeks, yielding rather by fam 
 ine than the arms of the besiegers. 
 
 It is most probably owing to the following accident 
 that Marion was not among the captured when the 
 city was taken. During the siege, he was one day 
 dining at the house of a friend, who, having drank too 
 much himself, pressed his mistaken hospitality upon 
 Marion and other of his guests, with the avowed ob 
 ject of making all of his company as inebriated as 
 himself. Marion did not fqel in a humor to submit to 
 this species of social slavery, though at the same time 
 anxious to avoid giving offence; and, in this strait, he 
 bethought him of the window the door of the apart 
 ment having actually been locked by the host, and the 
 key secured in his pocket, so determined was he to 
 gorge his companions with liquor. Marion, having 
 military duties to perform, and unwilling to insist upon 
 being permitted to take his departure by the door, 
 thought of the window, and at once, notwithstanding 
 the dining-room was on the second story, rose from the 
 table, threw up a window and leaped out. Each au 
 thor who has written of Marion relates this anecdote, 
 and in Weems we have the name of the host (Alex 
 ander M Queen) and the street (Tradd) mentioned. 
 By this leap, Marion broke his ankle, which entirely 
 
ARTICLES OF CAPITULATION. 33 
 
 incapacitated him for service, and General Lincoln 
 ordered him to retire into the country until his lame 
 ness should be healed, and he should be able to return 
 to active duty. So severe was the hurt he had received, 
 he was taken from the city in a litter, and retired to 
 his seat in the parish of St. Johns, Berkeley county. 
 
 This accident to Marion is regarded as a fortunate 
 occurence for his country; Charleston and its defen 
 ders falling into the hands of the British, and the prob 
 ability that he would have been among those that 
 were captured, had he been in the city at the time of 
 its surrender. 
 
 It was on the 12th of May, 1780, that Gen. Lin 
 coln, who had confidently expected hope from the 
 country militia, finding his hopes vain, surrendered ; 
 the terms of capitulation being that " the militia were 
 to be permitted to return to their respective homes, as 
 prisoners on parole, and while they adhered to their 
 parole, were not to be molested in their persons or 
 property." Sir Henry Clinton now turned his atten 
 tion to the business of re-establishing the authority of 
 George III. in the province. As a first step to this 
 object he issued a proclamation, dated June 1, 1780, 
 the purport of which was an offer to the inhabitants, 
 on condition of theirsubmission, pardon for past offences, 
 a reinstatement in their rights, and exemption from taxes 
 excepting those passed by their own legislature. This 
 proclamation was followed by the disposition of gar 
 risons in different parts of the country, to overawe the 
 patriots and shelter the tories. At the same time over 
 2000 soldiers were marched towards North Carolina. 
 
 The inhabitants were encouraged to stay on their 
 plantations, with the prospect of neutrality ; but in a 
 very short time these delusive hopes vanished. Tn- 
 
34 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 stead of drawing off the people gradually from an 
 attachment to their late constitution, the conquerors 
 were so far mistaken as to suppose that men could be 
 instantly transformed from obstinate rebels to zealous 
 royalists. 
 
 The British confined some of their first prisoners in 
 the vaults with the dead. When the number of priso 
 ners multiplied, they were crowded on board prison- 
 ships, where they suffered every inconvenience that 
 could result from putrid air, and want of the com- 
 forts of life. This was done not only to those who 
 surrendered at discretion, but also to the private 
 soldiers who were entitled to the benefit of the capitu 
 lation of Charleston. The condition of these unfor 
 tunate men was truly deplorable. They were crowded 
 on board these prison-ships in such numbers that seve 
 ral were obliged to stand up for want of room to lie 
 down. The state of South Carolina rould afford them 
 no supply ; Congress could not at that time command 
 hard money for their relief. Wine and such like 
 comforts, particularly necessary for the sick in south 
 ern climates, were denied them from the British 
 hospitals. 
 
 In the meantime a Continental expedition, under 
 command of Col. Beaufort, was advancing from Vir 
 ginia to the relief of Charleston. Beaufort had reach 
 ed Camden ere he was aware of the surrender of the 
 city, the tidings of which induced him to retreat. Corn- 
 wallis, who commanded the British force on its way to 
 North Carolina, sent forward the notorious Col. Tarle- 
 ton, with 700 men, infantry and cavalry. The Ameri 
 cans, under Beaufort, were but 400 in number Tarle- 
 ton overtook the Americans at the Waxhaw settle 
 ments, summoned them to surrender, and before Beau fort 
 
MARION AND HORRY. 35 
 
 had time to reply, the British, brave because a weak 
 opponent was before them, made an impetuous attack, 
 and mercilessly massacred every man that surren 
 dered. " Tarleton s quarters" became a byword here- 
 after, and in subsequent battles, the recollection of 
 this massacre embittered the hostility with which the 
 patriots of the south regarded their enemy.* 
 
 The butchery of these men, and the cruelties of the 
 British after the fall of Charleston, exasperated the 
 patriots so deeply that, far from accommodating them 
 selves to the measures of Sir Henry Clinton, whose 
 object was, as has been stated, the re-establishment 
 of British authority in the province, they collected to 
 gether in squads throughout the country, and, putting 
 themselves under the command of such of their officers 
 as escaped becoming prisoners of war, bade defiance 
 to British arms. Moultrie and others were prisoners, 
 but Sumpter, Horry and Marion were at large, and 
 were each as ready to take command as were the in 
 dignant patriots to enlist themselves. Marion, whose 
 skill and intrepidity had made him particularly objec 
 tionable to the lories, was now eagerly sought for by 
 the British, and no measures were left untried to cap 
 ture him. He suffered much from the hurt he received 
 by leaping from Mr. M Queen s dining-room, and in 
 this state he was necessitated to take refuge amid the 
 swamps and forests, surrounded as he was by malignant 
 enemies who were eager to give him up to the enemy. 
 But, after passing through innumerable hardships and 
 perils, often within an inch as it were of being captured, 
 he finally escaped into North Carolina with a few de 
 voted friends, and there fell in with his gallant friend 
 
 * Vide Lee s Memoirs of the Southern War. 
 Q 
 
36 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 Horry. Without money and without resources, the 
 two friends made their way to the American army, 
 raised by Congress for the purpose of recovering South 
 Carolina. This army, which had set forward under 
 command of De Kalb, was now placed under Gates, 
 whose victory at Saratoga,* had given him a brilliant 
 reputation. He was ordered by Congress to take the 
 chief direction of the southern campaign. It is gene 
 rally conceded that Horatio Gates was a man of but 
 moderate abilities ; that he was vain, and fond of 
 parade and external show. Col. Horry (vide Weems) 
 says of him : "As a gentleman, few camps or 
 courts ever produced his superior. But, though a per 
 fect Chesterfield at court, in camp he was certainly 
 but a Paris. Tis true, at Saratoga he got his temples 
 stuck round with laurels as thick as a May-day queen 
 with gaudy flowers. And, though the greater part of 
 this was certainly the gallant workmanship of Arnold 
 and Morgan, yet did it so hoist General Gates in the 
 opinion of the nation, that many of his dear friends, 
 with a prudent regard, no doubt, to their own dearer 
 selves, had the courage to bring him forward on the 
 military turf and run him for the generalissimoship 
 against the great Washington." 
 
 When Gates joined the army, he was advised to 
 proceed southward by a circuitous route, where pro 
 visions would be plenty; but, turning a deaf ear to 
 counsel, he determined to rush on with all speed to 
 encounter the British. From the pen of Col. Otho 
 Williams, an Adjutant General in Gates army, we 
 have the following description of him and his men. 
 " Col. Marion, a gentleman of South Carolina, had 
 
 * October, 1777. 
 
MARION BURNING BOATS. 37 
 
 been with the army a few days, attended by a very 
 few followers, distinguished by small leather caps, and 
 the wretchedness of their attire : their number did not 
 exceed twenty men and boys, some white, some black, 
 and all mounted, but most of them miserably equip- 
 ped ; their appearance was in fact so burlesque, that 
 it was with much difficulty the diversion of the regu 
 lar soldiery was restrained by the officers ; and the 
 General himself was glad of an opportunity of de 
 taching Col. Marion, at his own instance, towards the 
 interior of South Carolina, with orders to watch the 
 motions of the enemy, and furnish intelligence." 
 
 Marion and his men accordingly received orders to 
 penetrate South Carolina in advance of the army, with 
 instructions to destroy scows, burn boats, and do every 
 thing that could tend to prevent the escape of the 
 enemy, so confident was Gates of a victory over the 
 British. Marion and his friend Horry set forward 
 through a country thickly infested by tories, and vigor 
 ously prosecuted their business of boat-burning. The 
 main army took up its line of march through a dreary 
 tract of country, and hunger and fatigue were the con 
 sequences. General Gates, whether he perceived his 
 error or not, pushed straight forward for Camden, and 
 " his only resource for meat was the lean beasts which 
 were accidentally picked up in the woods. Meal and 
 grain were also very scarce ; and as substitutes for 
 bread, the soldiers were obliged to have recourse to 
 the green corn and fruits which they met with. The 
 consequence of unwonted diet was, that the army was 
 thinned by dysentery and other diseases usually caused 
 by the heat of the weather, and by unwholesome 
 food." * 
 
 Frost s Hist. United States. 
 4 
 
38 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 Gates, on reaching the frontiers of South Carolina, 
 issued a proclamation, " inviting the inhabitants to 
 join his standard, and offering an amnesty to such of 
 them as, under the pressure of circumstances, had pro 
 mised allegiance to the British government." This 
 proclamation was . riot without effect, but it did not 
 bring forth the numbers he calculated it would, and he 
 could muster in all not 5000 men. Yet he determined 
 to persevere, and marched about 10 o clock at night 
 on the 15th of August (leaving his position near Ruge- 
 ley s mills, twelve miles from Carnden) to surprise the 
 enemy. The same movement was made by Cornwal- 
 lis, who at 2 o clock that night set forward to surprise 
 the-Americans in their camp. Mutual was the aston 
 ishment of both armies at this encounter. Some firing 
 took place, rather to the advantage of the British, but 
 was soon discontinued, both parties willing to leave the 
 matter to be decided by daylight. De Kalb now ad 
 vised that the army should fall back to its position at 
 Rugeley s mills, and await an attack from the enemy. 
 His counsel was over-ruled, however, and early on 
 the next morning both sides prepared for action, which 
 commenced " by the advance of 200 of the British in 
 front of the American artillery, who received them 
 with a steady fire. Gates then ordered the Virginia 
 militia to advance under the command of Colonel Ste 
 ven s, who cheerfully obeyed the orders of his com- 
 mander-in-chief, and when he had led his men within 
 firing distance, urged them to charge the enemy with 
 their bayonets. This portion of the army, however, did 
 not emulate the gallantry of their leader. Lord Corn- 
 wallis, observing their movement, ordered Colonel Web 
 ster to attack them. This order was obeyed with a 
 loud cheer," and the Americans yielded before the se- 
 
DEFEAT OF THE AMERICANS 39 
 
 verity of the British fire, many of them panic-struck 
 and flying without even discharging their muskets. 
 Gates hurried from the field to rally the militia, whilst 
 the brave De Kalb and his Continentals alone kept 
 their ground, and stood -the fury of the charge. The 
 gallant De Kalb, at the commencement of the battle, 
 had leaped from his horse, drawn his sword, and led 
 his command on foot. Never did men battle with more 
 bravery than he and his handfull of Continentals, sus 
 taining the shock of an overpowering host, amidst the 
 death-dealing cannon and muskets that slaughtered 
 their ranks. Cheering and animating his men, De 
 Kalb received eleven wounds, and at last, faint from 
 the loss of blood, fell to the ground. 
 
 " The whole of the baggage and artillery of the 
 Americans fell into the hands of the enemy, and the 
 fugitives were pursued by the British cavalry for the 
 space of twenty miles. So complete was this defeat 
 that, on the second day after the engagement, General 
 Gates could only muster 150 of his soldiers at Charles 
 ton, a town in the south of North Carolina, whence he 
 retreated farther north to Salisbury, and afterwards to 
 Hillsborough. 
 
 " To add to the misfortunes of the Americans, the 
 defeat of Gates was immediately followed by the sur 
 prise and dispersion of Sumpter s partisan corps. This 
 brave officer had succeeded in capturing the convoy 
 with the British stores, but hearing of Gates s defeat, 
 he began to retreat with his prisoners and stores.* 
 Tarleton, with his legion and a detachment of infantry, 
 pursued with such celerity as to overtake and surprise 
 him at Fishing creek. All the artillery and stores fell 
 
 * Forty wagons of booty and three hundred prisoners. 
 
40 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 into the hands of the British, and the whole detach 
 ment was either killed, captured or dispersed. Their 
 prisoners were of course all retaken." * 
 
 Marion and his men were busy executing orders in 
 destroying boats when the disastrous tidings of the 
 army s defeat reached them. 
 
 * Frost s United States. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 British atrocities. Proclamation of Sir Henry Clinton. 
 Major James sent to Captain Ardesoijf ; interview be 
 tween them ; insulting language of Ardesoijf and its 
 consequences. Rising of the patriots at Williams- 
 burg. Tarleton retreats from Capt. M Cottry. Mr. 
 Bradley" 1 s house burned and himself taken prisoner 
 his inhuman treatment. Marion leaping the barrier 
 Sumpter s chivalry Genera] Pickens. Col. Dame 
 routs the British British again repulsed battle of 
 King s mountain a large force of the British surren 
 der to five Americans desperate conflict between the 
 Whigs and Tories death of Capt. Falls.-Marion de 
 scription of his personal appearance. Marion defeats 
 a party of Tories under Capt. Gainey. Marion at 
 Post s Ferry rescue of prisoners at the Blue House. 
 Defeat of Wemyss. Gallant victory of Marion and 
 his brigade over the Tories at Black Mingo. 
 
 " THE sickliness of the season prevented Lord Corn- 
 vvallis from attempting to pursue the remains of General 
 Gates army ; but he employed the leisure now afforded 
 him in inflicting vengeance on such of the inhabitants 
 of South Carolina as had been induced to join the Ame 
 rican standard. The military men he doomed to 
 the gallows. The property of the fugitives, and of 
 the declared friends of Independence, he confiscated ; 
 and he seized a number of the most respectable citi 
 zens of Charleston, and most of the military officers 
 residing there under faith of the late capitulation, and 
 sent them to St. Augustine."* 
 
 * Frost. 
 4* 
 
42 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 Of those confined in the prison-ships, upwards of 
 eight hundred, nearly one-third of the whole, exhaust 
 ed hy a variety of sufferings, expired after a short 
 captivity. The citizens of the town, who adhered to 
 their paroles, were treated with great severity. Though 
 they were not allowed rations, yet they were debarred 
 from trade, and from exercising any profession ; and 
 the king s subjects were strictly enjoined not to employ 
 them on any pretence. 
 
 Reduced to desperation by these injudicious severi 
 ties, and British treachery rendering them indignant, 
 (for in less than a month after his first proclamation 
 Sir Henry Clinton issued a second which rendered 
 nugatory the privilege granted by the other) the bold 
 and active patriots formed themselves anew into parti 
 san bands under different chieftains, among whom 
 Marion and Sumpter were most distinguished by their 
 spirit and enterprize. The first proclamation suffered 
 the people to remain undisturbed upon parole, and 
 such of the Carolinians as had accepted it, were now, 
 by this second proclamation, not suffered to remain in 
 this condition of allegiance, but actually commanded to 
 rake up arms in support of His Majesty s government. 
 At this the majority revolted. They had resigned 
 themselves to the prospect of being lookers-on, but to 
 shed the blood of brothers with whom they had hitherto 
 fought side by side that they could not be brought to. 
 The following is an anecdote illustrative of this crisis. 
 
 In the month of June 1780, a British captain, named 
 Ardesoiff, arrived at Georgetown and published a pro 
 clamation, inviting the people to come in, swear alle 
 giance to king George, and take protection. Many of 
 
 * Ramsay s History of South Carolina. 
 
MAJOR JAMES AND CAPT. ABDESOIFF. 43 
 
 the inhabitants of Georgetown submitted. But there 
 remained a portion of that district, stretching from the 
 Santee to the Pedee, containing the whole of the present 
 Williamsburg and part of Marion district, into which 
 the British arms had not penetrated. The inhabitants 
 of it were generally of Irish extraction, and very little 
 disposed to submission. At this crisis there was a 
 meeting of this people to deliberate on their situation. 
 Major John James, who had heretofore commanded 
 them in the field, and represented them in the state 
 legislature, was selected as the person who should go 
 down to Captain ArdesoifF and know from him upon 
 what terms they would be allowed to submit. Accord 
 ingly he proceeded to Georgetown in the plain garb 
 of a country planter, and was introduced to the cap 
 tain at his lodgings. 
 
 After Major James had explained the nature of his 
 mission, Capt. ArdesoifF, surprised that such an em 
 bassy should be sent to him, answered " that submis 
 sion must be unconditional." To an inquiry from 
 Major James as to whether the inhabitants would be 
 allowed to stay at home upon their plantations in peace 
 and quiet, ArdesoifF replied, " Though you have re 
 belled against his majesty, he offers you a free par 
 don, of which you are undeserving, for you ought all 
 to be hanged ! As he offers you a free pardon, you 
 must take up arms in his cause." 
 
 " The people I represent will never submit to such 
 terms," said Major James, boldly. 
 
 " Represent /" ArdesoifF emphatically repeated 
 " Represent ! You rebel ! if you speak in such lan 
 guage, I will immediately cause you to be hanged up 
 to the yard-arm !" And the irritated captain pointed 
 
44 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 through the window, at which he was sitting, to the 
 ship which he commanded lying in the river and within 
 sight. 
 
 Major James, not relishing this language, and his 
 blood being up, sprung in an instant to his feet, arid 
 seizing the chair he had been sitting on, dealt a blow 
 at Ardesoiff that sprawled the insolent tool of tyranny 
 upon the floor. " Take that, d n you !" exclaimed 
 the justly indignant major, as he struck the blow. In 
 another instant, before Ardesoiff had time to recover 
 and give the alarm, he was out of the house, had 
 mounted his horse, and was far enough away from 
 Georgetown before pursuit could be attempted. 
 
 As soon as the major reached Williamsburg, the 
 whole adventure was related, and the spirit displayed 
 by him acted like an electric-shock in arousing 
 others ; and it was unanimously determined by the 
 citizens that they would again take up arms in defence 
 of their country and not against her. Major James 
 was desired to command them as heretofore, and they 
 "arranged themselves under their revolutionary cap- 
 tains, William M Cottry, Henry Mouzon, and John 
 James, Junior. The latter was a cousin of the major. 
 
 The small band thus resolved on further resistance 
 to British tyranny consisted of but about two hundred 
 men. It was agreed to despatch a messenger to Gen. 
 Gates, who about this time had arrived upon the con 
 fines of the state, requesting him to send them a com 
 mander. 
 
 Shortly after this, Col. Tarleton, with a force of 
 British, crossed the Santee at Lenad s ferry, and 
 hearing of the late proceedings in Williamsburg, ap 
 proached at the head of his cavalry to surprise the 
 
TREACHERY OF TARLETON. 45 
 
 party of major James ; but Capt. M Cottry, as soon as 
 he received notice of his movements, marched his 
 company of fifty men to give him battle. Tarleton 
 was posted at King s Tree bridge, on Black river ; and 
 M Cottry approached him at midnight ; but by means 
 of the wife of one of the loyalists of that part of the 
 country, Tarleton gained intelligence of M Ccttry s 
 movements, and marched away a few hours before the 
 latter arrived. M Cottry pursued him, but without effect. 
 
 In this route Tarleton burned the house of Capt. 
 Mouzon, and took Mr. James Bradley prisoner. He 
 took this gentleman by stratagem. He came to his house 
 and passed himself off for Col. Washington of the 
 American army. Bradley made much of his guest, and 
 without suspicion freely communicated to him the 
 plans and views of himself and the Carolinians for co 
 operating with their countrymen against the British. 
 When the interview and its hospitalities were ended, 
 Tarleton requested Bradley to accompany him as a 
 guide to a neighboring place. This service was cheer 
 fully performed. On their arriyal, Tarleton s party 
 appeared in full view, and took charge of Bradley as a 
 prisoner. The host thus taken by order of his late 
 guest was sent to Camden jail, and there confined in 
 irons.* 
 
 Marion, when in service, rode one of the fleetest and 
 most powerful chargers the south could produce. When 
 in fair pursuit, nothing could escape, and when retreat 
 ing, nothing could overtake him. Being once nearly 
 surrounded by a party of British dragoons, he was com 
 pelled, for safety, to pass into a corn-field, by leaping 
 the fence. This field, marked with a considerable de- 
 
 * See Appendix A. 
 
46 MARION AlfD HIS TIMES. 
 
 scent of surface, had been, in part, a marsh. Marion 
 entered it, at the upper side. The dragoons, in chase, 
 leapt the fence also, and were but a short distance be 
 hind him. So completely was he now within their 
 power, that his only mode of escape was to pass over 
 the fence at the lower side. 
 
 But here lay a difficulty, which, to all but himself, 
 appeared insurmountable. To drain the groun^l of its 
 superfluous waters, a trench had been cut around this 
 part of the field, four feet wide, and of the same depth. 
 Of the mud and clay, removed in cutting it, a bank 
 had been formed on its inner side, and on top of this 
 was erected the fence. The elevation of the whole 
 amounted to more than seven feet perpendicular height ; 
 a ditch, four feet in width, running parallel with it, on 
 the outside, and a foot, or more, of space intervening 
 between the fence and the ditch. 
 
 The dragoons, acquainted with the nature and extent 
 of this obstacle, and considering it impossible for their 
 enemy to pass it, pressed towards him, with loud shouts 
 of exultation and insult, and summoned him to surren 
 der, or perish by the sword. Regardless of their 
 rudeness, and empty clamor, and inflexibly deter 
 mined not to become their prisoner, Marion spurred 
 his horse to the charge. The noble animal, as if con 
 scious that his master s life was in danger, and that 
 on his exertion depended its safety, approached the 
 barrier, in his finest style, and with a bound that was 
 almost supernatural, cleared completely the fence and 
 ditch, and recovered himself without injury, on the 
 opposite side. 
 
 Marion, now facing his pursuers, who had halted at 
 the fence, unable to pass it, discharged his pistols at 
 them, without effect, and then, wheeling his horse, and 
 
ENTHUSIASM OF 8UMPTEE. 49 
 
 bidding them " good morning," with an air of triumph, 
 dashed into an adjoining thicket, and disappeared in an 
 instant. 
 
 Astonished at what they had witnessed, and scarcely 
 believing their foe to be mortal, the dragoons immedi 
 ately abandoned the pursuit.* 
 
 In another district of the same state, more elevated, 
 drier, and therefore, more healthy, but less suited to 
 partisan and predatory operations, because less abun 
 dant in fortresses and retreats, flourished General 
 Sumpter, a second warrior of freedom, terrible in ac 
 tion, and peculiarly fitted for the place he occupied. 
 Greatly superior to General Marion in personal 
 strength, and trusting less to stratagem and skill, he 
 placed his fortune much more exclusively on his 
 daring resolution and the execution of his sword. 
 Warm in temperament, and devoted to his country, 
 whatever could contribute to rescue her from the in 
 vader, and establish her independence became an ob 
 ject of his ardent affection. He was also enamored 
 of brilliant achievement for its own sake. To victory, 
 and the glory attending it, he would cut his way through 
 every danger, regardless alike of his own blood and 
 that of his enemy. Into his brave associates, the 
 hardy and powerful sons of the hilly country, he 
 infused an abundant portion of his own spirit. 
 Attached to his person, and inflamed by his enthu 
 siasm, this dauntless corps followed him with alac 
 rity through every difficulty and every peril. To 
 them, as to himself, the sight of an enemy be 
 came an object of pleasure. Accustomed to con 
 quer, even when greatly outnumbered, they regarded 
 
 * Caldwell s Life of Green. 
 5 
 
50 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 the order to prepare for battle as little else than an 
 invitation to triumph. This was peculiarly the case 
 when none but royalists were the object of their attack. 
 
 Thus formidable in himself and his followers, the 
 tories of his district began to tremble at the approach, 
 and even the name of Sumpter; and the British, them 
 selves, were compelled to respect him. His only object 
 being the conquest or destruction of his enemy, and 
 the liberation of his country, he was not very scrupu 
 lous in his mode of warfare. Retaliation, in every 
 form, he deemed justifiable. Hence, he sternly re 
 torted on his adversaries whatever means they em 
 ployed against him. If they inhumanly resorted to 
 conflagration or the gibbet, he was not very reluctant 
 to avenge the outrage by similar measures. The en 
 tire annihilation of an invading foe, whose end was 
 subjugation, and every form of violence their means, 
 as well as of the miscreant inhabitants who flocked to 
 their banner, he held to be a duty. 
 
 Possessing this general fitness for the crisis, his ca 
 reer was fertile in enterprise and deeds of heroism. 
 If, from a want of due precaution, or from an exuber 
 ance of courage, misfortune and defeat sometimes as 
 sailed him, they neither broke his spirit nor enfeebled 
 his hopes. Unmoved as the firmest Roman in the 
 best times of the commonwealth, he never despaired 
 of the arms of his country. With an inflexible resolu 
 tion to witness her triumph, or not to survive her 
 overthrow, he pressed towards his object with direct 
 aim and unrelaxing vigor, and would have reduced his 
 district to the condition of a desert rather than suffer 
 the enemy to be master of it. 
 
 In brigadier General Pickens appeared a third cham 
 pion of freedom, worthy of the glorious cause he had 
 
BRIGADIER GENERAL PICKENS. 51 
 
 espoused. Without so much experience in war, and 
 with a character less strongly marked than his two 
 cotemporaries, because he was younger, he rendered, 
 notwithstanding, to his suffering fellow-citizens very 
 important services. Gallant, enterprising and sensible; 
 of a popular deportment, devotedly attached to the in 
 dependence of his country, and possessing no incon 
 siderable share of natural eloquence, he drew around 
 him, like Sumpter, from another district of the hilly 
 region, a band of followers, hardy, active and enamored 
 of danger. 
 
 At the head of these, capable himself of great exer 
 tion, and uncommonly patient of privation and toil, he 
 was indefatigable in his movements, traversing an ex 
 tensive circuit of country, intercepting scouts, striking 
 at foraging parties, and attacking, and sometimes car 
 rying, posts, until he rendered himself exceedingly 
 formidable to his enemies. In the worst times, he 
 was at once a rallying point and a source of reliance 
 to the friends of freedom in a large district ; he illustrated 
 his career with numerous achievements of usefulness 
 and renown, and proved himself an able partisan officer. 
 But, successful as he was, in many of his enterprises, 
 his most substantial services consisted, not so much in 
 the work of his sword, as in keeping alive a spirit of 
 resistance, and saving the people from despondency 
 and submission. For it is, in the political, as in the 
 animal body while a spark of life remains, resuscita 
 tion is possible ; but, in either, real death is absolute 
 despair. 
 
 In another district of country, still further from the 
 
 sea-board, composed of sections of North and South 
 
 Carolina, where those two states join, arose a fourth 
 
 partisan officer, of high character and merit, who, at 
 
 R 
 
52 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 the gloomiest period of the southern disasters, did much 
 to prevent and punish the atrocities of the royalists, cir 
 cumscribe the range and influence of British detach 
 ments, and sustain the wavering spirits of his friends. 
 This was Colonel Davie, afterwards Governor of North 
 Carolina, one of our embassadors to France at a very 
 portentous conjuncture, and afterwards a private gentle 
 man, reposing in the lap of science, resident on his 
 estate in the same tract of country which he had 
 protected. This distinguished leader, although younger 
 by several years, possessed talents of a higher order, 
 and was much more accomplished in education and 
 manners, than either of his three competitors for fame. 
 For the comeliness of his person, his martial air, his 
 excellence in horsemanship, and his consummate powers 
 of field eloquence, he had scarcely an equal in the 
 armies of his country. So sonorous and powerful was 
 his voice, so distinct his articulation, and so command 
 ing his delivery, that the distance to which he could be 
 heard was almost incredible. But his chief excellence 
 lay in the magnanimity and generosity of his soul, his 
 daring courage, his vigilance and address, and his un- 
 relaxing activity and endurance of toil. So ardent was 
 his attachment to the cause of freedom, and so disin 
 terested his efforts to promote it, that, in equipping for 
 the field his corps of followers, he expended his whole 
 patrimonial estate. 
 
 At the head of these, his exertions were unremitting, 
 and his efficiency great. If he was less frequently 
 engaged in actual combat than either of his three 
 more southernly compeers, it was not because he was 
 inferior to them in enterprise or love of battle. His 
 district being more interior, was at first less frequently 
 invaded by British detachments ; and the terror of his 
 
PATRIOTISM OF COL. DAVIE. 53 
 
 arms, either kept the royalists from embodying, or 
 compelled them to scatter and fly at his approach. 
 When, however, Lord Cornwall is ultimately advanced 
 into that quarter, his scouts and foraging parties found 
 Col. Davie and his brave associates as formidable an 
 enemy as they had ever encountered. At the two 
 gloomiest epochs of the southern war, soon after the 
 fall of Charleston, and the overthrow of Gates, it was 
 the good fortune of Col. Davie to be the first to shed a 
 gleam through the surrounding darkness, and give 
 hope to the country, by the brilliancy of his exploits. 
 In one instance, without loss or injury on his part, he 
 entirely destroyed an escort of provisions, taking forty 
 prisoners, with their horses and arms. In the other, 
 under the immediate eye of a large British force, which 
 was actually beating to arms to attack him, he routed 
 a party stronger than his own, killing and wounding 
 sixty of the enemy, and carrying off with him ninety- 
 six horses and one hundred and twenty stand of arms. 
 The only injury which he himself sustained, in his com 
 mand, was one man wounded. This affair occurred at 
 Wahab s farm, in the Waxhaw settlement.* 
 
 When Lord Cornwallis entered Charlotte, a small 
 village in North Carolina, Colonel Davie, at the head 
 of his detachment, threw himself in his front, deter 
 mined to give him a specimen of the firmness and gal 
 lantry with which the inhabitants of the place were 
 prepared to dispute with his lordship their native soil. 
 
 Colonel Tarleton s legion formed the British van, led 
 by Major Hanger, the commander himself being con 
 fined by sickness. When that celebrated corps had 
 advanced near to the centre of the village, where the 
 
 * Caldwell s Life of Greene. 
 
 5* 
 
54 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 Americans were posted, Davie poured into it so destruc 
 tive a fire, that it immediately wheeled and retreated 
 m disorder. Being rallied on the commons, and again 
 led on to the charge, it received, on the same spot, 
 another fire, with a similar effect. Lord Cornwallis, 
 witnessing the confusion thus produced among his 
 choicest troops, rode up in person, and in a tone of dis 
 satisfaction, upbraided the legion with unsoldierly con 
 duct, reminding it of its former exploits and reputation. 
 
 Pressed on his flanks by the British infantry, Col. 
 Davie had now fallen back to a new and well selected 
 position. To dislodge him from this, the legion cavalry 
 advanced on him a third time, in rapid charge ; in full 
 view of their commander-in-chief, and still smarting 
 from his pungent censure but in vain. Another fire 
 from the American marksmen killed several of their 
 officers, wounded Major Hanger, and repulsed them 
 again with increased confusion. The main body of 
 the British being now within musket-shot, the American 
 leader abandoned the contest. 
 
 That they might, if possible, recover some portion 
 of the laurels of which they had this day been shorn, 
 colonel Tarleton s dragoons attempted to disturb co 
 lonel Davie in his retreat. But the latter, choosing his 
 ground, wheeled on them with so fierce and galling a 
 fire, that they again fell back, and troubled him no 
 further. 
 
 It was by strokes like these that he seriously crip 
 pled and intimidated his enemy, acquired an elevated 
 standing in the estimation of his friends, and served 
 very essentially the interests of freedom. With the 
 resolution of Sumpter, and the coolness and military 
 policy of Marion, he exhibited in his character a happy 
 union of the high qualities of those two officers. 
 
BATTLE OF KING S MOUNTAIN. 55 
 
 Thus, did these four great partisan leaders, created 
 by the exigency of the times, and springing each out 
 of the nature of his own instinct, tend, by their vigilance, 
 and unremitting action, to limit not a little the ravages 
 of the enemy, and to preserve from extinction the em 
 bers of resistance. But, although the most regular 
 laborers in the sacred cause in which they co-operated, 
 they and their immediate followers did network alone. 
 By the occasional association and exertion of other par 
 tisan warriors in different places, sundry enterprises 
 of rare and distinguished lustre were successfully 
 achieved. 
 
 Every reader of history must be familiar with the 
 celebrated and romantic feat of arms achieved on 
 King s mountain, where the British bayonet, under 
 colonel Ferguson, yielded to the American rifle, pointed 
 by Cleveland, Shelby and Campbell. In number, the 
 troops, on either side, were nearly equal. The British 
 detachment was in high discipline, selected for a par 
 ticular service, and encamped in a position chosen on 
 account of its security and strength. The Americans 
 were fresh from their homes, had no pretension to dis 
 cipline, and most of them now for tRe first time faced 
 an enemy in the field. Notwithstanding this, they ad 
 vanced to the attack, with the steadiness and cool de 
 termination of veterans. The resistance they en 
 countered was firm and terrible ; yet fifty minutes con 
 ducted them to triumph. 
 
 The following brief, but picturesque account of this 
 battle, is given by general Lee. " Our brave country 
 men were formed into three divisions, under their 
 respective leaders, and coolly ascended the mountain 
 in different directions. Colonel Cleveland first reached 
 the enemy, and opened a destructive fire from behind 
 
56 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 the trees. Ferguson resorted to the bayonet : Cleve 
 land necessarily gave way. At that instant, from an 
 other quarter, colonel Shelby poured in his fire ; alike 
 sheltered and alike effectual. Upon him Ferguson 
 furiously turned, and advanced with the bayonet ; gain 
 ing the only, though immaterial, advantage in his 
 power, of forcing Shelby to recede. This was scarcely 
 effected before colonel Campbell had gained the sum 
 mit of the mountain; when he too commenced a deadly 
 fire. The British bayonet was again applied, and 
 produced its former effect. All the divisions now 
 returned in co-operation, and resistance became 
 temerity." 
 
 The trophies of the day were dazzling and glorious. 
 The British party was annihilated. Colonel Ferguson 
 himself was among the slain ; three hundred of his 
 troops were killed and wounded ; and upwards of 
 eight hundred surrendered at discretion. Fifteen hun 
 dred stand of arms passed, also, into the possession of 
 the conquerors. 
 
 Never was victory more opportune ; nor, for the 
 number of combatants, engaged in the conflict, more 
 important in its immediate consequences. It broke 
 the plan of the British campaign, rescued North Caro 
 lina, from an invasion which would have devastated, and 
 held in check, its strongest and best disposed district, 
 disappointed the expectations of the royalists in various 
 parts of it, preventing their intended co-operation with 
 the invaders, and revived the sinking hopes, and in 
 vigorated the exertions, of the friends of freedom. 
 Further to the South occurred another affair of parti 
 san gallantry, which although not very momentous in 
 its consequences, was notwithstanding so extraor 
 dinary, in its nature, conducted with so much address, 
 
EXPLOIT OF FIVE AMERICANS. 57 
 
 marked with such a chivalrous spirit of enterprise, 
 and so honourable to the officer who conceived and 
 executed it, that it deserves to be much more generally 
 known, than it has heretofore been.* 
 
 On the river Ogechee, in the state of Georgia, was 
 stationed captain French, with a detachment of about 
 forty British regulars. At the same place lay five 
 British vessels. Of these four were armed, the lar 
 gest mounting fourteen guns. Colonel John White, of 
 the Georgia line, meditating the capture of this station, 
 was able to call to his assistance, but four individuals, 
 captain Etholen, and three privates. Resolute in their 
 purpose, notwithstanding the disparity of force they 
 would be obliged to encounter, these five soldiers of for 
 tune, boldly advanced on the enemy s post. 
 
 Having arrived in the neighborhood of it at night, 
 they kindled numerous fires, the light of which reached 
 their adversaries, so arranging them as to represent 
 by them, the lines of a considerable camp. To render 
 their stratagem the more imposing, they then rode 
 hastily about, in various directions, in imitation of the 
 staff of an army, disposing their sentinels, and issuing 
 their orders in a loud voice. The artifice succeeded, 
 and convinced captain French that he was menaced by 
 a large body of Americans. Accordingly, on being 
 summoned by colonel White, he surrendered his de 
 tachment, the crews of the five vessels, amounting to 
 near fifty in number, with the vessels themselves, and 
 one hundred and fifty stand of arms. But the difficulty 
 of the enterprising captors was not yet terminated. 
 The British soldiers and sailors might discover the im 
 position that had been practised on them and attempt 
 
 * Caldwell s Life of Greene. 
 
58 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 a rescue ; and five armed men were not sufficient to 
 restrain by force near a hundred without arms. 
 
 The same genius, however, that had planned the first 
 part of the adventure, was comoetent to the completion 
 of it. With great seriousness and some emotion in 
 his manner, colonel White told captain French that 
 in consequence of certain recent enormities, perpetrated 
 by a detachment of British and royalists, his troops 
 were so deeply exasperated that he was afraid they 
 would advance on the captured party, and, in violation 
 of his commands, put them all to the sword ; that he 
 had already experienced great difficulty in restraining 
 them ; and, should they be placed as a guard over the 
 prisoners, he was convinced their rage would become 
 ungovernable. He, therefore, directed the British cap 
 tain to follow, with his whole party, captain Etholen, 
 and two of the soldiers as guides, who would conduct 
 them without delay to a place of safety and good 
 quarters. 
 
 For his kindness and humanity, colonel White re 
 ceived the thanks of his prisoners, who immediately 
 marched off in a body with their small escort, anxious 
 to hasten their pace, lest the enraged Americans should 
 advance on them and cut them to pieces. The colonel 
 and one soldier remained behind, with a view, as he in 
 formed captain French, to restrain by his presence 
 any improper violence his troops might be inclined to 
 offer ; and to conduct their march at some distance in 
 the rear. 
 
 In the mean time, with the aid of the soldier retained, 
 he took active measures to collect, as expeditiously as 
 possible, a body of militia from the neighboring dis 
 trict. Placing himself at the head of these, who were 
 mostly mounted on good horses, he soon overtook his 
 
WHIGS AND TORIES. 59 
 
 prisoners, whom he found safe under their guides, and 
 rejoicing in the generous treatment they had experienced. 
 
 Equally, perhaps, unknown to most of the inhabi 
 tants, and singularly neglected in the history of our 
 country, is another very gallant partisan adventure, 
 achieved on the 22d of June 1780. Neither Ameri 
 can regulars nor British soldiers had any concern 
 in this spirited affair ; it was fought entirely by raw 
 militia-men, of the whig and tory parties. About 
 twelve hundred of the latter, having assembled un 
 der the command of Colonel Moore, encamped in 
 a strong position at Ramsaour s mill, a few miles 
 westward from the Catawba river, and in the vicinity 
 of the line which separates North from South Carolina. 
 
 In addition to rapine, and the production of general 
 distress, a favorite object of this party was to overawe 
 and weaken the adjacent country by capturing and 
 carrying within the British lines a number of its most 
 influential inhabitants. Besides being thus prevented 
 from taking a lead in active measures of resistance, 
 these were to be held as hostages for the good conduct 
 and neutrality of their friends. 
 
 To defeat the mischievous purposes of this party, and 
 to dislodge them from their strong hold, the most spir 
 ited of the whigs from Tredell, a neighboring county, 
 assembled to the amount of three hundred men, under 
 the command of colonel Locke. These consisted 
 principally of foot ; but, in part, of a small corps of 
 mounted infantry, armed with rifles, pistols and sabres, 
 led by captain Falls, an officer of peculiar gallantry 
 and worth. 
 
 This hasty levy of soldiers presented a spectacle 
 eminently interesting. They were fresh from their 
 homes, their private habits unbroken, no discipline or 
 
60 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 concert of action established among them, and all their 
 domestic feelings clinging around their hearts. They 
 were, in the true sense of the expression, a band of 
 friends and neighbors, being all from the same settle 
 ment, and perfectly known to each other in private life. 
 In the whole party there was not an individual who 
 had not repeatedly united with the others, in rural sport 
 and social enjoyment. As citizens, they were all of 
 the same rank, and all respectable. They were mas 
 ters of the soil they had assembled to defend. 
 
 Of this corps of patriots, the military prowess was 
 entirely untried ; not one of them, with the exception 
 of captain Falls, having ever confronted an enemy in 
 the field. Their only warlike acquirement was great 
 expertness and skill in the use of the rifle. In that 
 qualification they had few superiors. Being all dressed 
 in their common apparel, they exhibited no uniformity 
 of appearance. To remedy this, and to distinguish 
 them from the tories, who were known to be dressed in 
 the same way, they fastened over the crowns of their 
 hats, from back to front, descending to the rims, on 
 each side, strips of white paper about two inches broad. 
 Each one brought to the place of rendezvous his own 
 rifle, fifty rounds of powder and ball, a week s provision, 
 and a light blanket. That they might be perfectly un 
 encumbered, neither baggage-wagon nor pack-horse 
 was attached to the party.* 
 
 Thus accoutred, eager for battle, and panting for 
 glory, without waiting for a considerable force that was 
 assembling in Rowan, a neighboring county, under 
 general Rutherford, to join them, they moved, in haste 
 and silence, towards the scene of action. The second 
 
 * Caldwell s Life of Greene. 
 
VALOR OP CA.PT. FALLS. 61 
 
 day s march brought them into the immediate vicinity 
 of their object. They encamped for the night, deter 
 mined to strike, and hoping to surprise, the enemy, in 
 the morning. But, in this, they were disappointed. 
 On advancing to the attack, about break of day, they 
 found the foe on the alert, and ready to receive them. 
 They, therefore, resolved to wait, until it should be 
 completely light, that the aim of their rifles might be 
 the more deadly. 
 
 The morning opening, disclosed to them a prepara 
 tion for defence and resistance, much more formidable 
 than they had expected to find. The enemy were 
 posted on top of a hill, covered with timber, which af 
 forded them a shelter. Their flanks were protected 
 on one side by a mill-dam, and on the other by a 
 swamp, a small stream of water flowing in the rear. 
 In front of their encampment, was erected of stakes 
 and brush-wood, a breastwork so compact as to be 
 proof against small arms, and to impede, in a great 
 measure, the operation of cavalry. A strong de 
 tachment of the foe was stationed in advance of the 
 breast-work, armed with rifles, and concealed behind 
 trees. 
 
 At. first sight, this array of men and means was 
 somewhat appalling. But the Rubicon was passed. 
 Retreat would be ruin, accompanied with disgrace. 
 Battle might also be ruinous, but could not be dishon 
 orable. Without hesitation, therefore, the latter was re 
 solved on. At his own request, captain Falls, with his 
 mounted infantry, led the attack. When at the distance 
 of about eighty paces, he received the fire of the ene 
 my s advance. Returning this with considerable effect, 
 he rushed, sword in hand, into the midst of them, threw 
 them into confusion, and forced them to fall back. 
 
 6 
 
62 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 Pressing his fortune with too much ardor, he received 
 a ball through his breast, and fell dead from his horse. 
 
 His party, however, undismayed by the loss of their 
 leader, continued the action, with great gallantry, until 
 the foot advanced to their support, when the enemy was 
 driven behind his breastwork. Here ensued a most 
 murderous conflict. The whigs, having so far levelled 
 the obstruction, as to render it passable, rushed over it, 
 mingled with the enemy, and, in many instances, 
 grappled with them, man to man. Every instrument 
 and means of death was now resorted to. The bullet, 
 the sword, the rifle-but, and even the hatchet, with 
 which some were provided, were abundantly employed. 
 Rarely, in any case, has blood been more inexorably, 
 or, by the same number of combatants, more prodigal 
 ly, shed. 
 
 For a time, the issue was doubtful. Pressed, by su 
 perior numbers, the whigs were once compelled to give 
 ground, some of them retreating across the breastwork. 
 But resolutely bent on victory or death, they returned 
 to the charge, with such fierce impetuosity, and decisive 
 effect, as bore down all resistance. The tories broke, 
 and fled in confusion, the whigs for some distance 
 hanging on their rear with terrible slaughter. 
 
 Thus terminated an affair, in which so many gallant 
 spirits made their first, and, too many of them, alas ! 
 their last, essay in arms. In the course of it, the 
 whigs performed prodigies ; and the royalists mani 
 fested a degree of resolution and valor worthy of a 
 better cause. The latter lost, in killed, wounded, and 
 prisoners, upwards of six hundred men. The prison 
 ers and wounded were paroled, and liberated, on the 
 field of battle. The numerical loss of the former was 
 exceedingly heavy, nearly half of them being killed or 
 
MARION AND HIS BRIGADE. 63 
 
 wounded. But the actual loss, which consisted in the 
 character, rather than the number, of those that fell, 
 was incalculable. On that fatal day some of the 
 choicest blood of the south was heroically offered, on 
 the altar of freedom. 
 
 The death of captain Falls, in particular, was deeply 
 lamented. In the ranks of his country, he did not leave 
 behind him a purer patriot, or a more gallant soldier. 
 His son, a youth of fourteen, had accompanied him to 
 battle. When the captain fell, this high minded stripling 
 moved by an instinctive impulse of affection, sprang 
 from his horse, to embrace the body, and protect it 
 from insult. One of the enemy, believed to be the 
 same that had shot captain Falls, advancing, with a 
 view to plunder the corpse, the son, suddenly snatch 
 ing the sword of the deceased, plunged it into the 
 bosom of the marauder, and thus, at once, punished 
 audacity and nobly revenged his father s death. 
 
 So deadly was the aim of the tory riflemen, at the 
 commencement of the action, before the smoke of their 
 own fire had obstructed their view, that many of them 
 placed their balls in the lower end of the strips of 
 paper, which the whigs wore over the crowns of their 
 hats. Every shot of this description, passing through 
 the brain, was instantly fatal.* 
 
 The messenger despatched to Gates returned with 
 the glad information that Francis Marion was to take 
 command, commissioned by Gov. Ruttledge ; and a 
 few days previous to the defeat of Gates, Marion 
 reached the post where M Cottry had taken his 
 position, and, as we have stated, he and his brigade 
 were on the Santee river destroying boats when 
 
 * Caldwell s Life of Greene. 
 
64 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 the news of the last battle was received. Such 
 was the origin of " Marion s Brigade." Of Ma 
 rion s personal appearence at this time, we have the 
 following graphic account from the pen of Judge 
 James, a son of the major, and who at the early 
 age of fifteen served under him. " He was a stranger 
 to the officers and men, and they flocked about him to 
 obtain a sight of their future commander. He was 
 rather below the middle stature, lean and swarthy 
 His body was well set, but his kness and ankles were 
 badly formed, and he still limped upon one leg. He 
 had a countenance remarkably steady ; his nose was 
 aquiline, chin projecting ; his forehead large and high, 
 and his eyes black and piercing. He was then forty- 
 eight years of age, with a frame capable of enduring 
 fatigue and every privation. He was dressed in a 
 close round-bodied crimson jacket, of a coarse texture, 
 and wore a leather cap, part of the uniform of the 
 second regiment, with a silver crescent in front, in 
 scribed with the words, Liberty or Death. "* Weems 
 describes him as a " little, swarthy, French-phizzed 
 Carolianian." 
 
 We now approach the exciting part of Marion s 
 career; and as captain of his brigade we will follow 
 him through his perils, adventures, stratagem and ex 
 ploits. We equally admire the boldness of his deeds 
 and the never-failing resources that he commanded 
 within himself. At a moment when the cause for 
 which he battled seemed to be given over, he alone 
 kept the field as its champion. A few others there 
 were who assisted in keeping alive the hopes of the 
 Southern patriots, but the name of Marion was the 
 only rallying cry which inspirited effectual confidence. 
 
 * A sketch of the Life of Marion and History of his Brigade, 
 by Wm. Dobein James, A. M. 1821. 
 
TORIES DEFEATED AT BRITTON s NECK. 65 
 
 Equally without the means of warfare and of com 
 fort, he and his brigade despaired not, but with such 
 weapons as they had fought, and with such sustenance 
 as they could get existed. LIBERTY OR DEATH was 
 the motto worn by Marion, and, for Liberty,toil and 
 hardships were cheerfully endured with an unwavering 
 resolution that it should be Death rather than the 
 cause of Liberty should be relinquished. 
 
 In a few days after taking command, Marion led his 
 men across the Pedee at Post s ferry, to disperse a 
 large party of tories commanded by Major Gainey, 
 collected between the Great and Little Pedee. This 
 Gainey was a great champion of the tories and stood 
 high in their estimation as a partizan officer. He and 
 his band of tories were encamped at a place called 
 Britton s Neck. In secrecy, Marion formed his plan, 
 marched rapidly all night, and came upon the tories 
 at day-break. He paused not an instant, but rigorously 
 attacked their camp, and the surprise and disaster 
 was complete ; one of the tory captains and several 
 of their privates were slain. Of Marion s men not one 
 was lost, and only two wounded.* 
 
 Being informed that another body of tories were 
 strongly posted in the neighborhood, under command 
 of Capt. Barfield, he resorted to a stratagem, placing a 
 part of his men in ambush, and with the other part 
 pretending a retreat. This feint had the desired effect, 
 for Barfield pursued the retreating party, whilst those 
 in ambush came upon his rear, and the defeat of the 
 tories was entire. 
 
 After this, Marion returned to Post s Ferry, and 
 threw up a redoubt on the east bank of the Pedee, 
 
 * Ramsay s Hiat. of South Carolina. 
 6* 
 
66 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 manning his little fortification with two field-pieces 
 which he captured in his successes against the tories. 
 Whilst thus employed, he heard of the defeat of Gen. 
 Gates at Camden, Aug. 16, 1780. Fearful of the 
 effect this tidings might have upon the spirits of his 
 brigade, he kept it concealed from them, and, getting 
 advice that a British force, with a great number of 
 American prisoners, was on its way from Camden to 
 Charleston, he resolved to attempt a rescue. He im 
 mediately marched ibr Nelson s Ferry on the Santee, 
 and near Nelson s he learned that the British, with 
 their prisoners, the former ninety strong; the prison 
 ers two hundred, had stopped at a house on the east 
 side of the Santee. Just after dark, Marion and his 
 brigade crossed the river. He directed Col. Horry to 
 gain possession of the road at the entrance of a 
 swamp, and led the main body himself by a circuitous 
 route to attack the rear of the enemy. 
 
 " The Blue House" was the name of the tavern at 
 which the British halted with their prisoners. Col. 
 Horry in taking his position, advanced too near a sen 
 tinel, who fired upon him. No time was now to be 
 lost. The word was given for an attack. The sen- 
 tinels fled towards the house, the Americans following. 
 The surprised enemy surrendered at once, and Marion 
 was by this achievement well supplied with muskets. 
 " After securing their arms," writes Weems, " Marion 
 called for their captain ; but he was not to be found, 
 high nor low, among the living or dead. However, 
 after a hot search, he was found up the chimney !" 
 He begged very hard that his men should not know 
 where he had concealed himself. 
 
 Notwithstanding this gallant success, the defeat of 
 Gates at Camden, which now became generally known, 
 
RESCUE OF PRISONERS. 67 
 
 damped the ardor of the people throughout the coun 
 try, and instead of rallying under the flag of Marion, 
 the dastardly Continentals he had released from the 
 British, replied that it would be risking life without any 
 hope of success, and all, with one or two exceptions, 
 returned to their homes. Marion and his unconquer 
 able brigade kept the field, however, and the severi 
 ties practiced by the British, after the fall of Camden, 
 drove many indignant men into his ranks. Corn- 
 wallis issued a proclamation, ordering positively that 
 all the inhabitants of this province who have sub 
 scribed, and have taken part in the revolt, should be 
 punished with the greatest rigor ; and also those who 
 will not turn out, that they may be imprisoned and 
 their whole property taken from them or destroyed ;" 
 and "that every militia man, who has borne arms 
 with us, and afterwards joined the enemy, shall be 
 immediately hanged." Many men were hanged, and 
 the property of a number of families confiscated. 
 
 The audacity and skill of Marion, necessarily ren 
 dered the British commander desirous of taking him, 
 and Tarleton, and Major Wemyss, and a strong force 
 of tories, were despatched against him. The tories 
 were commanded by Major Harrison. Marion had 
 under his command but a very small body of men. 
 Hearing of the expedition that had been set in motion 
 against him, he despatched Major James, with a choice 
 band of volunteers, to reconnoitre the enemy and as 
 certain their force. Major James concealed himself in 
 a swamp on the line of the enemy s march, and having 
 satisfied himself in regard in their numbers, returned 
 to Marion, reported the British force to be double that 
 of the patriots, while the tories in the rear were alone 
 s 
 
68 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 estimated at five hundred men. This intelligence was far 
 from encouraging, inasmuch as they had no force that 
 could possibly contend with such a host. About half 
 of Marion s men left him, considering it useless to 
 keep the field under these circumstances, dropping off 
 one by one on the route towards North Carolina, he 
 and his officers having commenced a retreat. Those 
 that remained with him were colonels Peter and Hugh 
 Horry, colonels John Erwin and John Baxter, major 
 John James, major Benson, and about sixty men. 
 Marching night and day, they soon reached the eastern 
 bank of Downing creek in North Carolina. 
 
 .From this place the gallant Major James obtained 
 leave to return at the head of a few volunleor.s, to gain 
 intelligence, watch the movements of the British, and 
 do his best to rouse the spirit of the country, now over 
 run and desolated by the British and Tories. Farms 
 and plantations were laid waste, and Wemyss swept 
 the land with fire and sword. Houses were consigned 
 to the flames, and thousands of the inhabitants were 
 plundered by the tories, who revelled and rioted in the 
 destruction they made. Cattle were wantonly shot, 
 and grain ruthlessly destroyed. All who were in the 
 slightest identified with the patriotic cause suffered 
 from the depredations committed by Wemyss. Many 
 of Marion s party were reduced from easy circum- 
 , stances to poverty. 
 
 In the meantime, Marion had pitched his camp at 
 Whitemarsh, near the source of the Waccawaw, 
 where he and his brigade submitted to hardships and 
 necessities of more than ordinary rigor. 
 
 Major James, and many scouting parties, returned 
 to the camp with the tidings of Wemyss destructive 
 progress over the country, and the indignant feelings 
 
BATTLE AT BLACK MINGO. 69 
 
 that had been roused among the inhabitants. Marion 
 at once took up his line of march back to South Caro 
 lina, and on his way he was everywhere joined by the 
 roused militia. He found his men in the proper spirit 
 to do battle, and he determined to strike while the iron 
 was hot. Arrived at Lynch s creek, he was informed 
 that a great body of tories, under a Capt. Ball, lay at 
 Black Mingo, fifteen miles below. Every voice was 
 enthusiastically loud for the attack. " Lead us on ! 
 Lead us on !" was the unanimous cry. There was a 
 spirit of justifiable vengeance breathing through the 
 entire command, officers and men. 
 
 The tories were strongly posted at Shepherd s ferry, 
 on the south side of the Black Mingo. This was the 
 passage of the stream, and Marion, to approach them, 
 was obliged to cross a plank-bridge a mile above.the 
 ferry. As soon as the front files of his advance had 
 struck the bridge, an alarm-gun was heard from the 
 Tory camp. Rapidity was now necessary. Marion 
 and his officers urged forward their men. The Tories 
 were not unprepared to receive them, and a severe con 
 flict ensued. Some of the patriotic troops fell back 
 with confusion, but were soon rallied and led on to the 
 charge. So near were the parties engaged for a part 
 of the fight, that the wads of their guns struck on each 
 side, and both fired balls and buckshot. In an interval 
 of platoons, Marion was heard to call out, " Advance 
 cavalry and charge on the left." Instantly the tories 
 broke, and ran for Black Mingo swamp. 
 
 In this conflict, if either party had had bayonets they 
 would have used them, so close were they to each 
 other in the struggle. Captain Logan and one private of 
 Marion s party were killed, and nearly one half of his 
 ttien wounded. Two gallant officers, Capt. Mouzon, 
 
70 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 and his lieutenant, Joseph Scott, were rendered unfit 
 for further service. The tories, who were twice as 
 strong as the patriots, lost their commander, leaving 
 two-thirds of their number killed or wounded. " The 
 surprise and destruction of the tories," says Col. 
 Horry, " would have been complete, had it not been 
 for the alarm given by our horses, that in passing 
 Black Mingo bridge, near which they were encamped. 
 Marion never afterwards suffered us to cross a bridge 
 in the night, until we had first spread our blankets on 
 it, to prevent noise." 
 
 After this victory, Marion, without delay, marched 
 to Williamsburg, and, such was the magic of his name, 
 numbers flocked to his standard, and the few with 
 which he had gained his success at Black Mingo, was 
 in a. short time greatly increased.* 
 
 * Marion s Brigade, by W. D. James. Ramsay s Hist. 
 South Carolina. See Appendix B. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Marion sets forward to chastise the Tories under Har 
 rison Surprises the Tories under Col. Tynes. Hard 
 ships of Marion and his men. Tarleton in pursuit of 
 Marion. Sumpter defeats Maj. Wemyss. Tarleton 
 relinquishes his pursuit of Marion and goes after 
 Sumpter battle defeat of the British. Marion s 
 enterprize against Georgetown death of Gabriel 
 Marion. Marion s encampment at Snow s Island 
 martial law the flag of truce Marion dines a 
 British officer, ect. etc. 
 
 The victory at Black Mingo was followed by a re 
 spite to the soldiers, who were allowed to visit their 
 families, necessitated as they were to provide for their 
 wives and children. Marion would have kept them 
 together and followed up the tories, but consented to 
 their request on their promising to return as soon as 
 called upon. True to their word, after looking to the 
 care of their families, all returned to the command of 
 their leader. Marion now set forward to chastise the 
 tories under Harrison, posted at Lynch s creek. On 
 his march he learned that a certain Col. Tynes was 
 collecting a large body of tories in the fork of Black 
 river, distant about thirty miles. This Col. Tynes was 
 a man of valor, and generally very much upon his 
 guard, though he was at last caught napping by Ma 
 rion. He had brought arms and ammunition with 
 him, and had them in abundance to supply those 
 who joined him. Marion felt it his duty to check him 
 before he should have an opportunity to make much 
 headway. Marching with extreme rapidity, he came 
 up with the camp of the tories at night, whilst they 
 
 71 
 
72 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 were feasting, drinking and gaming. He quickly made 
 his arrangements for the attack. Those that slept 
 were awakened by the guns of the assailants, and in 
 an instant the patriots were among them, hewing them 
 down, and the surprise and discomfiture of the tones 
 was complete. Captain Gaskens, one of the plunder 
 ing companions of Wemyss, was killed with a card in 
 his hand. Many were killed. Col. Tynes, and two 
 of his officers, were captured ; a great number of 
 horses, and all the baggage was taken ; the larger 
 number fled to a neighbouring swamp, from which 
 some emerged the next day, and joined the ranks of 
 Marion, whilst others fled to their homes. This victory 
 was achieved by Marion without the loss of a single 
 man upon his own side.* 
 
 Is it to be wondered that these brilliant achieve 
 ments, so rapidly following each other, should make 
 the name of Marion dear to every heart that partici 
 pated with love of country ? In all these forced 
 marches, Marion and his men lay in the open field, 
 with little covering, and with little other food than 
 sweet potatoes, and meat mostly without salt. The 
 general fared worse than his men ; for his baggage 
 having caught fire by accident, he had literally but half 
 a blanket to shelter him from the dews of the night, 
 and but half a hat to shelter him from the rays of the 
 sun. Tea or coffee he seldom tasted, and liquor as 
 rarely passed his lips. Thus suffering deprivations, 
 thus enduring fatigue, Marion and his men continued 
 to hold out against the combined forces of the British 
 and Tories ; and so great was now his influence 
 throughout South Carolina, that the British commander 
 
 * Ramsay s Hist. South Carolina. 
 
TARLETON IN PURSUIT OF MARION. 73 
 
 found it impossible to reduce the province to loyalty 
 whilst he kept the field. To capture him, however, 
 was a matter that would necessarily entail much diffi 
 culty ; one day in one part of the country, the next 
 fifty miles distant, as he constantly was when avoiding 
 pursuit ; hardened to every trial, yet ever in undis 
 mayed spirits. But he must be captured, the British 
 commander resolved ; no point must be left unstrained 
 until he was taken ! Who was the officer to accom 
 plish it ? Who but Tarleton ? But he was lying ill 
 of a fever at Charleston. Sick as he was, Tarleton 
 signified his willingness to seize upon the first moment 
 of returning health, and carry into effect the desire of 
 his commander. 
 
 Accordingly, as soon as he was able, he set for* 
 ward with a troop of horse, to meet his legion at a de 
 signated place on the Wateree. Marion, apprized of 
 his having set out from Charleston, and presuming that 
 he intended to force his way to Camden, started in 
 pursuit of him. But, in consequence of defective in 
 formation from his scouts, Marion did not succeed in 
 overtaking his foe. Tarleton met his legion, and 
 Marion was first apprized of his whereabouts by the 
 burning of the mansion on the plantation of General 
 Richardson, one of the patriots. Gen. Richardson in 
 person presented himself to Marion, giving intelligence 
 of the enemy s great force. Marion, thus finding his 
 enemy so strong that the prospect of an engagement 
 was utterly hopeless of success, and one of his own 
 men having deserted to the foe, retired from his posi 
 tion, crossing an extensive swamp. Tarleton pursued, 
 day after day ; but Marion constantly changed his 
 ground, until he wearied out his pursuer, who turned 
 his legions in search of Sumpter, who had now got to- 
 7 
 
74 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 gether a force of about five hundred men, and encamp 
 ed within twenty-eight miles of Cornwallis, who lay 
 at Winnsboro . 
 
 Thus, while Marion engaged the attention of Corn 
 wallis, whose cavalry and artillery were drawn to the 
 east of the Santee, Sumpter hovered on the west of 
 the river, searching for some valuable point to assail. 
 This officer, equally enterprizing and indefatigable as 
 Marion, had the mountainous country of the Caro- 
 linas to draw upon for assistance. He had therefore 
 the advantage of Marion in numbers ; commanding 
 five hundred sometimes, and at others eight hundred 
 men. When Cornwallis became acquainted of Sump- 
 ter s approach, Major Wemyss was detached to sur 
 prize him, which he thought possible from the fact that 
 Sumpter, on past occasions, had displayed more bold 
 ness than vigilance. Wemyss directed his march with 
 great secrecy to Broad river, where Sumpter was en 
 camped. The silent celerity with which he advanced, 
 brought him, sooner than he intended, to the vicinity 
 of his enemy ; and, apprehending that Sumpter might 
 be apprized, before morning, of his proximity, he de 
 termined on an attack by night. His corps was im 
 mediately formed for battle, and advanced on Sump- 
 ter s camp. Anxious to observe the condition of his 
 foe, Wemyss placed himself with the van officer, who 
 soon fell on Sumpter s piquet, and threw them back on 
 the main body. Only five muskets were discharged* 
 and two balls pierced the major, disabling him from 
 further exertion. 
 
 The command devolved upon a subaltern, who, al 
 though unacquainted with the ground, and uninformed 
 as to the plan, determined to press the attack. He 
 found Sumpter prepared to receive him ; and very soon 
 
TARLETON IN PURSUIT OF SUMPTER. 75 
 
 the contest terminated in the repulse of the British, who 
 retired, leaving their commandant and twenty men on 
 the ground.* 
 
 Sumpter, satisfied with his success, did not pursue 
 it, but crossed the Broad river. Cornwallis, chagrined 
 at the defeat of Wemyss, and provoked by the daring 
 of Sumpter, directed Tarleton to proceed without delay 
 and chastise the audacious rebel. Quick were the 
 movements of Tarleton, and he arrived in the neigh 
 borhood of Sumpter before the latter had even heard of 
 his advance. Pushing up the Ennoree river, Tarleton 
 hoped to place himself in his enemy s rear, but Sump 
 ter became apprized of his adversary s movements, 
 immediately drew off, passed the Ennoree, and contin 
 ued to retreat, having the Tyger, one of the most rapid 
 and obstructive rivers, in his front. Tarleton, foresee 
 ing that should his adversary pass the Tyger, there 
 would be little prospect of bringing him to action, re 
 doubled his exertions to overtake him. Well knowing 
 the character of his foe, he had preserved his force in 
 compact order; but his apprehension that Sumpter 
 might escape, his ardor in pursuit, and desire to con 
 tinue the success with which his zeal had been generally 
 crowned, impelled him to deviate from that prudent 
 course. In the evening of the 20th of November, 
 (1780) at the head of his cavalry, about one hundred 
 and seventy in number, and eighty mounted infantry 
 of the 63rd regiment, he dashed forward to bring Sump 
 ter to battle, before the latter had passed the Tyger, 
 and soon came in sight of his enemy, who had selected 
 a strong position on Blackstock hill, on the eastern 
 banks of the river. 
 
 * Lee s Memoirs of the Southern War. 
 
76 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 Here, prudence would have dictated to Col. Tarleton 
 a pause. The residue of the 63rd regiment, the legion 
 and light infantry, were following with all possible 
 despatch, and in one hour might have joined him. But 
 delay did not comport with the ardent zeal or experi 
 ence of Tarleton, and he boldly advanced to the assault. 
 That part of the hill to which the attack was directed, 
 was nearly perpendicular, with a small rivulet, brush 
 wood, and a rail fence in front. The rear of the Amer 
 icans, and part of their right flank, was secured by the 
 river Tyger, and their left was covered by a log barn, 
 into which a considerable division of their force had 
 been thrown, and from which, as the apertures between 
 the logs served for loop-holes, they fired with security. 
 
 British valor was conspicuous in this action ; but no 
 valor could surmount the obstacles that here stood in 
 its way. Of the 63rd regiment, the commanding offi 
 cer, two others, and one third of the privates, fell. 
 Tarleton, observing their situation, charged with his 
 cavalry ; but, unable to dislodge the enemy, either 
 from the log barn on his right, or the height on his left, 
 he was obliged to fall back, leaving Sumpter in quiet 
 possession of the field. Sumpter occupied the ground 
 several hours, but having received a severe wound, and 
 knowing the British would be reinforced before next 
 morning, he thought it hazardous to wait. He accord 
 ingly retired, and taking his wounded men along with 
 him, crossed the rapid river Tyger. Sumpter s wound, 
 unfortunately for his country, long detained him from 
 the field ; but useful consequences continued to result 
 from the deep impressions of his example, and from the 
 spark he had infused, and the experience gained under 
 his guidance. 
 
 Tarleton was no sooner recalled from the east of the 
 
ATTEMPT UPON GEORGETOWN. 77 
 
 Santee, than Marion emerged from his concealed re 
 treat, traversed the country from Georgetown to Cam- 
 den, and endangered the communication between them. 
 
 Thus, in this gloomy period, was resistance in the 
 South continued ; embarrassing to the enemy, exhilira- 
 ting to the hopes of the patriots. It produced in Con 
 gress, and in the nation, a solacing conviction that the 
 spirit of the people was not subdued.* 
 
 The British post at Georgetown was one of consid 
 erable strength, and Marion, who was bare of supplies, 
 meditated an ingenious attack upon it, in order to fur 
 nish himself with clothing and ammunition ; and being 
 now supported by Lieut. Col. Lee, he disclosed his enter- 
 prize to that officer, who readily consented to join in 
 the undertaking. General Greene had arrived and 
 taken command of the Southern army. To him Ma 
 rion disclosed his plan. Gen. Greene approved of it. 
 The plan of the assault was founded on the facility with 
 which the assailant might convey down the Pedee a 
 part of his force undiscovered, and land in the water 
 suburb of the town, which is situated on the bay into 
 which the river empties. This suburb, being always 
 deemed secure, was consequently unguarded. After 
 this body should have reached the wharves, it was to 
 move in two divisions. The first was to force the com 
 mandant s quarters, known to be a place of parade, 
 then to secure him and all who might flock thither on 
 the alarm. The second was to be charged with the 
 interception of such of the garrison as might attempt to 
 gain the fort, their chief point of safety in annoyance. 
 The militia and cavalry of the legion, under Marion 
 and Lee, were to approach near the town in the night 
 
 "See Appendix C. 
 
78 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 and when the entrance of the infantry, passed down by 
 water, should be announced, they were to rush into it 
 for co-operation and support. 
 
 Agreeably to this plan, the infantry of the legion 
 were embarked in boats, under command of Captain 
 Games, with orders to fall down the Pedee to a desig 
 nated island, during the first night ; to land and lay 
 concealed there the ensuing day ; to re-embark at an 
 early hour of the night following, and to reach George 
 town between one and two in the morning. 
 
 Marion and Lee proceeded to their destination, hav 
 ing taken all the requisite precautions to prevent any 
 intimation to the enemy of their approach. At twelve 
 o clock on the second night, they occupied, unperceived, 
 a position in the vicinity of the town, and awaited 
 anxiously for the annunciation of Game s arrival. 
 This officer met with no difficulty in descending the 
 river, and reached the appointed island before dawn. 
 He remained there the ensuing day without discovery. 
 Gaining his place of destination, with precision in point 
 of time, he landed in the suburb unperceived, and in 
 stantly advanced to the quarters of the garrison s com 
 mander, Col. Campbell, who was secured; and Carnes 
 judiciously posted his division for seizing such parties 
 of the garrison as might flock to the parade ground. 
 The other division, with equal good fortune, gained the 
 vicinity of the fort, and arranged themselves ready to 
 arrest any fugitives. On the first fire, which took 
 place at the commandant s quarters, the militia of 
 Marion, and the dragoons of Lee, rushed into the town, 
 prepared to bear down all resistance. To the astonish 
 ment of these officers, every thing was quiet ; the legion 
 infantry holding its assigned stations, and Col. Camp 
 bell a prisoner. Not a British soldier appeared ; not 
 
MARION S NEPHEW BUTCHERED. 79 
 
 one attempted either to gain the fort, or repair to the 
 commandant. Having discovered their enemy, the 
 troops of the garrison kept close to their respective 
 quarters, barricaded the doors, and determined there to 
 defend themselves. 
 
 The assailants, unprovided with the requisite imple 
 ments for battering doors and scaling windows, were 
 compelled to retire with but a partial accomplishment 
 of their object. Col. Campbell was suffered to remain 
 on parole. 
 
 An accident, in the highest degree distressing to 
 Gen. Marion, resulted from this attack upon George 
 town. A nephew of his, Gabriel Marion, a lad who 
 shared the fatigue and danger of his uncle, fell into the 
 hands of the tories, who, in spite of the intercession of 
 the British soldiers, called loudly for the boy s death. 
 The soldiers represented to them the inhumanity of 
 putting to death a mere boy, but the sanguinary tories, 
 because he bore the name of Marion, were deaf to their 
 intercessions, and hewed him to pieces. 
 
 Unsuccessful in his attempt upon Georgetown, Marion 
 took a position on Snow s island, where he pitched his 
 camp. Snow s island is situated at the conflux of the 
 Pedee and Lynch s creek, is of a triangular form, and 
 is bounded by the Pedee on the east, by Lynch s creek 
 on the north, and by Clark s creek, a branch of the 
 latter, on the south and west. Here, by having the 
 command of the rivers, he could be abundantly supplied 
 with provisions, and his post was inaccessible except by 
 water. It was in December (1780) that he went into 
 winter quarter s on this island, a post particularly ele- 
 gible for his purpose of carrying on the war with the 
 tories. He actively went to work, sending forth his 
 officers and scouts in all directions. He laid the coun- 
 
80 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 try under martial law, too, with commands to his sub 
 alterns to destroy boats and canoes, take horses, arms, 
 ammunition, and to prohibit all persons from transport 
 ing any kind of provisions into Georgetown, or to any 
 place where the British could get them. 
 
 A popular anecdote, the incidents of which occurred 
 while the camp was on Snow s island, may be here in 
 serted. A flag of truce was sent from the British post 
 at Georgetown, and brought by a young British officer, 
 the object of which was some arrangements in regard 
 to an exchange of prisoners. The young officer was 
 met at some distance from the camp, and, after being 
 blindfolded, conducted into the encampment. The 
 bandage taken from his eyes, he found himself sur 
 rounded by a motley throng of tattered fellows, bare 
 legged, bareheaded, some asleep on the ground, some 
 roasting potatoes, and others variously employed. 
 What a contrast these to the gaily-dressed soldiers of 
 the garrison at Georgetown ! Not a little was the 
 young officer surprised, and his surprise was doubled, 
 when, asking to be presented to General Marion, a 
 little, swarthy-featured man stood before him. His 
 manner expressed his astonishment. What this Ma 
 rion ? This diminutive, unprepossessing, ill-clad 
 could this be Marion, the celebrated, adventurous, 
 skillful, victorious Marion ? 
 
 " General Marion," says Lee in his Memoirs of the 
 Southern War, vide vol. I. appendix, page 396, " was 
 in stature of the smallest size, thin ns well as low 
 His visage was not pleasing, and his manners not cap 
 tivating. He was reserved and silent, entering into 
 conversation only when necessary, and then with mo 
 desty and good sense. He possessed a strong mind, 
 improved by his own reflections and observations, not 
 
MARION DINING A BRITISH OFFICER. 81 
 
 by books or travel. His dress was like his address 
 plain, regarding comfort and decency only. In his 
 meals he was abstemious, eating generally of one dish, 
 and drinking vyater mostly. He was sedulous and 
 constant in his attention to the duties of his station, to 
 which every other consideration yielded. The pro 
 curement of subsistence for his men, and the contri 
 vance of annoyance to his enemy, engrossed his en 
 tire mind." 
 
 Nor is the surprise of the young officer to be won 
 dered at, accustomed as he was to the large persons, 
 and cavalier carriage of the commanders of the Bri 
 tish army, whose dress glittered with ornaments of 
 gold. The prowess that the name of Marion carried 
 with it, had led him to expect in the man a person of 
 lofty stature, and commanding appearance. 
 
 The story goes, that the young officer, as soon as 
 the business upon which he came was satisfactorily 
 arranged between Marion and himself, took up his hat 
 to retire. Marion requested him to be in no hurry. 
 " Dinner is preparing, and you shall stay and dine 
 with us, sir." 
 
 At mention of dinner, the officer looked round to 
 see where the preparations were. Marion observing 
 his looks, smilingly ordered a black servant to serve 
 up the meal. The servant at once commenced poking 
 with a stick among the ashes and embers of a smoul 
 dering fire upon the ground, and roused up several 
 roasted sweet potatoes, cleaning off the ashes by blow 
 ing them with his breath, and rubbing them upon his 
 sleeves. These potatoes were presently served up to 
 Marion and his guest on pieces of bark, and placed on 
 the trunk of a fallen tree. 
 
82 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 Marion apologized for the humbleness of the fare, 
 but said it was the best he had to offer, and trusted his 
 guest would take it in as complimentary a view as if 
 he were placing before him all the luxuries of a din 
 ner and dessert. 
 
 The mild and dignified simplicity of Marion s man 
 ners had already produced their effects, and, to pro 
 long so interesting an interview, the invitation was ac 
 cepted. They sat down on the log, and began to eat 
 and converse ; the young officer asking many ques 
 tions, which Marion frankly answered. He asked 
 Marion if this was not merely an accidental dinner. 
 " You do not always fare thus /" 
 
 " Generally worse," said Marion. 
 
 " Worse ?" repeated the officer. 
 
 " Indeed, sir," continued Marion, " we are fortu 
 nate on this occasion, entertaining company, to have 
 more than our usual allowance. Poor as our fare is, 
 sir, poor as you see it, it is not always we have enough 
 of even this to satisfy our hunger." 
 
 u But you are paid well ? said the officer. 
 
 " Not a penny," answered Marion. 
 
 " Neither paid nor fed what in Heaven s name do 
 you keep the field for then ?" 
 
 " For liberty!" Marion emphatically replied. "It 
 is for the blessings of freedom," he added, " that I 
 fight bessings I may never live to see in the soil of 
 my birth, but for which I nevertheless contend, trust 
 ing as I do that the day is not far distant when your 
 king shall be forced to yield the independence of my 
 country and the proud thought now swells my heart, 
 that though my bones may rest in the earth, posterity 
 will cherish with gratitude the remembrance of one 
 
FEELINGS OF THE BRITISH OFFICER. 83 
 
 who has never a moment ceased in his struggle for the 
 freedom of his native land !" 
 
 It is said that the young officer retired from this in 
 terview deeply impressed with a conviction of how 
 utterly hopeless was the object of British arms re 
 ducing a country to its former allegiance when offi 
 cers and men, without pay, and literally but half-clad, 
 would endure privations and toils of the roughest kind. 
 Indeed, so deep was the impression made upon his 
 feelings by this interview with Marion, that he shortly 
 afterwards threw up his commission, and retired from 
 the service. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 Gen. Greene. Gen. Morgan his birth; his early ca 
 reer ; his valor at the assault on Quebec ; his capture ; 
 is exchanged, and is at the battle of Saratoga ; receives 
 ill treatment from Gen. Gates ; joins the Southern 
 Army Greene s estimation of Marion description of 
 him by Col. Lee. Marion destroys the waggons and 
 baggage of the British at Keithjield. Morgan Col. 
 Washington Rudgely, the tory, and his garrison cap 
 tured. Distressed situation of the inhabitants of Ninety- 
 Six. Tarleton in pursuit of Morgan. The battle of 
 Cnwpens. Tarleton is pursued. Narrow escape of Col. 
 Washington. Marion a terror to the Tories. Col. 
 Watson despatched in pursuit of Marion some of Ma 
 rion s men butchered by the tories. Watson s expedi 
 tion to surprise Marion death of the tory, Harrison 
 Marion fording Black River the bridge jired retreat 
 of Watson skirmish at Wither spoon s ferry, etc., etc. 
 
 General Greene, a soldier of great firmness and pru 
 dence, directed his whole attention to the high duties of 
 his command. He found the army not more than two 
 thousand, and but scantily supplied with provisions and 
 ammunition. But the unfavorable aspect did not dis- 
 curage him. A wide sphere of intellectual resource 
 enabled him to inspire confidence, to rekindle courage, 
 to decide hesitation, and infuse a spirit of exalted patrio 
 tism in the citizens of the State. By his own example, 
 he showed the value of obedience, of patience, vigilance 
 and temperance. Dispensing justice with an even 
 hand to the citizen and soldier ; benign in heart, and 
 happy in manners ; he gained the attachment and esteem 
 of all. He collected around his person able and re- 
 
 84 
 
SKETCH OF GEN. MORGAN. 85 
 
 spectable officers ; and selected, for the several depart- 
 ments, those who were best qualified to fill them. His 
 operations were then commenced with a boldness of 
 design, well calculated to raise the drooping spirits of 
 his country, and to excite the respect of his enemy. 
 
 Eldest among his officers, and at this period fore 
 most in renown, was General Morgan. As much as 
 is the case with any mortal, this veteran s reputation 
 and fortune were the work of his sword. His mind, of 
 perfect Roman texture, its firmness and valor, which 
 originally nothing could shake, had been still further 
 strengthened by much severe and dangerous service. 
 Nor were his corporeal qualities less adapted to the toils 
 of war and the exertions of battle. His frame being 
 large, and his person muscular, early labor and exten 
 sive practice in athletic, more especially pugilistic exer 
 cises, had rendered him exceedingly strong and capable 
 of enduring great fatigue; and had further taught him 
 the art of using his strength when engaged in combat 
 with the deadliest effect. 
 
 He was born in New Jersey, where from his poverty 
 and low condition he had been a day-laborer. To early 
 education and breeding therefore, he owed nothing. 
 But for this deficiency his native sagacity and sound 
 judgment, and his intercourse with the best society, 
 made much amends in after life. Enterprizing in his 
 disposition even now, he removed to Virginia in 1755, 
 with a hope and expectation of improving his fortune. 
 Here he continued at first his original business of day 
 labour; but exchanged it afterwards for the employ 
 ment of a wagoner. 
 
 His military novitiate he served in the campaign 
 under the unfortunate Braddock. The rank he bore is 
 not precisely known. It must however have been hum- 
 8 
 
86 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 ble; for, in consequence of imputed contumely towards 
 a British officer, he was brought to the halbert, and re 
 ceived the inhuman punishment of five hundred lashes ; 
 or, according to his own statement, of four hundred and 
 ninety-nine ; for he always asserted that the drummer 
 charged with the execution of the sentence miscounted, 
 and jocularly added " that George the third, was still 
 indebted to him one lash." To the honor of Morgan, 
 he never practically remembered this savage treatment 
 during the revolutionary war. Towards the British 
 officers whom the fortune of battle placed within his 
 power, his conduct was humane, mild and gentlemanly. 
 
 After his return from this campaign, so inordinately 
 was he addicted to quarrels and boxing matches, that 
 the village of Berrystown, in the county of Frederick, 
 which constituted the chief theatre of his pugilistic ex 
 ploits, received from this circumstance the name of 
 Battletown. In these combats, although frequently 
 overmatched in personal strength, he manifested the 
 same unyielding spirit which characterised him after 
 wards in his military career. When worsted by his 
 antagonist he would pause for a time to recruit his 
 strength, and then return to the contest again and again 
 until he rarely failed to proye victorious. Equally 
 marked was his invincibility of spirit in maturer age, 
 when raised by fortune and his own merit to a higher 
 and more honorable field of action. Defeat in battle 
 he rarely experienced ; but when he did, his retreat was 
 sullen, stern and dangerous. 
 
 The commencement of the American revolution 
 found Mr. Morgan married, and cultivating a farm, 
 which by industry and economy he had been enabled 
 to purchase in the county of Frederick. Placed at 
 the head of a rifle company raised in his neighbor 
 
MORGAN SUPERIOR TO TEMPTATION. 67 
 
 hood in 1775, he marched immediately to the Ameri 
 can head-quarters in Cambridge, near Boston. By 
 order of the Commander-in-chief, he soon afterwards 
 joined in the expedition against Quebec, and was 
 made prisoner in the attempt on that fortress, where 
 Arnold was wounded and Montgomery fell. During 
 the assault, his daring valor and persevering gallantry 
 attracted the notice and admiration of the enemy. The 
 assailing column to which he belonged was led by 
 Major Arnold. When that officer was wounded and 
 carried from the ground, Morgan threw himself into*t he 
 lead, and rushing forward, passed the first and second 
 barriers. For a moment victory appeared certain. But 
 the (all of Montgomery closing the prospect, the assail 
 ants were repulsed and the enterprise abandoned.* 
 
 During his captivity, Captain Morgan was treated 
 with great kindness and not a little distinction. Me 
 was repeatedly visited in confinement by a British offi 
 cer of rank, who at length made an attempt on his 
 patriotism and virtue by offering him the commission 
 and emoluments of Colonel in the British army on con 
 dition that he would desert the American and join the 
 royal standard. Morgan rejected the proposal with 
 scorn ; and requested the courtly and corrupt negocia- 
 tor " never again to insult him in his misfortunes by an 
 offer which plainly implied that he thought him a vil 
 lain." The officer withdrew and did not again recur 
 to the subject. 
 
 On bejng exchanged, Morgan immediately rejoined 
 the American army, and received, by the recommenda 
 tion of General Washington, the command of a regi 
 ment. In the year 1777, he was placed at the head of 
 
 * Caldwell s Life of Greene. 
 
88 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 a select rifle corps, with which in various instances he 
 acted on the enemy with terrible effect. His troops 
 were considered the most dangerous in the American 
 service. To confront them in the field was almost cer 
 tain death to the British officers. 
 
 On the occasion of the capture of Burgoyne, the ex 
 ertions and services of Colonel Morgan and his rifle 
 men were beyond all praise. Much of the glory of the 
 achievement belonged to them. Yet so gross was the 
 injustice of General Gates, that he did not even men 
 tion them in his official despatches. His reason for 
 this was secret and dishonorable. Shortly after the 
 surrender of Burgoyne, General Gates took occasion to 
 hold with Morgan a private conversation. In the course 
 of this he told him confidentially, that the main army 
 was exceedingly dissatisfied with the conduct of Gene 
 ral Washington ; that the reputation of the Commander- 
 in-chief was rapidly declining; and that several officers 
 of great worth threatened to resign unless a change 
 were produced in that department. 
 
 Colonel Morgan, fathoming in an instant the views 
 of his commanding officer, sternly and with honest in 
 dignation replied, " Sir, I have one favor to ask. Ne 
 ver again mention to me this hateful subject ; under no 
 other man, but general Washington as commander-in- 
 chief, will I ever serve." 
 
 From that moment ceased the intimacy that had 
 previously subsisted between him and General Gates. 
 A few days afterwards the general gave a dinner to 
 the principal officers of the British, and some of those 
 of the American army. Morgan was not invited. In 
 the course of the evening that officer found it necessary 
 to call on general Gates, on official business. Being 
 introduced into the dining-room, lie spoke to the gene- 
 
MORGAN AND GATES. 89 
 
 rai, received his orders, and immediately withdrew, his 
 name unannounced. 
 
 Perceiving from his dress that he was of high rank, 
 the British officers inquired his name. Being told that 
 it was Colonel Morgan commanding the rifle corps, they 
 rose from the table, followed him into the yard, and in 
 troduced themselves to him, with many complimentary 
 and flattering expressions, declaring that on the day of 
 action they had very severely felt him in the field. 
 
 In 1780, having obtained leave of absence from the 
 army, on account of the shattered condition of his 
 health, he retired to his estate in the county of Freder 
 ick, and remained there until the appointment of gene 
 ral Gates to the command of the Southern army. Be 
 ing waited on by the latter, and requested to accompany 
 him, he reminded him, in expressions marked by resent 
 ment, of the unworthy treatment he had formerly ex 
 perienced from him in return for the important services 
 which he did not hesitate to assert he had rendered him, 
 in his operations against the army of Gen. Burgoyne. 
 
 Having received no acknowledgment, nor even 
 civility for aiding to decorate him with laurels in the 
 north, he frankly declared that there were no consider 
 ations, except of a public nature, that could induce him 
 to co-operate in his campaigns to the south. " Motives 
 of public good might influence him ; because his 
 country had a claim on him in any quarter where he 
 could promote her interest ; but personal attachment 
 must not be expected to exist where he had exper enced 
 nothing but neglect and injustice." 
 
 The two officers parted mutually dissatisfied ; the 
 one on account of past treatment, the other of the re 
 cent interview. 
 
 In the course of a few weeks afterwards, Congress 
 
00 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 having promoted colonel Morgan to the rank of bri 
 gadier-general by brevet, with a view to avail themselves 
 of his services in the south, he proceeded without delay 
 to join the army of General Gates. But he was pre 
 vented from serving any length of time under that 
 officer, by his defeat near Camden before his arrival ; 
 and his being soon afterwards superseded in command 
 by General Greene. 
 
 Such were the qualifications, and such had been the 
 services of general Morgan, when Greene took com 
 mand of the Southern army. His conduct in the battle 
 of the Cowpens will be stated hereafter. There existed 
 in his character a singular contradiction which is 
 worthy of notice. Although in battle, no man was 
 ever more prodigal of the exposure of his person to 
 danger, or manifested a more deliberate disregard of 
 death, yet so strong was his love of life at other times, 
 than he has been frequently heard to declare, " he 
 would agree to pass half his time as a galley-slave 
 rather than quit this world for another." 
 
 The following outline of his person and character is 
 from the pen of a military friend who knew him 
 intimately. " Brigadier General Morgan was stout and 
 active, six feet in height, strong, not too much encum 
 bered with flesh, and was exactly fitted for the toils and 
 pomp of war. His mind was discriminating and solid, 
 but not comprehensive and combining ; his manners 
 plain and decorous, neither insinuating nor repulsive ; 
 his conversation grave, sententious, and considerate, 
 unadorned and uncaptivating. He reflected deeply, 
 spoke little, and executed with keen perseverance what 
 ever he undertook. He was indulgent in his military 
 command, preferring always the affections of his troops, 
 
91 
 
 to that dread and awe, which surround the rigid dis 
 ciplinarian." 
 
 A considerable time before his death, when the pres 
 sure of infirmity began to be heavy, he became seriously 
 concerned about his future welfare. From that period, 
 his chief solace lay in the study of the scriptures, and 
 in devotional exercises. He died in the belief of the 
 truths of Christianity, and in full communion with the 
 Presbyterian church.* 
 
 Gen. Greene fully appreciated the value of an officer 
 like a Marion, in a country full of deep rivers and im 
 passable creeks and swamps, where Whigs and Tories 
 were hourly butchering each other. " Spies are the 
 eyes of an army," Greene wrote to Marion, " and 
 without them a general is always groping in the dark, 
 and can neither secure himself, nor annoy his enemy. 
 At present I am badly off for intelligence. It is of the 
 highest importance that I get the earliest intelligence of 
 any reinforcement which may arrive at Charleston. I 
 wish you, therefore, to fix some plan for procuring such 
 information and conveying it to me with all possible 
 despatch. The spy should be taught to be particular in 
 his inquiries, and get the names of the corps, strength, 
 and commanding officer s name place from whence 
 they came and where they are going. It will be best 
 to fix upon some body in town for doing this, and have 
 a runner between you and him to give you the intelli 
 gence ; as a person who lives out of town cannot make 
 the inquiries without being suspected. The utmost 
 secrecy will be necessary in the business." 
 
 Of Marion and his movements at this time, we have 
 the following description from the pen of Col. Lee. 
 
 * CaldwelPs Life of Greene. 
 
92 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 " Marion was about forty-eight years of age, small in 
 stature, hard in visage, healthy, abstemious and taciturn. 
 Enthusiastically wedded to the cause of liberty, he de 
 plored the doleful condition of his beloved country. 
 The commonweal was his sole object ; nothing selfish, 
 nothing mercenary, soiled the ermine of his character. 
 Fertile in stratagem, he struck unperceived ; and retir 
 ing to those hidden retreats, selected by himself, in the 
 morasses of Pedee and Black river, he placed his corps 
 not only out of the reach of his foe, but often out of 
 the discovery of his friends. A rigid disciplinarian, he 
 reduced to practice the justice of his heart ; and during 
 the difficult course of warfare, through which he passed, 
 calumny itself never charged him with violating the 
 rights of person, property or humanity. Never avoid 
 ing danger, he never rashly sought it ; and acting for 
 all around him as he did for himself, he risked the lives 
 of his troops only when it was necessary. Never 
 elated with prosperity, nor depressed by adversity, he 
 preserved an equanimity which won the admiration of 
 his friends, and exacted the respect of his enemies. 
 The country from Camden to the sea-coast, between 
 the Pedee and Santee rivers, was the theatre of his 
 exertions." 
 
 When Lee joined Marion, previous to the assault on 
 Georgetown, (detailed in the preceeding chapter) an 
 officer, with a small party, was sent in advance to find 
 out Marion, who was known to be constantly changing 
 his position among the swamps of Pedee, sometimes in 
 South Carolina, sometimes in North Carolina, and 
 sometimes on the Black river. With the greatest diffi 
 culty did this officer learn how to communicate with 
 him ; and did it by the accident of hearing among our 
 friends on the north side of the Pedee, of a small pro- 
 
PREDATORY WARFARE. 93 
 
 vision party of Marion being on the same side of the 
 river. Making himself known to this party, he was 
 conveyed to the general, who had changed his ground 
 since his party left him, which occasioned many hours 
 search even before his own men could find him.* 
 
 While at Snow s island, Marion kept himself busy 
 in annoying the enemy. In January 1781, he sent 
 two small detachments of militia, under the command 
 of Major Postell and Cap. Postell, to cross the Santee. 
 The former destroyed a great quantity of valuable 
 stores at Manigault s ferry ; the latter did the same at 
 another place in the vicinity. Marion himself marched 
 to Keithneld, near Monk s corner, where he destroyed 
 fourteen wagon-loads of soldier s clothing and baggage ; 
 besides several other valuable stores, and took forty 
 prisoners, chiefly British regulars, and effected the 
 whole without any loss. In the course of these desul 
 tory operations, he killed and captured a number of 
 British and Tories, more than double his own force.f 
 
 Gen. Greene, conscious that it would be madness to 
 encounter the superiority of the British forces in a 
 pitched battle, encouraged this predatory warfare, and 
 many skillful and gallant successes were obtained over 
 the enemy in these skirmishes. On one occasion, Bri 
 gadier Morgan penetrated the country between the two 
 armies, after a foraging party of British. But the 
 vigilant adversary eluded the blow, and returned in 
 safety to Camdea. Lieut. Col. Washington,:): at the 
 head of the cavalry, having taken a more extensive 
 
 * Lee s Memoirs. t Ramsay. See Appendix D. 
 
 t Lieut. Col. William Washington, eldest son of Baily Wash 
 ington, of Stafford county, Va. 
 
MARION AND HIS TIMES. 94 
 
 range than the infantry, discovered that a party of loy 
 alists were stationed at Rudgley s farm, about twelve miles 
 from Camden. He moved instantly towards them, in 
 expectation of carrying the post by surprise ; but in this 
 he was disappointed, as they occupied a barn, surround 
 ed by an abattis, and secure from an attempt of calva 
 ry. Rudgley and his friends were delighted with the 
 safety their precaution had produced, and viewed the 
 approach of horse with indifference. Short was their 
 repose. Col. Washington, well informed of the char 
 acter of his enemy, shaped the trunk of a tree in imita 
 tion of a field piece, and, bringing it up in military 
 style, affected to prepare to cannonade the barn. To 
 give solemnity to the device, he sent in a flag, warning 
 the garrison of the impending destruction, which could 
 only be avoided by submission. Not prepared to resist 
 artillery, Rudgley seized with promptitude the oppor 
 tunity, and, with his garrison of one hundred men, 
 surrendered at discretion ! 
 
 Gen. Greene, understanding that the inhabitants of 
 the district of Ninety six, who had submitted to the royal 
 authority, were severely harrassed by the acts of plun 
 der committed by the King s troops and the Tories, des 
 patched Gen. Morgan into that quarter with a small de 
 tachment, which, on its arrival, was speedily increased 
 by the oppressed inhabitants, who were highly indig 
 nant and burning for revenge.* 
 
 The British commander-in-chief, hearing of this 
 movement, despatched Col. Tarleton with a command 
 of 1100 men to drive Morgan out of the district. This 
 detachment, after a fatiguing progress of some days, 
 at about ten o clock, on the evening of the 16th January, 
 
 * See Appendix E. 
 
THE BATTLE OP COWPENS. 95 
 
 (1781) reached the ground which Morgan had quitted 
 but a few hours previous. The pursuit commenced at 
 2 o clock next morning, and was rapidly continued 
 through marshes and broken grounds till day-light. 
 
 Morgan, having been accustomed to fight and con 
 quer, did not relish this eager pursuit of Tarleton ; and 
 sate down at a place called the Cowpens, near Pacolet 
 river, to give rest and refreshment to his troops, with 
 a resolution no longer to avoid action, should his enemy 
 persist in pressing it. The British, beside their field 
 pieces, had the superiority in infantry, in the proportion 
 of five to four, and in cavalry of more than three to 
 one. Beside, nearly two-thirds of the troops under Mor 
 gan were militia. Morgan drew up his men in two 
 lines. The whole of the North and South Carolina 
 militia present, were put under the command of Col. 
 Pickens, and formed the first line, which was advanced 
 a few hundred yards before the second, with orders to 
 form on the right of the second when forced to retiree. 
 The second line consisted of the light infantry under 
 Lieut. Col. Howard, and the Virginia riflemen. 
 Lieut. Col. Washington, with his cavalry, and about 
 forty-five militia, mounted and equipped with swords, 
 under Lieut. M Call, were drawn up at some distance 
 in the rear of the whole. The open wood in which 
 they were formed, was neither secured in front, flank 
 or rear.* 
 
 On the verge of battle, Morgan availed himself of 
 the short and awful interim to exhort his troops. First 
 addressing himself, with his characteristic pith, to the 
 line of militia, he extolled the zeal and bravery so often 
 displayed by them, when unsupported with the bayonet 
 
 * Gordon s History. 
 
96 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 or sword ; and declared his confidence that they would 
 not fail in maintaining their reputation, when supported 
 by chosen bodies of horse and foot, and conducted by 
 himself. Nor did he forget to glance at his own unva 
 rying fortune, and superior experience ; or to mention 
 how often, with his corps of riflemen, he had brought 
 British troops, equal to those before him, to submission. 
 He described the deep regret he had already experienced 
 in being obliged, from prudential considerations, to re 
 tire before the enemy ; exhorted the line to be firm and 
 steady, to fire with good aim, arid if they would pour 
 in but two volleys at killing distance, he would take 
 upon himself to secure victory. Then, taking post with 
 his line, he waited in stern silence for the enemy.* 
 
 The British, led by Tarleton himself, advanced with 
 a loud shout to the attack, and poured in an incessant 
 fire of musketry. Col. Pickens directed the militia not 
 to fire until the British were within forty or fifty yards. 
 This order, though executed with great firmness, was 
 not sufficient to repel the enemy. The British ad 
 vanced rapidly and engaged the second line. The 
 Continentals, after an obstinate resistance, were com 
 pelled to retreat to the cavalry. Col. Ogilvie, of the 
 enemy, had been ordered to charge the right flank of 
 the Americans, and was engaged in cutting down the 
 militia ; but being exposed to a heavy fire, and charged 
 at the same time by Col. Washington s dragoons, he was 
 forced to retreat in confusion. A great number of the 
 British infantry officers had already fallen, and nearly 
 a proportionable one of privates. Col. Howard seized 
 this favorable opportunity, rallied the Continentals, and 
 charged with fixed bayonets, nearly at the same mo- 
 
 * Lee s Memoirs. 
 
VICTORY OF THE AMERICANS. 97 
 
 ment when Col. Washington made his successful at 
 tack. The example was instantly followed by the 
 militia. Nothing could exceed the astonishment of the 
 British, occasioned by these unexpected charges. 
 Their advance fell back, and communicated a panic to 
 others, which soon became general. Two hundred 
 and fifty horse, which had not been engaged, fled 
 through the woods with the utmost precipitation, bearing 
 down such officers as opposed their flight ; and the 
 canon were soon seized by the Americans, the detach 
 ment from the train being either killed or wounded in 
 their defence. The greatest confusion now followed 
 among the infantry. In the moment of it, Lieut. Col. 
 Howard called to them to lay down their arms, and 
 promised them good quarters. Some hundreds accepted 
 the offer and surrendered. The first battalion of the 
 71st. regiment, and two British light-infantry com 
 panies, laid down their arms to the American militia. 
 The only body of infantry that escaped was a detach 
 ment left at some distance to guard the baggage. 
 Early intelligence of the defeat was conveyed, by some 
 Tories, to the officer commanding that corps. What 
 part of the baggage could not be carried off, he imme 
 diately destroyed ; and with his men mounted on the 
 wagons and spare horses, he retreated to Lord Corn- 
 wallis. The British had 10 commissioned officers and 
 upwards of a 100 rank and file killed ; 200 wounded; 
 29 commissioned officers, and above 500 privates fell 
 into the hands of the Americans, besides two pieces of 
 artillery (first taken from the British at Saratoga, then 
 retaken by them at Camden, and now recovered by the 
 Americans) two standards, 800 muskets, 35 baggage 
 wagons, and upwards of 100 dragoon horses. 
 
 Col. Washington pursued Tarleton s cavalry for sev- 
 9 
 
98 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 era! miles, but the far greater part of them escaped. 
 In the eagerness of pursuit, Col. Washington advanced 
 nearly thirty yards in front of his regiment. Observing 
 this, three British officers wheeled about, and made a 
 charge upon him. The officer on his right was aim 
 ing to cut him down, when a sergeant came up and 
 intercepted the blow by disabling his sword arm. At 
 the same instant, the officer on his left was also about 
 to make a stroke at him, when a waiter, too small to 
 wield a sword, saved him by wounding the officer with 
 a ball discharged from a pistol. At this moment the 
 officer in the centre, who was believed to be Tarleton, 
 made a thrust at him, which he parried ; upon which 
 the officer retreated a few paces, and then discharged 
 a pistol at him, which wounded his knee.* 
 
 In this battle the Americans had only 12 men killed 
 and 60 wounded. 
 
 In the meantime General Marion actively followed 
 up his operations against the British and Tories on the 
 Pedee river, and he so effectually thwarted the schemes 
 of the enemy, that to drive him out of the country be 
 came again a favorite object of Lord Cornwallis. He 
 and his brigade were the terror of the Tories. A. new 
 and well-concerted attempt to destroy, or disperse, the 
 brigade was made early in 1781. Tarleton and others, 
 as we have seen, were engaged in pursuit of Marion 
 without success ; and now a Col. Watson was sent 
 with a body of picked men, amounting to five hundred, 
 with orders to search him out and destroy him and his 
 brigade. This march was to be conducted with great 
 caution, and was remarkably well planned. 
 
 Meanwhile Marion, Col. Horry, Major and Captain 
 
 * Marshall s Life of Washington. 
 
INHUMANITY OF THE TORIES. 99 
 
 Postell, M Cawley, and others, continued their opera 
 tions against the British posts and the Tories. The 
 warfare was various and bloody. Marion always felt 
 the want of ammunition. Often did he go into an en 
 gagement when he had not three rounds to each man 
 of his party. At other times he brought his men into 
 view, though without a particle of ammunition, that he 
 might make a show of numbers to the enemy. To 
 provide swords for his brigade, the saws of the mills 
 throughout the country were put into the hands of 
 blacksmiths and converted into sabres. He and his 
 men slept in the open air, and sheltered themselves in 
 the thick recesses of deep swamps ; from whence he 
 sallied out whenever an opportunity of harassing the 
 enemy presented itself. 
 
 Lieut. Roger Gordon, of Marion s party, being on a 
 scout upon Lynch s creek, stopped at a house for re 
 freshments. While there, the house was beset and 
 fired by a Capt. Butler and a party of Tories, greatly 
 superior in numbers. Gordon s party surrendered 
 upon a promise of quarters, but after laying down their 
 arms, Butler fell upon them and butchered ihemincold 
 blood. In consequence of this massacre " No quarters 
 for Tories" was hereafrer the cry of Marion s men 
 when going into action. Still, however, the regular 
 British forces were treated with lenity, and agreeably 
 to the generally received rule^of war, when they laid 
 down their arms. 
 
 Whilst the brigade were encamped at Snow s island, 
 Major John Postell was stationed to guard the lower 
 part of the river Pedee. While there, Capt. James 
 Depeyster of the royal army, with 29 grenadiers, 
 having taken post in the house of the major s father, 
 the major posted his small command of 28 militia men 
 u 
 
100 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 in such positions as commanded its doors, and demand 
 ed their surrender. This being refused, he set fire to 
 an out-house, and was proceeding to burn that in which 
 they were posted ; and nothing but the immediate 
 submission of the whole party restrained him from 
 sacrificing his father s valuable property to gain an 
 advantage for his country. 
 
 As has been stated, careful preparations were in em 
 bryo for the surprise and capture of Marion and his 
 brigade. Col. Watson, to whom this expedition was 
 entrusted, left Fort Watson early in the spring, with 
 five hundred men ; and at the same time Col. Doyle, 
 at the head of a British regiment, left Camden, to join 
 Watson at Snow s island, as it is supposed. Watson 
 moved down the Santee. Of his movements Marion 
 had ample information, but the slow approach of Doyle 
 was in a measure unsuspected. 
 
 Marion called in his scouting parties, and marched 
 with his whole force to encounter Watson. He laid 
 the first ambuscade for Watson, at a swamp nearly 
 opposite the mouth of the present Santee canal, on the 
 east side of the river. Marion had but very little am 
 munition ; not more than two rounds to each man. His 
 orders were to give two fires and retreat ; and they 
 were executed by Col. Peter Horry with great effect. 
 Watson made good the passage of the swamp, and sent 
 Major Harrison, with a*corps,of Tory cavalry and 
 British, in pursuit of Horry. This had been forseen 
 by the cautious Marion ; and Cap. Daniel Conyers, at 
 the head of a party of cavalry, was placed in a second 
 ambuscade. As soon as the Tories and British came 
 up, Conyers, in a spirited and well-directed charge 
 killed with his own hands the officer who led the oppo 
 site charge, (Harrison,) and his men followed his gal- 
 
MARION FOBBING THE RIVER. 101 
 
 lant example. Many of Harrison s party were killed, 
 and the remainder made their escape to the main body 
 of the British. 
 
 Marion continued to harrass Watson on his march, 
 keeping just sufficiently ahead of him to place an am 
 buscade wherever an opportunity presented itself; by 
 pulling up bridges, and opposing him in like manner 
 at every difficult pass, until they reached the lower 
 bridge oh Black river, seven miles below King s Tree. 
 Here Watson made a feint of marching down the 
 road to Georgetown. Marion, being too weak to de 
 tach a party t the bridge, had taken an advantageous 
 post on the road ; when Watson, wheeling suddenly 
 about, gained possession of the bridge on the west side. 
 This was an important pass on the road leading into 
 the heart of Williamsburg and to Snow s island. The 
 river on the west runs under a high bluff; the grounds 
 on the opposite side are low, and the river, though 
 generally fordable, was then raised by a freshet nearly 
 up to the summit of the opposite shore. 
 
 Watson still hesitated about passing. Marion, with 
 out delay, approached the river, plunged into it on 
 horseback, and called his men to follow. With alac 
 rity they one and all followed their gallant leader, 
 reached the opposite shore in safety, and marched for 
 ward to occupy the east end of the bridge. Marion 
 detached Major James with forty musqueteers, and 
 thirty riflemen under M Cottry, to burn the bridge. 
 The riflemen were posted to advantage on the river 
 bank; but as soon as their friends had gained posses 
 sion of the east end of the bridge, and had applied 
 fascines to it, Watson opened the fire of his artillery 
 upon them ; but it was unavailing. The west bank of 
 the river was so much elevated above the east, that be- 
 9* 
 
102 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 fore his field pieces could be brought to bear upon the 
 Americans, his artillerists were exposed to the fire of 
 the riflemen, who deliberately picked them off as they 
 advanced to the summit of the hill. In the meantime 
 Major James s party fired the bridge. 
 
 Watson was now completely cut off in his attempt 
 to pass the river, and he was so much intimidated that 
 he retreated down the banks of the stream, Marion s 
 men picking off his men from the opposite shore. 
 Night put an end to the conflict, and both parties en 
 camped in the woods. On the following day, Marion 
 as successfully baffled every attempt ofthe enemy to 
 cross the river, and Watson found himself losing so 
 many of his men, and the sharp-shooters of the Amer 
 icans annoyed him so effectually, that he turned and 
 retreated higher up the river; pitching his camp in the 
 most open field he could find, dreading the woods, be 
 hind every tree of which he feared a rifle. Thus he 
 remained several days, completely surrounded by an 
 active foe, who cut off his supplies, and his men were 
 almost hourly perishing in the continued skirmishing 
 that the Americans kept up. He finally proceeded by 
 forced marches towards Georgetown. Marion re- 
 crossed the river, and hung alternately on the rear, the 
 flanks, or the front of the enemy, until they reached 
 Sawpit bridge, nine miles from Georgetown, where a 
 skirmish took place, in which Watson very nearly lost 
 his life. Watson, fatigued in body, and mortified in 
 spirits, finally reached Georgetown. 
 
 Col. Doyle, meanwhile, had reached Snow s island, 
 and driven Col. Erwin, who had been left there with a 
 few men to guard it, from the place, and Marion s 
 stores had fallen into his hands. This was disastrous 
 intelligence to Marion, but, much as he grieved over 
 

 
 
RETREAT OP DOYLE. 105 
 
 the loss of arms and ammunition, he was too well 
 schooled in adversity to regard it in any other light 
 than an accident of war, and he promptly marched his 
 men in pursuit of Doyle. Doyle made his way to 
 Lynch s creek at Witherspoon s ferry, where he posted 
 himself. When Marion arrived at the creek, they dis 
 covered the British on the opposite side busy in scut 
 tling the ferry boat. M Cottry advanced in front, 
 cautiously approaching the water s edge, and gave 
 them an unexpected fire. A short conflict took place, 
 the balls of the enemy hitting the branches and tops 
 of the trees behind which the riflemen of M Cottry 
 were sheltered, whilst the well directed aim of the latter 
 seldom failed of doing execution. Doyle retreated, 
 pursued several miles by Marion, and finally hurried 
 as fast as possible back to Camden. 
 
 This attempt to capture Marion and disperse his 
 brigade, proved as successful as the former similar 
 undertakings of Wemyss and Tarleton. 
 
 In addition to these skirmishes, Marion made two 
 descents upon Georgetown. In the first, he came un 
 expectedly on a body of Tories whom he charged and 
 dispersed, killing their captain and several privates. In 
 the second, he marched to Georgetown, and began re 
 gular approaches against the British post at that place. 
 The British evacuated their works, and retreated to 
 Charleston. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Cornwallis pursues the American army. Greene joins 
 Morgan. Crossing of the Catawba crossing the Yad- 
 kin crossing the Dan. Marion s enter prize against 
 the British and Tories. Gen. Greene returns into 
 North Carolina. A gathering of the Tories ; Colonel 
 Lee s manoeuvre by which between 200 and 300 of them 
 are cut to pieces. Tarleton s retreat. Greene asking 
 bread of his soldiers. The battle of Guilford Court- 
 House. Marion besieges Fort Watson Lee joins him 
 novel expedient by which the fort is captured. The 
 battle of Camden, <SfC. 
 
 THE defeat of Col. Tarleton at Cowpens was highly 
 unexpected to Lord Cornwallis, and he instantly re 
 solved on a pursuit of the American army, with an 
 expectation of demolishing Morgan s corps, and re 
 gaining the British prisoners he had taken. Having 
 presented to the reader the partizan movements of 
 Marion, we now proceed to sketch the history of the 
 army up to the point of time concluding the exploits 
 of the partizans in the previous chapter. 
 
 Morgan, aware of the consequences of delay, sent 
 on the militia with the prisoners taken at Cowpens, and, 
 to cover their retreat, manceuvred in their rear with his 
 cavalry and infantry. Greene concluded that if he 
 were present with Morgan, he could so order the move 
 ments of both divisions for forming a junction, ns 
 would excel any directions which could otherwise be 
 given. He therefore left the camp, and set forward, 
 attended by one aid-de-camp, and two or three militia 
 men armed and mounted. The first intelligence he 
 
 106 
 
f. 
 CROSSING OF THE CATAWBA. 107 
 
 gained on the route was that Cornwallis was marching 
 after Morgan with great expedition. Greene continued 
 his route, and, on the 31st of January, after a journey 
 of 150 miles, joined the light troops encamped at 
 Sherrard s Ford, on the north side of the Catawba. 
 About two hours after Morgan crossed the Catawba, 
 the British advance arrived. It rained hard that night, 
 and the river rose so high as to prevent Cornwallis 
 from getting over. Had the rise taken place a few 
 hours earlier, Morgan, with his whole detachment and 
 five hundred prisoners, would scarcely have had a 
 chance of escaping. Cornwallis could not cross for 
 two days, which gave an opportunity of sending the 
 prisoners forward with safety. 
 
 The arrival of Gen. Greene was no less providen 
 tial than the rise of the river. Gen. Morgan was for 
 retreating over the mountains, a different route from 
 what Greene proposed. So attached to his own opin 
 ion was Morgan, he declared he would not be answer 
 able for consequences if it was not followed. " Neither 
 will you," replied Greene, " for I shall take the mea 
 sure upon myself," and he gave directions accordingly. 
 The event has shown that the other route must have 
 proved fatal, and that the junction of the light troops 
 with the main army could not have been effected 
 by it. 
 
 When the waters subsided, Cornwallis crossed the 
 Catawba, and hurried on after the Americans, hoping 
 to overtake them before they should get over the Yad- 
 kin ; but when he arrived at that river, to his great 
 mortification, he found that the Americans had crossed 
 it, partly in flats, and partly by fording, and had se 
 cured the boats on the other side. Here, as at the 
 
108 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 Catawba, a rapid rise of the river took place, and re 
 tarded the British. 
 
 Unable to cross at the spot where the Americans did, 
 Cornwallis was obliged to march his troops twenty-five 
 miles higher up the stream, where he found it fordable. 
 And whilst he was employed in this circuitous move 
 ment, time was given for Greene to unite his main army 
 with the forces of Morgan, on the 7th of February, near 
 Guilford Court House, where they rested and refreshed 
 themselves. Greene s forces still being so weak in com 
 parison to the enemy, he did not choose to risk an en 
 gagement, but hastened on towards the river Dan ; 
 whilst Cornwallis, traversing the upper country where 
 the streams are fordable, proceeded in the hope that he 
 might gain upon the Americans so as to overtake them, 
 in consequence of their being obstructed by the deep 
 water below. But the advantages resulting from the 
 season of the year, and from the face of a country in 
 tersected with rivers and creeks, were so improved by 
 the sagacity and activity of Greene, as completely to 
 baffle Cornwallis ; and his army crossed the Dan into 
 Virginia, artillery, baggage and all. So narrow was 
 the escape, however, that the van of Cornwallis s army 
 arrived in time to witness the ferrying over the rear. 
 
 It was with inexpressible vexation that Cornwallis dis 
 covered all his exertions had been in vain, that all his 
 hopes were frustrated. He consoled himself, however, with 
 the reflection that the American army being driven out 
 of North Carolina, he was master of the State, and in 
 a condition to recruit his forces by the accession of 
 Tories to his ranks. He erected the royal standard at 
 Hillsborough, and summoned all true subjects of His 
 Majesty, George III, to repair to it. 
 
 During these transactions, Gen. Marion defended 
 
RISING OF THE TORIES. 109 
 
 himself with his faithful brigade, in the swamps and 
 morasses of the settlements near Charleston, and was 
 frequently sallying out from his hiding-places, and en- 
 terprizing something in behalf of his country. He in 
 tercepted the British convoys, infested their out-posts, 
 destroyed their stores, beat up their quarters, and so 
 harrassed them with alarms that they were always 
 obliged to be on their guard. 
 
 Cornwallis had long been led to suppose that there 
 would be a general risingof loyalists in his favor through 
 out the State of North Carolina. Greene being informed 
 that numbers had actually joined the royal standard at 
 Hillsborough, and that many others were repairing to 
 make their submission, was apprehensive that, unless 
 some spirited measure was immediately taken, the 
 whole country would be lost to the American cause. 
 He concluded, therefore, upon returning into North 
 Carolina. He re-crossed the Dan on the 21st of Febru 
 ary, and, the more effectually to alarm Cornwallis and 
 discourage the Tories, rode with his aid-de-camp twenty- 
 one miles towards the enemy, and within about fifteen 
 of his lordship. The report of his being within that 
 distance soon reached Cornwallis, who inferred that the 
 American army was equally near; and he despatched 
 Col. Tarleton with the British legion from Hillsborough 
 across the Haw river to Major O Niell s plantation, to 
 protect a considerable number of loyalists appointed to 
 meet there on the 24th inst. Gen. Pickens and Col. 
 Lee, who had intelligence of Tarleton s movements, 
 concerted measures to bring him to action. Lee s cav 
 alry were to attack those of Tarleton s command, 
 while Pickens militia should disperse the collected 
 Tories. These Tories got together in a great body, on 
 the night of February 25th, in a long lane leading 
 10 
 
110 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 towards O Neill s house. Lee led his cavalry into the 
 lane, mistaking the Tories for a part of Pickens militia, 
 which he supposed had arrived there before him. After 
 he discovered the distinguishing red rag in their hats, 
 he with great presence of mind passed on, intending to 
 leave them to the treatment of their countrymen under 
 Pickens. When these came up, and a firing had com 
 menced between them and the royalists, Lee, with his 
 cavalry, returned and fell upon the latter, who not see 
 ing Tarleton s dragoons, mistook Lee s cavalry for 
 them. While laboring under this mistake, Lee and his 
 cavalry cut them down as they were making ardenl 
 protestations of loyalty, and asserting "that they were 
 the very best friends to the king." A horrid slaughter 
 was made of them, between 200 and 300 being cut to 
 pieces. 
 
 Tarleton was refreshing his legion about a mile from 
 the scene. Upon hearing the alarm, he ordered his 
 men to mount, precipitately re-crossed the Haw, and 
 returned to Hitlsborough. On his retreat he also cut 
 down several of the royalists as they were advancing 
 to join the British army, mistaking them for rebel mili 
 tia of the country. This event, together with Greene s 
 having re-crossed the Dan, confused all the measures 
 of Cornwallis. The tide of public sentiment was no 
 longer in his favor. The recruiting service declined 
 and was stopped, which, had it proceeded a fortnight 
 longer, would have so strengthened his lordship that it 
 is more than probable he would have been able to keep 
 possession of the country. The advocates for royal 
 government were discouraged, and could not be induced 
 to act with confidence. Considerable numbers who 
 were on their way to join his lordship, returned home 
 to await further events. 
 
ACTION NEAR GUILFOED COURT HOUSE 111 
 
 While Gen. Greene was in fact unequal to even de 
 fensive measures, and waited to have his army 
 strengthened, he lay for seven days within ten miles 
 of Cornwallis camp ; but he took a new position every 
 night, and kept it as profound a secret with himself 
 where the next was to be ; so that Cornwallis could not 
 gain intelligence of his situation in time to avail him 
 self of it. During these manoeuvres, Greene was often 
 obliged to ask bread of the common soldiers, having 
 none of his own. Miserable too was the situation of 
 his men for clothing, " many hundreds of the soldiers 
 marking the ground with their bloody feet. But not 
 withstanding their sufferings and excessive fatigue, they 
 remained in good spirits."* 
 
 On the 15th of March an engagement took place 
 near Guilford Court-house. All the advantages of vic 
 tory were on the side of the Americans, for although 
 Cornwallis kept, the field, he had suffered such loss in 
 the action, that he was unable to act on the offensive 
 directly after, and was soon compelled to march to 
 wards Wilmington, (N.C.) leaving his sick and wounded 
 behind him. On his retreat he was pursued by Gen. 
 Greene as far as Deep river. f 
 
 The prompt resolution of Gen. Greene now was to 
 carry the war without delay into South Carolina ; there 
 by to oblige the enemy to follow him, or to endanger 
 
 * Letter from Greene to Gen. Washington. One day, Gen. 
 Greene, passing a sentinel who was barefooted, said " I fear, my 
 good fellow, you suffer much from the cold." " Very much," 
 was the reply, "but I don t complain; I know we should fare 
 better if our general had the means of getting us supplied. They 
 say, however, we shall have a fight in a few days, and then I shall 
 take care to secure a pair of shoes for myself." 
 
 i See Appendix F. 
 
112 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 their posts in that state. He discharged all his militia, 
 refreshed his regular troops, collected a few days pro 
 visions, marched on the 5th of April towards Camden, 
 and in the morning of the 20th encamped at Log-town, 
 within sight of the enemy s works. On this march, 
 Col. Lee, with his partizan legion, was detached to join 
 Gen. Marion, on a secret expedition. To secure the 
 provisions that grow on the banks of the Santee and 
 Congaree rivers, the British had erected a chain of 
 posts in their vicinity. One of the most important was 
 on Wright s Bluff, and called Fort Watson, situated be 
 tween Camden and Charleston. To take this fort was 
 a desirable object of the commander of the American 
 army, and the undertaking was consigned to Marion, 
 and Lee was to assist. 
 
 Lee having arrived within a day s distance of the 
 Pedee, sent forward an officer, with a small party of 
 dragoons, to discover in what part of his extensive 
 range the Swamp Fox then was. The officer, on 
 reaching the river, learned that Marion, when heard 
 from a few days before, was in the swamps of Black 
 river. This was his general quarters when he found 
 it necessary to retire from active service. It not only 
 afforded safety, but, there being several fertile plan 
 tations in one settlement, he was well supplied with 
 provisions and forage. Marion received with joy Lee s 
 officer, and furnished boats, which he kept concealed 
 on the Pedee, for the transportation of the corps across 
 the river. That the meeting of these military friends 
 was cordial, we have from various authority. They had 
 not met since their joint attempt upon Georgetown, and 
 were rejoiced at being again united in the great object 
 of wresting South Carolina from the British. The 
 letter from Gen. Greene, inclosing his plan of opera- 
 
SIEGE OF FORT WATSON. 113 
 
 tions, was delivered by Lee to Marion. The evening 
 was devoted to repose, and on the next day the two 
 corps quitted the dark and marshy recesses of the 
 swamp, for the execution of the trust confided to them. 
 
 Determined to carry Fort Watson without delay, on 
 the 15th of April, Marion, with Lee, sat down before it. 
 Marion commanded the place to surrender, but was 
 answered by a haughty defiance from Cap. M Koy, the 
 commandant. The fort was an Indian mound, gene 
 rally supposed to have been the burial-place, at some 
 remote period, of the aborigines inhabiting that region ; 
 it was at least thirty feet high, and surrounded by 
 table land. 
 
 Marion, from information he had received, did not 
 doubt but the garrison would soon be compelled to ca 
 pitulate for want of water, with which it was supplied 
 from an adjacent lake, ahd from which it was now in 
 his power to effectually seclude it. Cap. M Koy, the 
 commandant, saw at once his inevitable fate, unless he 
 could devise some other mode of procuring water, for 
 which purpose he sunk a well within the fort, and baf 
 fled Marion s expectation upon this point. 
 
 Destitute both of artillery and intrenching tools, 
 Marion and Lee began to be doubtful of success, when 
 Major Mayham, one of the brigade, suggested a plan, 
 which was no sooner communicated than adopted. He 
 proposed to cut down a number of trees, and with 
 them, piled crosswise, one above the other, to raise a 
 tower sufficiently high to overlook the enemy s breast 
 work ; this tower to be covered at the top with a floor 
 of logs to stand upon ; and protected on the side op 
 posite the fort with a defence of light timber. Dragoons 
 were immediately despatched to the neighboring farms 
 for axes, the only necessary tool, of which a sufficient 
 10* 
 
114 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 number being soon collected, relays of working parties 
 were allotted for the labor ; some to cut, some to con 
 vey, and some to erect. 
 
 Major Mayham undertook the execution of his plan, 
 which was completely finished before the morning of 
 the 23rd, presenting to the eyes of the besieged a lofty 
 tower of an elevation higher than their fort. The be 
 sieged, like the besiegers, were unprovided with artil 
 lery, arid could not interrupt the progress of the work. 
 
 A party of riflemen, being ready, took post in the 
 wooden tower the moment it was completed ; and a 
 detachment of musketry, under cover of the riflemen, 
 moved to make a lodgment in the enemy s ditch, sup 
 ported by Lee,s legion with fixed bayonets. Such was 
 the eminence of the tower, the riflemen fired into every 
 part of the fort, and Cap. M Koy, finding every re 
 source cut off, hung out the white flag. It was fol 
 lowed by a proposal to surrender, which resulted in 
 capitulation. Marion despatched an official letter to 
 Gen. Greene, dated the same day, (April 23. 1781,) 
 detailing the manner in which the fort was taken ; en 
 closing a list of the prisoners and stores taken, and 
 announcing his determination of marching to the High 
 Hills of Santee, there to await his orders. The num 
 ber of prisoners taken were 114. In the course of the 
 following day they were brought to the camp of Greene. 
 
 Camden was defended by Lord Rawdon with about 
 900 men, and already straitened for provisions, and 
 despairing of succor, he resolved to risk a battle. 
 Giving orders for his troops to make ready, he ad 
 vanced at 9 o clock on the morning of the 25th April, 
 and, avoiding the direct approach to the American 
 camp, he took a circuitous course, along the margin of 
 the swamp which lines Pine-tree-creek, and winds with 
 its meanders. 
 
BATTLE OF CAMDEN. 117 
 
 The Americans were most of them cooking their vic 
 tuals,* and Greene was at breakfast, when some of the 
 advance sentinels, half a mile in front of the camp, fired 
 upon the van of the British. The American army, 
 notwithstanding its short notice, was quickly ranged for 
 action. All the baggage, as is customary in general 
 actions, was ordered off. The cavalry, which was un 
 saddled and feeding on the first alarm, was quickly 
 ready ; and so certain was Greene of success, he ordered 
 Lieut. Col. Washington to turn the right flank of the 
 British, and to charge in their rear. By this time the 
 fire between the British van, and the American light- 
 infantry pickets became very lively. Greene in per 
 son led on two Virginia regiments. The artillery were 
 well posted and doing great execution, and a small body 
 of militia was coming into action, when suddenly a 
 number of the Americans began to retire, though the 
 danger was not apparently great, and every body 
 seemed ignorant of the cause. Col. Washington, in 
 the execution of the order given him, had at one time 
 possessed himself of near 200 prisoners; but he relin 
 quished the greatest part on seeing the army retire. 
 The officers he paroled on the field of battle ; and then 
 collecting his men, wheeled round, made his own re 
 treat good, carrying off with him fifty prisoners. The 
 fortune of the day was irretrievable, but Greene, with 
 his usual firmness, instantly took measures to prevent 
 Rawdon improving the success he had obtained. The 
 
 * In the morning Carrington joined, with a comfortable supply 
 of provisions, which had been rather scarce during the late hurried 
 changes of position. These were issued, and of course engaged a 
 portion of the troops ; while the residue were employed along the 
 rivulets in washing their clothes, an occupation which had been for 
 some days past impracticable. Lee s Memoirs of the Southern War. 
 
118 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 retreat was effected with such good order and delibera 
 tion, that most of the American wounded, all their artil 
 lery and baggage were safely carried off, together with 
 six royal commissioned officers, beside Col. Washing 
 ton s prisoners. The action was continued with inter 
 vals till about four in the afternoon, and till the Amer 
 icans had retreated about four miles ; when a detach 
 ment of the infantry and cavalry under Col. Washing 
 ton were ordered to advance and annoy the British. 
 The British retired to Camden ; the Americans en 
 camped about five miles from their former position. 
 The field of battle was occupied only by the dead. 
 
 Very soon after the action, Greene, knowing that 
 the British garrison could not subsist long in Camden 
 without fresh supplies from Charleston or the country, 
 detached a reinforcement to Marion, on the road to 
 Nelson s ferry ; and on the 3rd of May he crossed the 
 Wateree, and took occasionally such positions as would 
 most effectually prevent succors from going into the 
 town from that quarter. On the 7th of May, Lord 
 Rawdon received a considerable reinforcement under 
 Col. Watson. With this increase of strength, he at 
 tempted the next day to compel Gen. Greene to another 
 action, but found it impracticable. Failing in his design 
 he returned to Camden, and on the 10th burned the 
 jail, mills, many private houses, and a great part of 
 his own baggage. He then evacuated his post, and 
 retired with his whole army south of the Santee, leav 
 ing about thirty of his sick and wounded, and as many 
 of the Americans, taken in the recent action. He offered 
 every assistance in his power to the friends of the 
 British government who would accompany him. Seve 
 ral families accepted his offer, but were cruelly neglected 
 after their arrival at Charleston. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Evacuation of Camden surrender of the garrison at 
 Orangeburg. Marion beseiges Fort Motte anecdote 
 of Mrs. Motte the roof of her mansion fired by ar 
 rows surrender of the fort. Marion rapidly follows 
 up his successes Georgetown surrenders to him. Ma 
 rion and Sumpter dispersing the lories. The seige 
 of Ninety Six ; the seige is abandoned. Greene offers 
 battle to Lord Rawdon. Marion and Lee drive Col. 
 Coates from Monk s corner gallant pursuit of the 
 British battle of Quinby bridge Col. Armstrong 
 fifty of the brigade killed. The execution of Col. 
 Hayne. Marion defeats the British at Parker s ferry. 
 
 - Battle of Eutaw Springs. 
 
 THE evacuation of Camden animated the friends of 
 patriotism, and daily increased their numbers, while 
 the British posts fell in quick succession. The day 
 after the evacution, the garrison of Orangeburg consist 
 ing of 70 British militia, and 12 regulars, surrendered 
 to Gen. Sumpter. 
 
 Marion and Lee, after the capture of Fort Watson, 
 crossed the Santee, and moved up to the siege of Fort 
 Motte. This post was the principal depot of the con 
 voys from Charleston to Camden. A large new man 
 sion house, belonging to Mrs. Motte, situated on a high 
 and commanding hill, had been selected by the British. 
 It was surrounded by a deep trench, along the interior 
 margin of which was raised a strong and lofty parapet. 
 To this post had been regularly assigned an adequate 
 garrison of about one hundred and fifty men, which 
 was now accidentally increased by a small detachment 
 
 119 
 
120 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 of dragoons, which had arrived from Charleston, a 
 few hours before the appearance of the American troops, 
 on its way to Camden, with despatches to Lord Raw- 
 don. The fort was commanded by Cap. M Pherson, 
 with a garrison of 165 men. 
 
 Opposite Fort Motte, to the north, stood another hill, 
 where Mrs. Motte having been dismissed from her 
 mansion, resided in an old farm house. On this height, 
 Col. Lee, with his corps, took post, while Marion and 
 his brigade occupied the eastern declivity of the ridge 
 on which the fort stood. Very soon the fort was com 
 pletely invested ; and a six pounder was mounted on a 
 battery erected in Marion s quarter for the purpose of 
 raking the northern face of the enemy s parapet, against 
 which Lee was preparing to advance. M Pherson was 
 unprovided with artillery, and depended for safety upon 
 timely relief, not doubting its arrival before the assail 
 ant could push his preparations to maturity. 
 
 The vale running between the two hills admitted a 
 safe approach for the Americans to within four hundred 
 yards of Fort Motte. This place was selected to break 
 ground. Relays of working parties being provided for 
 every four hours, and Marion having persuaded some 
 of the negroes from the neighboring plantations to as 
 sist, the works advanced with rapidity. It was on the 
 8th of May, the Americans set down before the fort, 
 and such was the forwardness of their works on the 
 10th, that it was determined to summon M Pherson to 
 surrender. 
 
 A flag was accordingly despatched to the comman 
 dant ; he replied, that, disregarding consequences, he 
 should continue to resist to the last moment in his 
 power. The retreat of Rawdon was known in the 
 evening to the besiegers ; and in the course of the night 
 
COL. LEE AND MRS. MOTTE. 121 
 
 a courier arrived from Gen. Greene confirming that 
 event, urging redoubled activity, and communicating 
 his determination to hasten to their support. Urged by 
 these strong considerations, Marion and Lee persevered 
 throughout the night in pressing the completion of the 
 works. On the next day, Rawdon reached the country 
 opposite Fort Motte ; and in the succeeding night, en 
 camping on the highest ground in his route, the illumi 
 nation of his fires gave the joyful annunciation of his 
 approach to the despairing garrison. But the hour was 
 close at hand to convert this joy into sadness. 
 
 The large mansion of Mrs. Motte in the centre of 
 the surrounding trench, left but a few yards of the 
 grounds within the fort uncovered, and burning the 
 house must force the garrison to surrender. The ex. 
 pedient of setting fire to the roof by shooting arrows 
 upon it, was the plan suggested by Marion, and orders 
 were instantly issued to prepare bows and arrows 
 with combustible matter. 
 
 The devoted house was a large pleasant edifice, in 
 tended for the summer residence of the respectable 
 owner, whose deceased husband had been a firm friend 
 to his oppressed country. Dearly was Mrs. Motte be 
 loved by the Americans, and it was with somewhat of 
 reluctance they adopted the measure. Nevertheless, 
 the imperative obligations of duty must be obeyed ; the 
 house must burn ; and a respectful communication to 
 the lady of her destined loss must be made. The next 
 morning, Col. Lee imparted to Mrs. Motte the intended 
 measure ; lamenting the sad necessity, and assuring 
 her of the deep regret which the unavoidable act ex 
 cited in his own breast and that of those under his 
 command. 
 
 With a smile of complacency, this exemplary lady 
 11 
 
122 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 listened to the embarrassed officer, and gave instant re 
 lief to his agitated feelings, by declaring that she was 
 gratified with the opportunity of contributing to the 
 good of her country, and that she would view the ap 
 proaching scene with delight. Learning the manner 
 in which it was intended to set the house on fire, she 
 brought forward a bow and arrows, imported from Af 
 rica, that happened to be in her possession, requesting 
 their substitution, as probably better adapted for the 
 object than those already provided. 
 
 The lines were now manned, and an additional force 
 stationed at the battery, lest the enemy, perceiving his 
 fate, might determine to risk a desperate assault, as 
 offering the only chance of relief. As soon as the 
 troops reached their several points, a flag was again 
 sent to M Pherson, for the purpose of inducing him to 
 prevent the conflagration and slaughter which else 
 must ensue. But the British captain remained immove- 
 able, repeating his determination of holding out to the 
 last. 
 
 It was now about noon, and the scorching rays of 
 the sun had prepared the shingles of the roof for con 
 flagration. The bow and arrows were put into the 
 hands of a strong-armed member of Marion s brigade. 
 He drew the bow, and an arrow flew, striking the 
 roof, and three of the shots communicated fire to the 
 shingles, quickly kindling it into a blaze. M Pherson 
 ordered a party to repair to the roof of the house, and 
 by knocking off the shingles to stop the flames. As 
 soon as this was perceived, the fire of the six-pounder 
 was brought to bear upon them, and they were soon 
 driven down ; and no other effort, to stop the flames 
 being practicable, M Pherson hung out the white flag. 
 

SHIVEES1T7 
 
SIEGE OF NINETY-SIX. 125 
 
 Mercy was extended, although policy commanded 
 death.* 
 
 Two days after this surrender, the British evacuated 
 their post at Nelson s ferry blew up their fortifica 
 tions and destroyed a great part of their stores. The 
 day following, Fort Granby, about thirty miles to the 
 westward of Fort Motte, surrendered by capitulation, 
 and 352 men, a great part of them Tories, were taken 
 prisoners. On the 21st of May, the British post at 
 Silver Bluff, called Fort Dreadnaught, surrendered to 
 a detachment of Americans^; prisoners, and a large 
 quantity of stores falling into the hands of the captors. 
 
 Marion now proceeded against Georgetown ; post 
 after post of the British had successively yielded, and 
 Gen. Greene was now ready to advance upon Ninety 
 Six, the only remaining fortress in the State, besides 
 Charleston, in the enemy s possession. Marion s ap 
 pearance before Georgetown was early in June, and the 
 garrison, after merely a feint of resistance, fled to their 
 galleys. Marion secured the stores, demolished the 
 works, and retired. 
 
 Ninety-six was strongly garrisoned by the British, 
 under Col. Cruger of New York, and, assiduous as 
 were the exertions of Gen. Greene, he was unsuccess 
 ful in his attempt to reduce it. Lord Rawdon, with a 
 reinforcement of troops from Ireland, marched from 
 Charleston and relieved it, compelling Greene to re 
 treat. 
 
 The following is an account of this siege as 4escribed 
 by Ramsay, in his Hist, of South Carolina, vol. 2. page 
 423, " Greene proceeded with the main army to Ninety- 
 Six. This place, being of great consequence, was de- 
 
 * Lee s Memoirs. 
 11* 
 
126 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 fended by a considerable force. Lieut. Col. Cruger 
 conducted the defence with great bravery and judg 
 ment. On the left of the besiegers was a work erected 
 in the form of a star ; on the right was a strong stock 
 ade-fort, with two block-houses in it. The town, flanked 
 by these two works, was also picquetted with strong 
 picquets, and surrounded with a ditch, and a bank near 
 the height of a common parapet. There were also 
 several flushes in several parts of the town, and all the 
 works communicated with each other by covered ways. 
 
 " On the 23rd of May, 1781, the main body of the 
 American army encamped in a wood, within half a 
 mile of Ninety-Six ; and, on that night, threw up two 
 flushes within a hundred and fifty yards of the star 
 fort. The next morning the enemy made a sally, and, 
 being supported by the artillery and musketry from the 
 parapet of the star redoubt, drove the besiegers from 
 them. The next night two strong block batteries were 
 erected at the distance of three hundred and fifty yards, 
 which were opened in the morning. Another battery 
 twenty feet high, erected within two hundred and 
 twenty yards, was finished within a few days ; and 
 soon afterwards another of the same height was erect 
 ed within a hundred yards of the same fort. 
 
 " Approaches were gradually carried on against the 
 redoubt on the left. Col. Kosciusko, a young gentle 
 man of distinction from Poland,* superintended the 
 
 * Thaddeus Kosciusko, a Polish general and patriot, was born 
 in 1746, in Lithuania. When the American colonies threw off 
 the yoke of the Mother Country, Kosciusko entered into their 
 service and was made a colonel of engineers and aid-de-camp to 
 Washington. After the Independence of America, he returned 
 to his native country and took an active part in her struggles. 
 After the fall of Poland he was imprisoned in St. Petersburg un 
 til the accession of the Czar Paul, who liberated him. The re- 
 
THE BRITISH REINFORCED. 127 
 
 operations of the besiegers, and by his assiduity, though 
 the ground was hard and the situation unfavorable, a 
 third parallel within thirty yards of the ditch was com 
 pleted on May 14th ; and a rifle-battery, upwards of 
 thirty feet high, erected at the same distance. On the 
 17th, the abbatis was turned, and two trenches and a 
 mine were extended so as to be within six feet of the 
 ditch. Few sieges afford greater instances of perseve 
 rance and intrepidity, than were exhibited on this 
 occasion by the besiegers and besieged. Riflemen were 
 employed on both sides, who immediately levelled at 
 every person who appeared in sight, and very seldom 
 missed their object. Various success attended the con 
 flicts between the several covering parties of the 
 workmen, and those who repeatedly sallied from the 
 garrison. 
 
 " On the 3rd of June, twelve days after the com 
 mencement of this siege, a fleet arrived at Charleston 
 from Ireland, having on board, the 3rd, 19th and 30th 
 regiments of his Britannic Majesty, a detachment from 
 the guards, and a considerable body of recruits, the 
 whole commanded by Lieut. Col. Gould. Earl Corn- 
 wallis had given permission to the commanders of the 
 British forces in South Carolina, to detain these rein 
 forcements if they conceived that the service of his 
 Britannic Majesty required it ; otherwise they were to 
 be sent forward to join his lordship. On the 7th of 
 June, Lord Rawdon marched from Charleston, with 
 these newly arrived troops, for the relief of the gar 
 rison at Ninety-Six. Great were the difficulties they 
 
 maining part of his existence was spent in America, France and 
 Switzerland, but chiefly in France. He died at Soleure, Oct. 
 17. 1817. Biographical Dictionary. 
 
128 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 had to encounter in rapidly marching under the rage 
 of a burning sun through the whole extent of South 
 Carolina. 
 
 " The American army had advanced their approach 
 es very near the critical point, after which further re 
 sistance on the part of the garrison would have been 
 temerity. At this interesting moment, intelligence was 
 received that Lord Rawdon was near at hand. An 
 American lady, who had lately married a British officer 
 then in the British garrison at Ninety-Six, had been 
 bribed by a large sum of money to convey a letter to 
 Col. Cruger with the news of the approaching relief. 
 The vicinity of this large force made it necessary for 
 the Americans either to raise the siege, or attempt the 
 reduction of the place by a coup-de-main. This last 
 was agreed. upon, and the necessary dispositions were 
 made on the 18th of June. Col. Lee, with his legion 
 of infantry, and Cap. Kirkwood s light infantry, made 
 the attack on the right. Col. Campbell, with the first 
 Maryland and first Virginia regiments, were to have 
 stormed the redoubt, the ditch of which was eight or 
 nine feet deep, the parapet eleven or twelve feet high, 
 and raised with sand-bags near three more. 
 
 " The forlorn-hopes were led on by lieutenants Du- 
 val and Sheldon, and were followed by a party with 
 hooks and intrenching tools, to pull down the sand-bags 
 and reduce the parapet. Had this been effected, the 
 beseiged could not have annoyed the assailants without 
 exposing themselves to the American marksmen. The 
 artillery soon made sufficient breaches bn the fortified 
 redoubt on the right, for the infantry under the com 
 mand of Col. Lee to assault the garrison. It was 
 therefore abandoned, and the Americans took posses 
 sion without loss. The parties, led by Duval and Shel- 
 
CAPTURE OF BRITISH DRAGO fJS. 129 
 
 don entered the ditch, and, though galle J by an inces 
 sant fire, made every effort to get down the sand-bags. 
 Both these gallant officers were wounded, and not 
 more than one in six of their party escaped. 
 
 " The near approach of lord Rawdon, and the uncer 
 tainty of final success, induced Greene to raise the 
 siege, and retreat over the Saluda ; after having lost 
 about one hundred and fifty men." 
 
 It was a mortifying circumstance to the Americans, 
 to be obliged to abandon the siege when in the grasp 
 of victory. On this sudden turn of affairs, Greene 
 was advised by some persons to leave tne state, and 
 retire with his remaining force to Virginia. To such 
 suggestions he nobly answered " I will recover the 
 country, or die in the attempt." 
 
 On the 20th of June, the American army crossed 
 the Saluda, and retired towards Broad River. They 
 reached the Enoree on the 24th. Thus far Lord Raw 
 don pursued them; when finding it impossible to over 
 take them, he faced about and returned. He consoled 
 himself with the imaginary advantage of having driven 
 the rebels out of the country, supposing they had gone 
 to North Carolina or Virginia. But Greene halted and 
 refreshed his army ; and, being informed that Raw 
 don, with about half his army, was marching to the 
 Congaree, all the effective infantry marched by way of 
 Winnsboro, to encounter the British. The -cavalry 
 was previously detached to watch the motions of Raw 
 don, and did it so effectually, that a part of them 
 charged and took a captain, a lieutenant, a cornet, and 
 forty-five privates of British dragoons, with all the 
 horses and accoutrements, one mile from their en 
 campment. 
 
 In the meantime, Marion and Sampler were follow. 
 
130 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 ing up their success in dispersing the Tories wherever 
 they got information of their gatherings. On the 12th 
 of July, Gen. Greene, having called in the militia un 
 der Marion and Sumpter, and attaching them to the 
 Continentals, offered Lord Rawdon battle. But his 
 lordship, secure in his strong position at Orangeburg, 
 would not venture out, and Greene was too weak to 
 attack him with any prospect of success. Greene now 
 detached the cavalry of the legion, the state troops, 
 and the militia, to make a diversion towards Charles 
 ton, and the rest of the army was ordered to the High 
 Hills of Santee. Sumpter was placed in command of 
 this detachment, with Lee, Marion, Taylor, Horry, 
 Mayham, Hampton, and others, acting under him. 
 This detachment was sent off to Monk s Corner, and 
 Dorchester, and moved by different roads to the scene 
 of operations. 
 
 Col. Lee broke up the post at Dorchester, and inter 
 cepted and captured all the wagons and horses belong 
 ing to a convoy of provisions, on its way to the Bri 
 tish. Col. Wade Hampton, with the state cavalry, 
 pressed on to within five miles of Charleston, fell in 
 with some mounted Refugees, dispersed the whole, and 
 made forty or fifty prisoners. He also took fifty pri 
 soners at Strawberry Ferry, and burned four vessels 
 loaded with valuable stores for the British army. 
 Sumpter and Marion hastened towards Monk s Cor 
 ner, where lay the 19th regiment of the British, com 
 manded by Col. Coates, with a garrison of 500 infan 
 try, and upwards of 100 cavalry, at Biggen s church, 
 about a mile distant. Sumpter and Marion arrived 
 before this post on the same day, and Col. Lee, having 
 called in his parties, followed on the subsequent morn 
 ing. Lee expected Sumpter would have seized the 
 
BATTLE OF QUINBY BRIDGE. 133 
 
 bridge over Cooper river, near Monk s Corner, which 
 afforded a direct route to the militia camp. But Col. 
 Coates, the British commander, had very prudently 
 occupied the bridge with a detachment from his regi 
 ment, compelling Lee to take a very circuitous route 
 through deep sands, in the heat of July, to reach 
 Sumpter, then ready with Marion to fall upon the 
 enemy as soon as the desired junction should take 
 place. The next morning the enemy were to be as 
 saulted, but during the night Coates decamped, setting 
 fire to the church which had been used by him as a 
 magazine and fortress, and where a great quantity of 
 stores were accumulated. These stores Coates did not 
 choose to leave for the accommodation of the Ameri 
 cans, and at about midnight the latter descried from 
 their camp the roof of the building on fire. 
 
 Pursuit of the British was immediately commenced, 
 led on by Lee s legion and Hampton s state cavalry. 
 Lee came up with a part of the enemy near Quinby 
 bridge. With this body of men was the greater part 
 of the baggage of the British army. The Americans 
 charged upon them furiously, and so terrified were they 
 that they threw down their arms, and begged for quar 
 ters. The cavalry, leaving the captured in care of a 
 few militia, pressed on for Quinby bridge, and Captain 
 Armstrong, with the leading section, first came in sight 
 of Coates, who, having passed the bridge, was care 
 lessly reposing, waiting for his rear guard, which had 
 been captured, having determined to destroy the bridge 
 as soon as it and his baggage should have passed it. 
 Already he had raised the planks from the sleepers, 
 lying them on loosely, ready to be thrown into the 
 stream when the rear should get over. 
 
 Armstrong put spur to his horse, and at the head 
 12 
 
134 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 of his section dashed over the bridge in face of the en 
 emy, throwing himself upon the guard stationed there 
 with a howitzer. So sudden was this charge, he drove 
 all before him the guard abandoning their piece. 
 Some of the loose planks were dashed off by Arm 
 strong s section, which, forming a chasm in the bridge, 
 presented a dangerous obstacle. Nevertheless the 
 second section, headed by Lieut. Carrington, took the 
 leap and closed with Armstrong. Cap. O Neal, with 
 the third section, cowardly halted. The bridge was 
 densely crowded, and plank after plank sliding from the 
 bridge into the stream. The creek was deep in water 
 and deeper in mud, so that the dragoons, who had dis 
 mounted for the purpose of replacing the planks, could 
 not get a foothold to stand upon ; nor was it possible to 
 find any firm ground from which to swim the horses 
 across. 
 
 In this perplexing condition, the victory gained by 
 the gallantry of Armstrong and Carrington was wrested 
 from them, when to complete it only a passage across 
 the creek, not twenty yards wide, was wanting. The 
 British, discerning the state of matters, took courage 
 and rallied. Armstrong and Carrington, saw them 
 selves unsupported, and were compelled to abandon the 
 unequal contest. They forced their way down the road, 
 turning into the woods up the stream to rejoin the corps. 
 Col. Lee continued struggling to replace the planks, 
 until Coates, relieved from Armstrong, repaired with 
 the few around him to defend the bridge, where re 
 mained his deserted howitzer. The most of his men 
 had fled from the field Coates himself, with a few 
 others, had gallantly defended himself at the side of a 
 wagon, effectually parrying the many sabre strokes 
 aimed at his head. Col. Lee, having only sabres to 
 
DESTRUCTION AMONG THE BRIGADE. 135 
 
 oppose the enemy s fire, and those sabres withheld 
 from contact by the interposing chasm, was forced to 
 draw off from the vain contest, after several of his dra 
 goons had been wounded . 
 
 As soon as he had reached the enemy, Lee des 
 patched the intelligence to Marion, urging his approach ; 
 and now foiled at the bridge, he communicated to Ma 
 rion his having moved some distance up the creek to 
 a ford. Marion pressed his march with diligence, 
 bringing with him the legion-infantry ; and having 
 passed the creek, united with Lee in the afternoon. 
 By this time the British, after destroying the bridge, 
 had advantageously posted themselves in the house and 
 negro huts of a plantation. An attack, however, was 
 made, the post of danger being taken by Marion and 
 his brigade, who followed it up for three hours. The 
 British were too securely posted to be dislodged, and 
 their fire from the houses was severely destructive 
 among the ranks of Marion, of whom between forty 
 and fifty were killed. The loss of the enemy was 
 seventy. 
 
 About this time Lord Rawdon, leaving Lieut. Col. 
 Stewart in command at Orangeburg, sailed for New- 
 York, and from there to Europe. Stewart did not es 
 tablish a post, as was expected, at Orangeburg, but, 
 moving his whole force towards the Santee, sat down 
 near the confluence of its two branches, about fifteen 
 miles from the American army, on the opposite side of 
 the river. 
 
 That we may form a clearer conception of the 
 miseries attending this war in South Carolina, we have 
 before us copies of letters transmitted to different per- 
 
138 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 clause which required him to bear arms in support of 
 the royal government. The commandant of the gar 
 rison, Brig Gen. Paterson, and James Simpson Esqr, 
 intendant of the British police, assured him that this 
 would never be required ; and added further that when 
 the regular forces could not defend the country without 
 the aid of its inhabitants, it would be high time for the 
 royal army to quit it. 
 
 Having submitted to the royal government, he was 
 permitted to return to his family, happy in the expec 
 tation of preserving it through the prevailing pestilence. 
 But in this hope he was sorely disappointed ; his wife 
 and two children fell victims to the fatal malady. 
 These afflictions were augmented by the fact that the 
 British authorities, in violation of their contract with 
 him, repeatedly called upon him to take up arms 
 against his countrymen, and finally threatened him with 
 close confinement if he did not comply. 
 
 In this situation Hayne was found when Greene forced 
 the enemy from the upper country. A detachment of 
 Marion s militia, under Col. Harden, passing to the west 
 of the Edisto for the protection of their homes, reached 
 the neighborhood of Hayne. They solicited his co 
 operation. The success of their cause was the wish of 
 his heart he said, but stated the change in his political 
 condition, and that he was bound by his declaration of 
 allegiance. Yet he assured them -that whenever he 
 found the royal authority unable to afford its promised 
 protection, he should consider himself absolved from the 
 extorted allegiance, and would with joy enrol himself 
 with the defenders of his country. 
 
 Thus did Col. Hayne scrupulously adhere to a 
 contract which was never obligatory, having been 
 
COLt HAVNE AND Itt LAUGHLIlV. 139 
 
 coerced by the duress of power, and in palpable violation 
 of the capitulation of Charleston. 
 
 Soon after this occurrence, the British were driven 
 below the Edisto, and nearly the whole country there 
 fell under protection of the American arms. Every 
 person in the recovered country believed himself re 
 leased from the obligations imposed by the late condi 
 tion of affairs ; for it was justly thought that the allegi 
 ance due to a conqueror ceased with his expulsion from 
 the subdued territory. Under this correct impression, 
 Hayne and many others repaired to the American camp. 
 His merit attracted immediate attention, and the militia 
 of his district honored him with the command of a regi 
 ment. He immediately took the field, and conducted 
 an expedition in the enemy s country. Some of his 
 mounted militia penetrated the neck of Charleston, and, 
 near the quarter-house, took Gren. Williamson prisoner. 
 This was the same Williamson who was an active offi 
 cer in the South Carolina militia from the commence 
 ment of the war to the surrender of Charleston, after 
 which event he became a British subject^ and was as 
 energetic in supporting the royal authority as before he 
 had been opposed to it. 
 
 Such was the anxiety of the British commandant to 
 rescue Williamson, he ordered out his whole cavalry on 
 the business. This detachment fell suddenly on the 
 camp of Flayne ; but was handsomely received and re 
 pelled by Col. Harden, who, owing to the inferiority of* 
 his force, did not deem it prudent to push his success 
 by pursuit. Col. Hayne, (attended by his second lieu 
 tenant, Col. M Laughlin) had unfortunately gone to 
 breakfast with a friend about two miles from camp. 
 The house was on the Charleston road, and Hayne was 
 unapprized of the enemy s approach until he saw them 
 
136 MARION AND HIS TIMES* 
 
 sons from Gen. Greene at this period, The following 
 are extracts " The animosity of the Whigs and Tories 
 of this state, renders their situation truly deplorable. 
 There is not a day passes, but there are more or less 
 who fall a sacrifice to this savage disposition. The 
 whigs seem determined to extirpate the tories, and the 
 tories the whigs. Some thousands have fallen in this 
 way in this quarter, and the evil rages with more 
 violence than ever. If a stop cannot soon be put to 
 to these massacres, the country will be depopulated in 
 a few months more, as neither whig nor tory can live." 
 Among other atrocities, the murder of Col. Isaac Hayne 
 roused the indignation of the Americans, and left a 
 deep disgrace upon the character of the British a dis 
 grace so indelible that time can never remove it. 
 
 During the siege of Charleston, Col Hayne served 
 his country in a corps of mounted militia. After 
 the capture of the city, and the investment of it with 
 British authority, no alternative was left him, but either 
 to abandon his family and property, or to surrender to 
 the conquerors. He concluded, that instead of waiting 
 to be captured, it would be more safe and honorable to 
 go within the British lines, and voluntarily surrender 
 himself. Accordingly he repaired to Charleston, and 
 offered to bind himself by the honor of an American 
 officer, to do nothing prejudicial to the British interest 
 till he should be exchanged. Reports made of his 
 superior abilities and influence, uniformly exerted in 
 the American cause, operated with the conquerors to 
 refuse him a parole, though they were daily granting 
 that indulgence to other inhabitants. He was told he 
 must either become a British subject or submit to close 
 confinement. To be arrested and detained in Charles 
 ton, was not to himself an intolerable evil, but to aban- 
 
SITUATION OF COL. HAYNE. 187 
 
 don his family both to the ravages of the small-pox, 
 then raging in the neighborhood, and to the insults and 
 depradations of the loyalists, was too much for the 
 tender husband and fond parent. To acknowledge 
 himself the subject of a government which he had from 
 principle renounced, was repugnant to his feelings ; but 
 without this he was cut off from every prospect of a 
 return to his family. To his friend Dr. Ramsay, 
 (afterwards the historian) who was then a prisoner with 
 the enemy, he communicated the conflicting emotions 
 of his mind. " If the British," said he, " would grant 
 me the indulgence, which we in the day of our power 
 gave to their adherents, of removing family and proper 
 ty, I would seek an asylum in the remotest corner of 
 the United States rather than submit to their govern 
 ment ; but as they allow no other alternative than sub 
 mission or confinement in the capital, at a distance 
 from my wife and family, at a time when they are in 
 the most pressing need of my support, I must for the 
 present yield to the demand of the conquerors. I re 
 quest you to bear in mind, that, previous to my taking 
 this step, I declare that it is contrary to my inclination, 
 and forced on me by hard necessity. / never will 
 bear arms against my country. My new masters can 
 require no service of me but what is enjoined by the 
 old militia law of the province, which substitutes a fine 
 in lieu of personal service. That I will pay as the 
 price of my protection. If my conduct should be cen 
 sured by my countrymen, I beg that you would remem 
 ber this conversation, and bear witness for me, that I 
 do not mean to desert the cause of America." 
 
 In this state of perplexity, this amiable man sub 
 scribed a declaration of his allegiance to the king of 
 Great Britain, but not without expressly objecting to the 
 12* 
 
 ___ 
 
 A, 
 
138 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 clause which required him to bear arms in support of 
 the royal government. The commandant of the gar 
 rison, Brig Gen. Paterson, and James Simpson Esqr, 
 intendant of the British police, assured him that this 
 would never be required ; and added further that when 
 the regular forces could not defend the country without 
 the aid of its inhabitants, it would be high time for the 
 royal army to quit it. 
 
 Having submitted to the royal government, he was 
 permitted to return to his family, happy in the expec 
 tation of preserving it through the prevailing pestilence. 
 But in this hope he was sorely disappointed ; his wife 
 and two children fell victims to the fatal malady. 
 These afflictions were augmented by the fact that the 
 British authorities, in violation of their contract with 
 him, repeatedly called upon him to take up arms 
 against his countrymen, and finally threatened him with 
 close confinement if he did not comply. 
 
 In this situation Hayne was found when Greene forced 
 the enemy from the upper country. A detachment of 
 Marion s militia, under Col. Harden, passing to the west 
 of the Edisto for the protection of their homes, reached 
 the neighborhood of Hayne. They solicited his co 
 operation. The success of their cause was the wish of 
 his heart he said, but stated the change in his political 
 condition, and that he was bound by his declaration of 
 allegiance. Yet he assured them -that whenever he 
 found the royal authority unable to afford its promised 
 protection, he should consider himself absolved from the 
 extorted allegiance, and would with joy enrol himself 
 with the defenders of his country. 
 
 Thus did Col. Hayne scrupulously adhere to a 
 contract which was never obligatory, having been 
 
COL HAYNE AND MCLAUGHLIN. 139 
 
 coerced by the duress of power, and in palpable violation 
 of the capitulation of Charleston. 
 
 Soon after this occurrence, the British were driven 
 below the Edisto, and nearly the whole country there 
 fell under protection of the American arms. Every 
 person in the recovered country believed himself re 
 leased from the obligations imposed by the late condi 
 tion of affairs ; for it was justly thought that the allegi 
 ance due to a conqueror ceased with his expulsion from 
 the subdued territory. Under this correct impression, 
 Hayne and many others repaired to the American camp. 
 His merit attracted immediate attention, and the militia 
 of his district honored him with the command of a regi 
 ment. He immediately took the field, and conducted 
 an expedition in the enemy s country. Some of his 
 mounted militia penetrated the neck of Charleston, and, 
 near the quarter-house, took Gen. Williamson prisoner. 
 This was the same Williamson who was an active offi 
 cer in the South Carolina militia from the commence 
 ment of the war to the surrender of Charleston, after 
 which event he became a British subject^ and was as 
 energetic in supporting the royal authority as before he 
 had been opposed to it. 
 
 Such was the anxiety of the British commandant to 
 rescue Williamson, he ordered out his whole cavalry on 
 the business. This detachment fell suddenly on the 
 camp of Hayne ; but was handsomely received and re 
 pelled by Col. Harden, who, owing to the inferiority of* 
 his force, did not deem it prudent to push his success 
 by pursuit. Col. Hayne, (attended by his second lieu 
 tenant, Col. M Laughlin) had unfortunately gone to 
 breakfast with a friend about two miles from camp. 
 The house was on the Charleston road, and Hayne was 
 unapprized of the enemy s approach until he saw them 
 
140 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 a few rods from the door. Being very active and reso 
 lute, he pushed for his horse, mounted, and forced his 
 way through the foe. To pass a fence in his route, he 
 put spur to his horse, who fell in making the leap, and 
 the entangled rider was overtaken by his pursuers. 
 M Laughlin, being cut ofFfrom his horse, died sword in 
 hand, bravely contending against the surrounding 
 enemy. 
 
 Coi. Hayne was conveyed to Charleston, and lodged 
 in the prison of the Provost. This prison was the mid 
 dle part of the cellar under the Exchange. The damp 
 ness of this unwholesome spot, together with the want 
 of a fire-place, caused among its unhappy inmates some 
 deaths and much sickness. In it the American State 
 prisoner and the British felon shared the same fate. 
 
 At first, Col. Hayne was promised a trial, and had 
 counsel prepared to justify his conduct by the laws of 
 nations and usages of war ; but this was finally refused, 
 and he was ordered to be executed on the 31st of July. 
 This sentence was given by lord Rawdon and Col. 
 Balfour. The prisoner addressed a letter to the two 
 British officers, to which the town major returned the 
 following answer. "I have to inform you, that your 
 execution is not ordered in consequence of any sentence 
 from the Court of Inquiry ; but by virtue of the authority 
 with which the commander-in-chief in South Carolina 
 and the commanding officer in Charleston are invested : 
 and their resolves on this subject are fixed and un 
 changeable." 
 
 The royal Lieut. Gov. Ball, and a great number of 
 the inhabitants, both royalists and patriots, interceded 
 for his life. The ladies of Charleston generally signed 
 a petition in his behalf. Mrs. Perronneau, his sister, 
 accompanied by hi children, all clad in the deepest 
 
LAST MOMENTS OF COL. HAYNE. 143 
 
 mourning, and manifesting the torture of heart-rending 
 agony, waited on Lord Rawdon, and on their knees 
 supplicated for the life of their unfortunate relative. 
 But all was of no avail; his lordship s "resolve was 
 fixed and unchangeable." 
 
 Disdaining further discussion with relentless power, 
 Hayne merely solicited a short respite, to enable him 
 for the last time to see his friends and children. The 
 respite was granted. He was repeatedly visited by his 
 friends, and conversed on various subjects with becom 
 ing fortitude. He particularly lamented that, on prin 
 ciples of retaliation, his execution would probably be 
 an introduction to the shedding of much blood. He 
 requested those in whom the supreme power was vest 
 ed, to accommodate the mode of his death to the feel 
 ings of an officer ; but this was refused. On the last 
 evening of his life, he told a friend that he was " no 
 more alarmed at the thoughts of death than at any 
 other occurrence which was necessary and unavoidable." 
 
 On receiving his summons, on the morning of the 
 4th August, (1781) to proceed to the place of execu 
 tion, he delivered to his eldest son, a youth thirteen 
 years of age, several papers relative to his case, say 
 ing, " Present these papers to Mrs. Edwards, with my 
 request that she forward them to her brother in Con 
 gress. You will next repair to the place of execution, 
 receive my body, and see it decently interred among 
 my forefathers." He then embraced his son, implor 
 ing the Divine Blessing upon his orphan children, and 
 took his final leave of the boy. Dressed with his ac 
 customed neatness, accompanied by a few friends, he 
 marched with unruffled serenity through a weeping 
 crowd. The procession began from the Exchange, in 
 the forenoon. The streets were thronged with thou- 
 
144 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 sands of anxious spectators. He continued on his way 
 to the place of execution, with such decent firmness, 
 composure and dignity, as to awaken the compassion 
 of many, and command respect from all. There was 
 a majesty in his sufferings which rendered him supe 
 rior to the pangs of death. 
 
 When the city barrier was past, and the instrument 
 of his catastrophe appeared in full view, a faithful 
 friend by his side whispered that he " trusted he would 
 exhibit an example of the manner in which an Ameri 
 can can die." 
 
 " I will endeavor to do so," was the tranquil reply 
 of the martyr ; and never was an intention better ful 
 filled. Neither arrogating superiority, nor betraying 
 weakness, he ascended the cart, with a firm step and 
 serene aspect. He inquired of the executioner, who 
 was making an attempt to get up to pull the cap 
 over his eyes, what he wanted. Upon being inform 
 ed of the man s object, he replied, " I will save you 
 that trouble," and pulled the cap over his own eyes. 
 He then gave the signal for the cart to move, illustra 
 ting by his demeanour that death in the cause of our 
 country, even on a gallows, cannot appal the virtuous 
 and the brave ! 
 
 Thus perished, in the bloom of his life, a gallant 
 officer, a worthy citizen, a just and upright man ; fur 
 nishing an example of heroism that extorted a confes 
 sion from the British, " that though he did not die in a 
 good cause, he must at least have acted from the per 
 suasion of its being so." Unhappily for this virtuous 
 man, the royal power was fast declining in the South. 
 The inhabitants were eager to cast off the temporary 
 allegiance of the conquest ; it was deemed necessary 
 to awe them into submission by some distinguished se 
 venty, and Col. Hayne was the selected victim ! 
 
MARION RELIEVES COL. HARDEN. 145 
 
 Marion and his brigade, though they mourned the 
 loss of their brave compatriots at the battle of Quin- 
 by s bridge, were far from being disheartened, and 
 while the main army was encamped among the High 
 Hills during the intense heat of the season, we find 
 them and their leader busy at work among the Tories. 
 With a body of two hundred men, Marion proceeded 
 on a secret expedition to the relief of Col. Harden, 
 who was closely pressed by a very superior force of 
 British in the vicinity of the Edisto. Marching ra 
 pidly a distance of over a hundred miles, he arrived in 
 time to concert an ambuscade in a swamp adjacent to 
 Parker s Ferry, where he decoyed the enemy, and com 
 mitted a terrible slaughter upon their cavalry, rescuing 
 Harden without any loss. 
 
 Gen. Greene now concerted measures for forcing the 
 British from their posts. Though the two armies were 
 within fifteen miles o f each other on a right line, yet, 
 as two rivers intervened, and boats could not be pro 
 cured, the American army was obliged to make a 
 circuit of seventy miles, the more conveniently to cross 
 the Wateree and the Congaree. Soon after crossing 
 these rivers, they were joined by Pickens, with a party 
 of militia ; and Marion and his brigade reached them 
 on the 7th of September, the day before the battle of 
 Eutaw Springs.* The whole American force being 
 thus collected, 2000 in all, Greene prepared to give 
 battle. The force of the British under Col. Stewart, 
 was about the same in number. They had retired from 
 
 * " We moved by slow and easy marches, as well to disguise 
 our real intention, as to give General Marion an opportunity to 
 join us, who had been detached for the support of Col. Harden. 
 Gen. Marion joined us on the evening of the 7th,, at Burdell s 
 plantation, seven miles from the enemy s camp." Gen. Greene s 
 Correspondence. 
 
 13 
 
146 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 the Congaree about forty miles, and taken post at 
 Eutaw Springs, about sixty miles north of Charleston. 
 
 Quite early on the morning of the 8th, the Ameri 
 cans moved to the attack, and fell in with two ad 
 vanced parties of the British, about four miles ahead 
 of the main army. These, being briskly charged by 
 the legion and state troops, soon retired. The front 
 line advanced, and continued firing, and advancing on 
 the British legion till the action became general. In 
 the hottest of the engagement, while great execution 
 was doing on both sides, Col. Williams and Col. Camp 
 bell, with the Maryland and Virginia continentals, 
 were ordered by Greene to charge with trailed arms. 
 Nothing could surpass the intrepidity of both officers 
 and men on this occasion. They pushed on in good 
 order, through a heavy cannonade and shower of mus 
 ketry, with such unshaken resolution, that they bore 
 down all before them. Col. Lee, with great address, 
 turned the left flank of the British, and attacked them 
 at the same time in the rear. Henderson, being wound 
 ed early in the action, the South Carolina state troops 
 were led on by Col. Hampton, the next in command, 
 to a very spirited charge, in which were taken upwards 
 of a hundred prisoners. The militia from North and 
 South Carolina was commanded by Marion, General 
 Marion, Colonel Malmady, and General Pickens, con 
 ducted the troops with great gallantry and good con 
 duct, and the militia fought with a degree of spirit and 
 firmness that reflected the highest honor upon that 
 class of soldiers. 
 
 The British were routed in all quarters, and were 
 closely pursued. On their retreat, numbers of them 
 threw themselves into a strong brick house; others 
 took post in a picquetted garden among impenetrable 
 Bhrubs. The eagerness of the Americans urged them 
 
DEATH OP COL. CAMPBELL. 147 
 
 to attack the enemy in these positions. Col. Washing 
 ton made every possible exertion to dislodge them from 
 the thickets, but failed ; he had his horse shot under 
 him, and was wounded and taken prisoner. 
 
 The battle lasted upwards of three hours, and was 
 fiercely contested, every corps in both armies bravely 
 supporting each other. The loss was uncommonly 
 great, more than one-fifth of the British, and one- 
 fourth of the American army, being killed and wound 
 ed. The British made 60 prisoners, all wounded. The 
 Americans about 500. The entire loss of the British 
 amounted to more than 1100. Among the killed of 
 the American officers, was the brave Lieut. Colonel 
 Campbell of the Virginia line. After his fall he in 
 quired who gave way, and being informed the British 
 were fleeing in all quarters, he added, " / die content 
 ed," and immediately expired. 
 
 The British commander, leaving his dead unburied, 
 commenced a retreat, and avoided the engagement 
 which Gen. Greene had determined to renew on the 
 following day. Pursuit was commenced, and Greene 
 detached Marion and Lee, with a view of seizing the 
 first strong pass on the road to Charleston, as well as 
 to interrupt Stewart, and to prevent any accession of 
 force which might be detached from the British gar 
 rison at Charleston ; while he himself continued in 
 his camp, actively engaged in preparing arrangements 
 for the conveyance of the wounded to the High Hills. 
 Marion and Lee, approaching the enemy s left, discov 
 ered that he had been busily employed in sending off 
 his sick and wounded. News was received that a de 
 tachment, from Monk s Corner, led by Maj. M Arthur, 
 was hastening to join Stewart. This detachment effected 
 its junction with the main army, and Marion retired to 
 a favorite place of retreat in the Santee river swamp. 
 x 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Malicious destruction of property by the British ; their 
 officers speculating in negroes. The fall of Corn- 
 wallis rejoicings in the camp. The tories massacre 
 Cap. Turner and twenty others by a band of tories 
 Cunningham s murder of Hayes and others. The 
 army at Round O its tattered condition mutiny * 
 execution of Gornell. Marion elected to the legisla 
 ture he repairs to Jacksonborough the British take 
 advantage of his absence. Marion hastens to the Pedee 
 country to quell a rising of the Tories under Major 
 Gainey. Murder of Col. Kolb by the Tories. Treaty 
 between Marion and Gainey. Marion protects Butler, 
 the tory. Evacuation of Charleston by the British^ 
 Marriage of Marion. His death. 
 
 MARION did not remain in the Santee river swamp 
 any longer than to refresh his men and call in new re 
 cruits, for the British commander, well convinced that 
 the career of British arms in South Carolina was not 
 to continue much longer, began to lay waste the plan 
 tations and destroy property. The prospects of gain 
 from the sale of negroes were too seducing to be re 
 sisted by the officers of the British army. They 
 plundered them from the plantations, and shipped them 
 from Charleston to the West Indies, where they found 
 a ready market. It has been computed that between 
 the years 1775 and 1783, the state of South Carolina 
 lost in this way twenty-five thousand negroes. It was 
 with a view of profit thus to be gained that the Tories 
 frequently made a rising, plundered the plantations of 
 the Whigs, carried off their negroes, and sold them to 
 148 
 
MASSACRE OP WHIGS BY TORIES. 149 
 
 the British officers for small prices. Against Tory 
 gatherings of this kind Marion and his brigade, every 
 now and then set forth, dispersing them and keeping 
 them in check. 
 
 The tidings of the capture of Cornwall is at York- 
 town,* reached the American camp on the 9th Novem 
 ber, and there was consequently much rejoicing. At 
 the same time, the thanks of Congress were forwarded 
 to Marion. 
 
 About the middle of November (the 18th) Greene 
 broke up his camp at the High Hills, and put his army 
 in motion. The British retreated before him, and such 
 was the success of the Americans, that the enemy were 
 completely shut up in the city of Charleston and its 
 isthmus. At this juncture, a desperate band of Tories 
 adopted the infernal scheme of taking their last revenge, 
 by carrying fire and sword into the plantations adjoin 
 ing the city. To this end, Major William Cunningham, 
 of the British militia, collected a party ; and having 
 furnished them with every thing necessary for laying 
 waste the country, sallied from Charleston. In the un 
 suspecting hour of sleep, and domestic security, they 
 entered the houses of solitary farmers, and sacrificed 
 to their revenge the obnoxious head of the family. 
 Their cruelties induced some small parties to associate 
 and arm in self-defence. Cap. Turner and twenty 
 men, on these principles, had taken post in a house and 
 defended themselves till their ammunition was expended. 
 After which they surrendered themselves, on receiving 
 assurance that they should be treated as prisoners of 
 war. Notwithstanding this solemn agreement, Turner 
 
 * 19th October, 1781. 
 13* 
 
150 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 and his party were put to instant death by Cunningham 
 and the men under his command. 
 
 Soon after this massacre, the same party of Tories 
 attacked a number of American militia, in the district 
 of Ninety-Six, commanded by Col. Hayes, and set fire 
 to the house in which they had taken shelter. The 
 only alternative left was either to be burned, or to sur 
 render themselves prisoners. The latter being preferred, 
 Col. Hayes and Cap. Daniel Williams were at once 
 hung on the pole of a fodder stack. The pole broke 
 and they fell, upon which Cunningham inhumanly cut 
 them to pieces with his own sword ; then, turning upon 
 the others, he continued on them his operations of sav 
 age barbarity, till the powers of nature being exhausted, 
 and his enfeebled limbs refusing to administer any 
 longer to his insatiate fury, he called upon his com 
 rades to complete the dreadful work, by killing which 
 ever of the prisoners they pi-eased. They instantly put 
 to death such of them as they personally disliked. 
 Only two fell in action, but fourteen were deliberately 
 cut to pieces.* 
 
 The further progress of this sanguinary officer and 
 his butchering followers, was checked by Marion, who 
 drove him back to Charleston. 
 
 The main army under Gen. Greene was now en 
 camped at Round O, situated between the Edisto and 
 Ashepoo rivers, about fifty miles from Charleston. 
 Greene detached Marion with his militia to the east of 
 Ashley river, with orders to guard the district between 
 that river and the Cooper. 
 
 The tattered condition of Greene s and Marion s 
 soldiers at this time, and their destitute situation, wag 
 
 * Ramsay. 
 
MARION IN THE LEGISLATURE. 151 
 
 such " that seven hundred of them were as naked as 
 they were born, excepting a small slip of cloth about 
 their waists ; and they were nearly as destitute of meat 
 as clothing. Though they had abundant reason to 
 complain, yet, while they were every day marching, 
 and almost every week fighting, they were in good 
 health, good spirits, and good humor; but when the 
 enemy was confined within his fortifications, and they 
 were inactive, they became sickly and discontented, and 
 a few began to be mutinous. Their long arrears of 
 pay, their deficiency of clothing, and their want of 
 many comforts, were forgotton whilst constant action 
 employed their minds and bodies ; but when an inter 
 ruption of hostilities gave them leisure to brood over 
 their calamities, these evils were presented to their 
 imaginations in aggravated colors. A plan was seri 
 ously laid to deliver their gallant and victorious leader 
 (Greene) into the hands of the British ; but the whole 
 design was happily discovered and prevented from 
 being carried into execution. To the honor of the 
 Continental army, it may with justice be added, that, 
 notwithstanding the pressure of their many sufferings, 
 the whole number concerned in the plot did not exceed 
 twelve."* 
 
 Early in the year 1782, Gen. Marion, leaving his 
 brigade near the Santee river, repaired himself to Jack- 
 sonborough, there to take his seat in the Legislature, 
 to which he had been elected a member from the par 
 ish of St. John s, Berkeley. His absence from the 
 command, inspired the enemy with the hope that a 
 corps which had heretofore been invulnerable might 
 now be struck. A detachment of seven hundred men, 
 
 * Appendix G. 
 
152 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 cavalry and infantry, under Col. Thompson,* passed 
 the Cooper river, near Charleston, late in the evening, 
 and proceeded towards the Santee Gen. Greene ob 
 tained a hint of the approach of this detachment against 
 the camp of Marion, and sent word to Marion that he 
 had better hasten to resume the command of his brig 
 ade. By a circuitous route and rapid riding, Marion 
 hurried from Jacksonborough, but hearing that the en 
 emy were retiring, he halted to refresh. This delay 
 proved fatal to his brigade. It was merely a feint of 
 the British, who, observing the greatest secresy, and 
 pushing their march with diligence, fell upon the camp 
 and completely routed the brigade. Some were killed, 
 some wounded, and the rest dispersed. Major Benson, 
 an active officer, was among the killed. Thompson 
 hastened back to Charleston with his detachment, and 
 Marion, undismayed by this loss, energetically com 
 menced reassembling his brigade. 
 
 For several months, the inhabitants of South Carolina 
 had been in the peaceable enjoyment of legal govern 
 ment, except Charleston, and a small range of country 
 on the little Pedee, where the British still held the pow 
 er. Major Gainey, (Marion s old enemy) and a band 
 of Tories, resided here ; and, insulated as they were, 
 still resisted, f The absence of Marion from that part 
 of the country emboldened them, and a rising took place. 
 
 * Benjamin Thompson, born in New Hampshire, espoused 
 the Royal cause, and after the war, was knighted. He subse 
 quently entered the Bavarian service, and was created Count 
 Rumford. 
 
 t A party of them, commanded by a Cap, Jones, surrounded 
 and set fire to the house of Col. Kolb, a respectable American 
 militia officer. He, after receiving assurance of being treated as a 
 prisoner of war, surrendered, Nevertheless, he was instantly put 
 to death in the presence of his wife and children. 
 
TREATY BETWEEN MARION AND GAINEY. 153 
 
 Marion, arranged his plans for quelling this insurrec 
 tion, and moved rapidly towards the Pedee country, 
 and sudden and unexpected was his arrival, and they 
 were taken by surprise. The very name of Marion 
 was a terror to them, and his presence doubly so. 
 They showed no disposition for fighting him. Gainey 
 sent a flag to Marion, announcing his readiness to re 
 new the treaty which had been entered into a year 
 previously. Commissioners were appointed on both 
 sides. These commissioners could not agree, and sepa 
 rated in anger ; after which Marion and Gainey met in 
 person, at a place called Birch s mill, on the 8th of June. 
 By the treaty which was here signed by the respective 
 commanders, more than five hundred men laid down 
 their arms. The treaty was in the following words. 
 
 ARTICLES of Treaty between General Marion, in behalf 
 of South Carolina, and Major Gainey, and the inhabi 
 tants under his command, which were included in the 
 Treaty made the 17th day of June, 1781. 
 
 " ARTICLE I. Major Gainey, and the men under his 
 command, to lay down their arms as enemies to the 
 State, and are not to resume them again until ordered 
 so to do, in support of the interests of the United 
 States, and of this State in particular. 
 
 ARTICLE II. We will deliver up all the negroes, horses, 
 cattle, and other property, that have been taken from 
 this or any other state. 
 
 ARTICLE III. We will demean ourselves as peaceable 
 citizens of this state, and submit ourselve^ to be 
 governed by its laws, in the same manner as the rest 
 of the citizens thereof. 
 
154 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 ARTICLE IV. We do engage to apprehend and de 
 liver up all persons within our district, who shall re 
 fuse to accede to these terms, and contumaciously 
 resist in rebellion against this state. 
 
 ARTICLE V. We will deliver up as soon as possible, 
 every man who belongs to any regular line in the 
 American service, and every inhabitant of North 
 Carolina, of this, or any other state, who having 
 joined us since the 17th of June 1781, when the 
 former Treaty was made, or oblige them to go out 
 of the district ; and whenever they return, to take 
 and deliver them into safe custody in any jail within 
 the state. 
 
 ARTICLE VI. Every man is to sign an instrument of 
 writing, professing his allegiance to the United States 
 of America, and the state of South Carolina in par 
 ticular ; and to abjure his Britannic Majesty, his heirs, 
 successors and adherents ; and promise to oppose all 
 the enemies of the United States, and the State of 
 South Carolina in particular. 
 
 ARTICLE VII. All arms, amunition, and other warlike 
 stores, the property of the British, to be delivered up. 
 
 ARTICLE VIII. The above seven articles being agreed 
 on, they shall have a full pardon for treasons com 
 mitted by them against the state, and enjoy their 
 property, and be protected by the laws thereof. 
 
 ARTICLE IX. Such men as do not choose to accede 
 to these Articles, shall have leave to go within the 
 British lines, and to march by the 25th inst, and be 
 safely conducted, with such of their wives and chil 
 dren as may be able to travel, and carry or sell their 
 property, except cattle, sheep and hogs, which they 
 may dispose of, but not carry with them. Such 
 women and children who cannot be removed, may 
 
BUTLER, THE TORY, PROTECTED. 155 
 
 remain until the 1st of September next. The officers 
 to keep their pistols and side arms ; all other arms 
 to be disposed of, and not carried with them. Each 
 field officer and captain to retain one horse, not 
 exceeding twelve in the whole ; and no other per 
 son to take with him any more horses that may be fit 
 for dragoon service, within the British lines. 
 We have agreed to the before- mentioned nine articles, 
 and have signed the same at Birch s mill, on Pedee, 
 this 8th day of June, 1782."* 
 
 Marion now set to work to bring all the inhabitants 
 of this disaffected district to submission. The wise and 
 forgiving policy pursued by him, was attended with the 
 happiest consequences. Bitter enemies were converted 
 into warm friends ; and many of these reclaimed citizens 
 enrolled themselves in the corps of Marion, ready to 
 fight by the side of their countrymen, whose lives they 
 had sought by night and by day, from the fall of Charles- 
 ton to the period of this Treaty. Marion granted writ 
 ten protections to all who came forward and subscribed 
 to the treaty, and took into custody those, who, unwil 
 ling to retire within the British lines, remained without 
 submitting. 
 
 Among others who submitted was a certain Capt. 
 Butler, who had been particularly oppressive upon the 
 Whig families of the Pedee country. It is said of him 
 that a more sanguinary being never existed. He had 
 cruelly oppressed and butchered some persons, whose 
 surviving friends were in the camp. Irritated to mad 
 ness at the thought that such a man was, by submission, 
 
 * (Signed,) Francis Marion, Brigadier General, State of South 
 Carolina. Micajah Gainey, Major of Loyalists, Pedee. 
 
156 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 to escape the just reward of his crimes, a hasty and in 
 temperate message was sent to Marion, purporting that 
 such a villain ought not to receive protection. To this 
 Marion calmly replied, " Confidently believing that 
 the pardon offered by the Governor would be granted, 
 the man whom you would destroy has submitted. Both 
 law and honor sanction my resolution. I will take 
 him to my tent, and at the hazard of my life protect 
 him." 
 
 A second message now informed him that Butler 
 should be dragged from his tent and be put to death. 
 " I am an officer acting under orders," replied Marion, 
 " and bound to defend him. I will do so though I 
 perish." He then collected a guard around the tent, 
 into which he had introduced Butler, and, at an early 
 hour after night-fall, had him conveyed to a place of 
 safety.* 
 
 Having effectually reduced the Pedee country to sub 
 mission, Marion, leaving a command of a hundred and 
 sixty men to maintain the ascendancy, hurried his re 
 turn to the Santee. Here the militia collected around 
 him, and he remained the scourge of the British and 
 Tories until the evacuation of Charleston. 
 
 In the summer of 1782 the British announced their 
 intention of evacuating Charleston. They offered to 
 pay for rice and other provisions that should be deliv 
 ered to them before their departure, and at the same 
 time threatened that if it was with-held, it should be 
 taken by force, and without compensation. The object of 
 Gen. Leslie (the British commander) was to provision 
 his fleet and troops previous to his departure. The 
 civil authority, incensed at the threat accompanying 
 
 * Garden s Anecdotes. 
 
COL. JOHN LAURENS. 157 
 
 this proposition, objected to any intercourse being open 
 ed between the town and country, and issued orders to 
 Gen. Greene to that effect. 
 
 In this state of matters, the British commander 
 urged to it by the necessity of his case, sent out parties 
 lo sieze provisions near the different landings, and to 
 bring them by water to Charleston. One of the most 
 considerable parties on this service was sent to the 
 Combakee river, where they arrived on the 25th of 
 August. 
 
 Brigadier General Gist, with about three hundred 
 cavalry and infantry of the Continental army, was de 
 tached by Greene to oppose them. The British with 
 a fleet of boats and schooners, had already rifled many 
 of the neighboring plantations, and ravaged the pro 
 perty of numerous persons who, their small means thus 
 taken from, were left comparatively destitute. 
 
 Gen. Gist captured one of their schooners, and in a 
 great degree frustrated their designs upon the Com 
 bakee. In this expedition Gist was joined by the young 
 and gallant Col. John Laurens, who, hearing of it, rose 
 from a sick bed, and resumed his command in the 
 brigade, and, emulous of distinction, solicited the post 
 of danger. The British, defeated by Gist from securing 
 provisions on the south side of the river, had crossed 
 it, and being apprized of the movements of Col. Lau 
 rens, they placed an ambush for him on the road which 
 he must pass to take command of the post to which he 
 had been appointed. 
 
 Laurens passed the night of the 26th at the planta 
 tion of a lady, whose house was so nigh the post to 
 which he was on his route, that it was easily practi 
 cable for him to spend a few hours in the company of 
 
 14 
 
15.8 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 some agreeable ladies at the house, and reach his 
 post before the break of day. At a late hour the com 
 pany broke up. Laurens, and his small party, set out ; 
 The British made an onset from their ambush, and 
 Laurens was killed at the first discharge. 
 
 Never was soldier more beloved by the people of 
 South Carolina than this gallant young officer. "Na 
 ture had adorned him," says Ramsey, " with a profu 
 sion of her choicest gifts, to which a well conducted 
 education had added its most useful as well as its most 
 elegant improvements. Though his fortune and family 
 entitled him to a pre-eminence, yet he was the warm 
 friend of Republican equality. Generous and liberal, 
 his heart expanded with genuine philanthropy. Zealous 
 for the rights of humanity, he contended that personal 
 liberty was the birth-right of every human being, how 
 ever diversified by country, color, or capacity. His 
 insinuating address won the hearts of all his acquaint 
 ances ; his sincerity and virtue secured their lasting 
 esteem. Acting from the most honorable principles 
 uniting the bravery and other talents of a great officer 
 with the knowledge of a complete scholar, and the en 
 gaging manners of a well-bred gentleman, he was the 
 idol of his country the glory of his army and an 
 ornament of human nature. His abilities shone in the 
 legislature and in the cabinet, as well as in the field, 
 and were equal to the highest stations. His admiring 
 country, sensible of his rising merit, stood prepared to 
 confer on him her most distinguished honors. Cut 
 down in the midst of these prospects, he left mankind 
 to deplore the calamities of war, which in the twenty- 
 seventh year of his life deprived society of so invalua 
 ble a citizen." 
 
 The evacuation of Charleston took place on the 14th 
 
EVACUATION OF CHARLESTON. 159 
 
 of December 1782. On that, and the succeeding day, 
 the British went on board their shipping, and the city 
 was entered by Gov. Matthews and the American army, 
 without any confusion or disorder. Those who re 
 mained in Charleston felt themselves happy in being 
 delivered from a garrison life. The exiled citizens ex 
 perienced sensations more easily conceived than ex 
 pressed, on returning to their houses and estates. The 
 patriot exulted in the acknowledged independence of 
 his country. The soldier rejoiced that the toils of war 
 were over, and the objects of it fully attained. The 
 farmer redoubled his industry, from the pleasing con 
 viction that the produce of his labor would be secured 
 to him without any danger from British bayonets. 
 Cheerfulness and good humor took possession of minds 
 that, during seven years, had been continually occupied 
 with anxiety and distress. 
 
 To this happy result, none had contributed more than 
 Francis Marion. 
 
 The citizens generally, instead of repining at their 
 losses, set themselves to repair them by diligence and 
 economy. The continental officers who had served in 
 the state, and whose bravery and exertions had ren 
 dered them conspicuous, were so well received by the 
 ladies, that several of them had their gallantry rewarded 
 by the hands of some of the finest women and greatest 
 fortunes in South Carolina. The adherents to Royal 
 Government were treated by those in power with mode 
 ration and lenity. Though the war was ended, some 
 address was necessary to compose the minds of the 
 people. Some of those who under every discourage 
 ment had steadily adhered to the cause of Independence, 
 took to themselves the appellation of the virtuous few, 
 and looked down with contempt on such of their fellow- 
 
160 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 citizens as had conformed their allegiance to existing 
 circumstances. A disposition to proscribe and banish 
 persons of the latter description showed itself under the 
 auspices of self-constituted committees ; but the weight 
 of government, and the influence of the better informed 
 citizens, was successfully exerted to counteract it. 
 
 After the evacuation of the city, the army was dis 
 banded. Such was the condition of the public treasury 
 of the United States, that Congress was scarcely able 
 to defray the expenses of the soldiers in returning to 
 their homes. The laurels they had dearly earned ; the 
 applause of their countrymen, which they had eminently 
 obtained ; and the plaudits of their consciences, which 
 they honestly possessed ; were almost the only rewards 
 they carried home at the termination of a war, in which 
 many had injured their constitutions, and all had dimin 
 ished their fortunes. Sympathizing with the embar 
 rassments of their countrymen, sensible of their inability 
 to pay them their stipulated dues, and confiding in their 
 justice to make them future retribution, they cheerfully 
 relinquished the uniform of the military for the plain 
 garb of the citizen. 
 
 After the war was over, Marion retired to his farm 
 at St. John s, Berkely. This lay within a short dis 
 tance of the usual routes of the British army, an d had 
 been repeatedly ravaged; and furniture, horses, stock, 
 clothing for his negroes, etc., were now wanting, and 
 he was without means to purchase. His friends held 
 out to him the prospect of half-pay, but this was never 
 granted him. He cheerfully set to work, however, and 
 with a manly industry retrieved his diminished fortunes 
 as much as possible. 
 
 The people of St. John s knew that his services were 
 not less valuable in the halls of legislation than in the 
 
MARION IN THE SENATE. 161 
 
 camp, and they elected him as their representative to 
 the Senate of the State, where, by his counsels, he ju 
 diciously aided the civil operations of a government, to 
 the establishment of which his sword had so largely 
 contributed. In his nature there was nothing vindic 
 tive, and his " poor deluded countrymen," as he termed 
 the Tories, found in him an advocate, who far from 
 visiting them with the severities with which others were 
 ready to retaliate upon them, always gave his voice 
 and vote on the side of mercy. " It is peace now," 
 said he. " God has given us the victory. Let us show 
 our gratitude to Heaven, which we shall not do by 
 cruelty to man." 
 
 Whilst he was a member of the Senate, the following 
 resolution was passed on the 26th of February 1783. 
 
 " RESOLVED, nem. con., That the thanks of this 
 House be given to Brigadier General Marion, in his 
 place, as a member of this House, for his eminent and 
 conspicuous services to his country. 
 
 RESOLVED nem. con., That a gold medal be given 
 to Brigadier General Marion, as a mark of public ap 
 probation for his great, glorious, and meritorious 
 conduct." 
 
 The President of the Senate, in conveying to Marion 
 the sense of the preceding resolutions, spoke of the in 
 expressible pleasure with which he was filled upon an 
 occasion so interesting ; " but when I reflect upon the 
 difficulty of doing justice to your distinguished merit, 
 I feel my own insufficiency. Your conduct merits the 
 applause of your countrymen ; your courage, your 
 vigilance, and your abilities, have exceeded their 
 most sanguine expectations and have answered all 
 their hopes." 
 
 To the speech of the President, (of which the quota 
 14* 
 
162 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 tion is but a brief extract,) Marion replied : " Mr. 
 President; The approbation which this house have 
 given of my conduct, in the execution of my duty, 
 gives me very pleasing and heartfelt satisfaction. The 
 honor which they have conferred on me this day, by 
 their thanks, will be remembered with gratitude. I 
 shall always be ready to exert my abilities for the good 
 of the state and the liberties of her inhabitants. I 
 thank you, sir, for the polite manner in which you have 
 conveyed to me the thanks of the Senate." 
 
 In the year 1784, the Legislature of South Carolina 
 passed a bill for the erecting and garrisoning of Fort 
 Johnson, in Charleston harbor. Marion was put in 
 command of this port, with a salary of $2000 per an 
 num ; the sum being voted him in remuneration for his 
 losses during the war. But in a year or two, citizens 
 grumbled their dissatisfaction, and it was finally re 
 duced to 8500. 
 
 At this time, a lady of wealth, who " loved him for 
 the dangers he had passed," disclosed the state of her 
 affections to some persons, who were the mutual friends 
 of either party, and Marion being made aware of the 
 impression he had made upon the heart of this lady, 
 solicited her hand, and was accepted. The name of 
 this lady was Miss Mary Videau, whose ancestors, like 
 his own, were among the Huguenots that sought liberty 
 of conscience on the shores of America, being denied 
 that inestimable privilege in the land of their birth. 
 
 Marion was past fifty years of age, and the lady was 
 not young. They lived happily together ^ and Marion, 
 " beloved by his friends, and respected by his enemies, 
 exhibited a luminous example of the beneficial effects 
 to be produced by an individual, who, with only small 
 
DEATH OF MARION. 163 
 
 means at his command, possesses a virtuous heart, a 
 strong head, and a mind devoted to the comman good." 
 The death of Marion took place at his residence in 
 St. John s parish, in the month of February 1795. 
 On his tomb is an inscription, which reads as follows. 
 " Sacred to the memory of Brigadier General Francis 
 Marion, who departed this life on the 27th of February 
 1795, in the sixty-third year of his age, deeply regret 
 ted by all his fellow citizens. History will record his 
 worth, and rising generations embalm his memory, as 
 one of the most distinguished patriots and heroes of the 
 American Revolution ; which elevated his native coun 
 try to Honor and Independence, and secured to her the 
 blessings of liberty and peace. This tribute of venera 
 tion and gratitude is erected in commemoration of the 
 noble and disinterested virtues of the citizen, and the 
 gallant exploits of the soldier, who lived without fear, 
 and died without reproach." 
 
 Francis Marion, in the trying times of the Revolu 
 tion, occupied one of the most difficult situations in 
 which a man can be placed. The scene of his exer 
 tions was (as we have seen) in a country where the 
 inhabitants were by no means unanimous in their oppo 
 sition to the British government ; but, surrounded as he 
 was by loyalists, and at the head of a soldiery unac 
 customed to subordination, he encountered and sur 
 mounted difficulties in situations that probability rendered 
 hopeless, and " with a steady hand he steered the vessel 
 amid the terrors of the storm, and through fearful 
 breakers safe into port." 
 
 To General Marion, as a military chieftain, our 
 Y 
 
164 MARION AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 country is deeply indebted, and, though for many years 
 he did not receive the approbation his valor had earned, 
 public conviction has of late become sensible of the 
 obligations that she owes him ; and it is now conceded, 
 that we are indebted as much to his untiring persever 
 ance in subduing the Tories, as to the prowess of Gen. 
 Greene against the British Armies, in bringing the 
 Southern war to a successful termination. But, glori 
 ous as is his name as a soldier, his greatest glory lies 
 in the moral excellence of his character, his spotless 
 integrity, disinterested patriotism, and invincible for 
 titude. He was patient under defeat, moderate in vic 
 tory. And, if in any matter we see the especial hand 
 of Providence, surely it is manifest in the remarkable 
 preservation of him throughout the numerous and im 
 minent dangers he passed during the Revolution. 
 
 The time-enduring fame of the patriot, is too often 
 lost amid the glitter of military renown, and the splen 
 dor of actions miscalled great. "Mankind," says Dr. 
 Channing, " when they hear of battles, the picture 
 which rises to their view, is not what it should be a 
 picture of extreme wretchedness, of the wounded, the 
 mangled, the slain ! These horrors are hidden under 
 the splendor of those mighty energies which break forth 
 amid the perils of the conflict, and which human nature 
 contemplates with an intense and heart-thrilling delight. 
 Attention hurries from the heaps of the slaughtered to 
 the victorious chief, whose single mind pervades and 
 animates a host, and directs with stern composure the 
 storm of battle, and the ruin which he spreads is for 
 gotten in admiration of his power. Thus, war is the 
 surest and speediest road to renown ; and war will 
 never cease while the field of glory, and the most lux 
 uriant laurels, grow from a root nourished with blood." 
 
CHARACTER OF MARION. 165 
 
 Alexander Cesar Napoleon ! In the halo of ad 
 miration with which we surround the names of these 
 conquerors, do we not thoughtlessly lose sight of the 
 horror and misery which strews the path to their great 
 ness ? The wars waged by them, what were they but 
 heaps of slaughter to create for themselves a mon 
 ument of military fame? Ambition Self was the 
 object of their energies ! Turning from these, how in 
 finitely more of intrinsic worth and real greatness, 
 purity of purpose, and love of country, are we called 
 upon to admire in the character of a Washington and 
 a Marion ! " The characters of these, judged by pos 
 terity, have risen in the estimation of men, whilst in 
 the career of Cromwell, Marlborough, Charles XII, 
 and other warriors, it is prominently glaring how pat 
 riotism dwindled as a motive until utterly lost amidst 
 baser sentiments." 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 A. PAGE. 45. 
 
 AFTER this, Mr. Bradley, was frequently carted to the 
 gallows to witness the execution of his countrymen as 
 rebels, and told to prepare for a similar fate next time. 
 On such occasions, and when interrogated at courts- 
 martial, he made no other reply than that " I am 
 ready and willing to die in the cause of my country ; 
 but remember, if I am hanged, I have many friends in 
 General Marion s brigade, and my death will occasion 
 a severe retaliation." Either awed by his virtues, or 
 apprehensive of consequences, his captors did not ex 
 ecute their threats. His life was spared, but he was 
 kept in irons as long as the British had possession of the 
 upper country. He bore the marks of these rugged 
 instruments of confinement till the day of his death, 
 and would occasionally show them to his young friends, 
 with a request " that if the good of their country re 
 quired the sacrifice, they would suffer imprisonment 
 and death in its cause." Vide RAMSAY, vol. 2. p. 403. 
 
 B. PAGE. 70. 
 
 The rapid movements of Marion, and effectual ser 
 vice he rendered the patriotic cause, at this early period 
 of his military career, are thus mentioned in his own 
 official correspondence with Gen. Gates. On the 29th 
 Aug. 1780, he writes from Pedee " As the militia 
 
 167 
 
168 APPENDIX. 
 
 is not under my command, some days I have not more 
 than a dozen with me. On Sep. 4th, marched with 
 53 men to attack a body of 200 Tories, who intended 
 to surprise me: surprised a party of 45, killed and 
 wounded all but fifteen, who escaped : met and at 
 tacked the main body, and put them to flight, though 
 they had 200 men."" Marched to Black Mingo, Sept. 
 24th, where was a guard of sixty of the [royalist] 
 militia; attacked them on the 28th; killed 3, wounded 
 and took 13 prisoners. I had 1 captain and 1 private 
 killed ; 1 captain, 1 lieutenant, and 6 privates wounded; 
 several of the enemy have since been found dead in a 
 swamp to which they took. So many of my men were 
 desirous of seeing their wives and families which have 
 been burnt out, that I found it necessary to retreat next 
 morning. The prisoners taken are men of fortune and 
 family, which I hope will check the militia from taking 
 arms against us." Vide GORDON, vol. 3. p. 112. 
 
 C. PAGE. 77. 
 
 Marion writes to Gates, Oct. 18th, 1780 "I have 
 never yet had more than 70 men to act with me, and 
 sometimes they leave me to 20 or 30." " Nov. 4th. 
 I crossed Pedee the 24th Oct ; the next night came up 
 with 200 men under Col. Tynes, whom I surprised ; 
 killed 6, wounded 14, and took prisoners 23, and got 
 80 horses and saddles, and as many stand of arms. 
 The Colonel made his escape ; but, sending a party to 
 the High Hills of Santee, he fell into our hands, with 
 several other prisoners, and some who have heen very 
 active against us and great plunderers. The militia 
 are now turning out better than they have done. At 
 present I have upwards of 200 men, and expect that 
 
APPENDIX. 169 
 
 in three or four days it will be double." " Black-river, 
 Nov. 9th, Col Tarieton [with his corps] has burnt all 
 the houses, and destroyed all the corn, from Camden 
 down to Nelson s ferry ; has behaved to the poor wo 
 men with great barbarity ; beat Mrs. Richardson, the 
 relict of Gen. Richardson, to make her tell where I 
 was, and has not left her a change of raiment. He 
 not only destroyed all the corn, but burnt a number of 
 cattle in the houses he fired. It is distressing to see 
 the women and children sitting in the open air round a 
 fire without a blanket, and women of family and that 
 had ample fortunes ; for he spares neither Whig nor 
 Tory. Most of the inhabitants to the southward are 
 ready and eager to take up arms against their task- 
 masters." " Nov. 21st, Tarieton retreated to Camden, 
 after destroying most of the houses and provisions on 
 the High Hills of Santee. I am obliged to act with so 
 few, as not to have it in my power to do any thing 
 effectual for want of men and ammunition." GORDON, 
 vol. 3. p. 113. 
 
 D. PAGE. 93. 
 
 The distinction of Whig and Tory took its rise 
 from the very beginning of the Revolutionary struggle. 
 Both parties in the interior country were then embodied, 
 and were obliged to impress provisions for their res 
 pective support. The advocates for Congress prevail 
 ing, they paid for articles consumed in their camps ; 
 but as no funds were provided for discharging the ex 
 penses incurred by the royalists, all that was consumed 
 by them was considered as robbery. 
 
 This laid the foundation of a practical war between 
 Whigs and Tories, which was productive of great dis- 
 15 
 
170 APPENDIX. 
 
 tress, and deluged the country with blood. After the 
 capitulation of Charleston, political hatred raged with 
 intense fury. In numerous instances the ties of nature 
 were dissolved. Countrymen, neighbors, friends, and 
 brothers took different sides. In every little precinct, 
 more especially in the interior parts of the state, 
 " king s-men" and " congress-men" were names of 
 distinction. Bad passions on both sides were kept in 
 continual agitation, and wrought up to a degree of 
 fury, which rendered individuals regardless not only 
 of the laws of war, but of the principles of humanity. 
 While the British had the ascendency, their partizans 
 gave full scope to their interested and malicious feel 
 ings. Persons of the worst character emerged from 
 their hiding-places in the swamps, called themselves 
 " king s-men," and appropriated to their own use 
 whatever came in their way. Every act of cruelty 
 and injustice was lawful, provided the actor called 
 himself a friend to the king, and the sufferer was 
 denominated a rebel. 
 
 Of those who were well-disposed to the patriotic side 
 of the contest, few were*, o be found who had not their 
 houses and plantations repeatedly rifled. Under the 
 sanction of subduing rebellion, private revenge was in 
 numberless instances gratified by cold-blooded murder. 
 In fact, rapine, outrage and murder, became so fre 
 quent as to interrupt the free intercourse between one 
 place and another, and people were obliged either en 
 tirely to abandon their home, or to sleep in woods and 
 swamps. RAMSAY, vol. 2. p. 446. 
 
APPENDIX. 171 
 
 E. PAGB 94. 
 
 IN consequence of the civil wars between Whigs and 
 Tories, and other calamities, resulting from the opera 
 tions of the British and American armies, South Caro 
 lina exhibited scenes of distress which were shocking to 
 humanity. The single district of Ninety-Six contained 
 within its limits fourteen hundred widows and orphans: 
 made so by the war. The American government was 
 suspended, and the British conquerors were careless of 
 the civil rights of the inhabitants. They conducted as 
 though interior order and police were scarcely objects 
 of attention. The will of the strongest was the law. 
 Such was the general complexion of those who called 
 themselves Royalists, that nothing could be expected 
 of them but outrages against the peace and order of 
 society. They were an ignorant, unprincipled banditti, 
 to whom idleness, licentiousness, and deeds of violence, 
 were familiar ; and others whose atrocities had exiled 
 them from society, attached themselves to parties of the 
 British ; and encouraged by their example, and insti 
 gated by the love of plunder, they committed the most 
 extensive depredations. Under the cloak of attachment 
 to the old government, they covered the basest and most 
 selfish purposes. The necessity which their indiscrimi 
 nate plundering imposed on all good men of defending 
 themselves, did infinitely more damage to the Royal 
 cause than was compensated by all the advantages re 
 suiting from their friendship. Vide RAMSAY, vol. 2, 
 p. 452. 
 
172 APPENDIX. 
 
 R PAGE 111. 
 
 Lord Corn wall is, after the action with Greene near 
 Guilford Court House, crossing Deep-river, marched for 
 Wilmington, and afterwards concluded upon marching 
 to Virginia. He arrived at Petersburg on the 20th of 
 May 1781. The young Marquis de La Fayette com 
 manded the American army, and so superior to the 
 American force did Cornwallis feel himself, that he ex- 
 ulted in the prospect of success, and despising the youth 
 of La Fayette, he unguardedly wrote to Great Britain 
 " the boy cannot escape me" La Fayette s little army 
 consisted of 1000 continentals, 2000 militia, and 60 
 dragoons. Cornwallis proceeded from Petersburg to 
 James river, which he crossed in order to dislodge La 
 Fayette from Richmond : it was evacuated on the 27th. 
 His lordship then marched through Hanover county, 
 and crossed the South Anna river ; La Fayette con 
 stantly following his motions, but at a guarded distance 
 in every part of his progress. His lordship at one time 
 planned the surprisal of the Marquis ; but was diverted 
 from his intention by a spy, whom the latter had sent 
 into the British camp. The following account of the 
 manner in which this spy got into the camp and out 
 again is not without interest. 
 
 Very desirous of obtaining full intelligence concern 
 ing the movements of his enemy, La Fayette had con 
 cluded upon prevailing, if possible, upon one Charles 
 (generally called Charley) Morgan, a Jersey soldier, of 
 whom he entertained a favorable opinion, to turn de 
 serter, and go over to the British army, in order to his 
 executing the business of a spy the more effectually. 
 Charley was sent for, and agreed to undertake the haz 
 ardous employ ; but insisted that in case he should be 
 
APPENDIX. 178 
 
 discovered and hanged, La Fayette, to secure his repu 
 tation, should have it inserted in the Jersey paper that 
 he was sent upon the service by his Commander. This 
 was promised him.* Charley then deserted, and, when 
 he had reached the royal army, was carried before 
 Corn wallis, who inquired into the reason of his deserting. 
 
 " I have been, my lord," said Charley, " with the 
 American army from the beginning, and while under 
 Gen. Washington, was satisfied ; but being put under a 
 Frenchman, I do not like it, and have left the service." 
 
 Cornwallis commended and rewarded his conduct. 
 Charley was very diligent in the discharge of his mili 
 tary duty, and was not in the least suspected ; but at 
 the same time carefully observed all that passed. One 
 day, while on duty with his comrades, Cornwallis, in 
 close conversation with some of his officers, called 
 Charley to him and said, 
 
 " How long time will it take the Marquis de La Fay 
 ette to cross James river?" 
 
 Charley paused for a moment, and answered, "Three 
 hours, my lord." 
 
 " Three hours ! why it will take three days." 
 
 " No, my lord," said Charley, " the Marquis has so 
 many boats, and each boat will carry so many men. 
 If your lordship will be at the trouble of calculating, you 
 will find he can cross in three hours." 
 
 Cornwallis turned to the officers, and in the hearing 
 of Charley remarked, " The scheme will not do." 
 
 Charley concluded that this was the time for his re 
 turning to the American camp. He, as soon as possi 
 ble, plied his comrades with grog till they were well 
 warmed, and then opened his masked battery. He 
 complained of the wants that prevailed in the British 
 camp, commended the supplies with which the Ameri- 
 15* 
 
174 APPENDIX. 
 
 cans abounded, expressed his inclination to return, and 
 then asked, " What say you, will you go with me ?" 
 They agreed. It was left to him to manage with the 
 sentinels. To the first he offered, in a very friendly 
 manner, the taking of a draught of rum from his can 
 teen. While the fellow was drinking, Charley secured 
 his arms, and then proposed his deserting with them, 
 to which he consented through necessity. The second 
 was served in like manner, and Charley by his manage 
 ment carried off seven deserters with him. When he 
 had reached the American army, and was brought into 
 the presence of La Fayette, the Marquis, upon seeing 
 him, cried out " Ha ! Charley, are you got back ?" 
 
 " Yes, and please your Excellency, and have brought 
 seven more with me," was Charley s respectful answer. 
 
 When Charley had related the reason of his return 
 ing, and the observations he had made, the Marquis 
 offered him money. But Charley declined it, and only 
 desired to have his gun again. The Marquis proposed 
 to promote him to the rank of a corporal or sergeant. 
 
 " I will not have any promotion, your Excellency," 
 Charley replied. " I have abilities for a common sol 
 dier, and have a good character. Should I be promoted, 
 my abilities may not answer, and I might lose my 
 character." He, however, nobly requested for his fel 
 low-soldiers, who were not so well supplied with shoes, 
 stockings and clothing as himself, that the Marquis 
 would promise to do what he could to relieve their dis 
 tress. Vide GORDON, vol. 3, p. 207. 
 
 G. PAGE 151. 
 
 This treason had for its object the purpose of seizing 
 Gen. Greene and delivering him over to the British. 
 Four sergeants of the Pennsylvania line, headed by one 
 
APPENDIX. 175 
 
 named Gornell, and a few others, were concerned in 
 this conspiracy. Gornell was a soldier heretofore much 
 esteemed, and possessed talents adapted to enterprize. 
 It was discovered, the night before they were to put 
 their meditated treachery into execution, that Gornell, 
 and his associates, held continual correspondence with 
 the enemy. Greene, acting with his customary de 
 cision, ordered the arrest and trial of Gornell. This 
 was immediately done ; and the prisoner being by the 
 court-martial condemned to die, the sentence of the 
 court was carried into effect on the 22d of April 1782. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 
 
 WILLIAM MOULTRIE, was a native of Great Britain, 
 but emigrated to South Carolina at an early age. He 
 served with distinction in the Cherokee war in 1760, 
 and in its last campaign commanded a company. 
 When difficulties occurred between the Mother Country 
 and her Colonies in North America, he zealously es 
 poused the cause of the latter, and, at the commence 
 ment of the Revolution, we find him a member of the 
 Provincial Congress, and a colonel of the second South 
 Carolina regiment. For his brave defence of Sullivan s 
 Island, he received the thanks of Congress, and the 
 fort was afterwards called by his name. In 1779 he 
 gained a victory over the British at Beaufort. He 
 afterwards received the commission of major-general, 
 and was second in command to Gen. Lincoln at the 
 siege of Charleston. After the close of the war he 
 was repeatedly elected governor of South Carolina. 
 He published " Memoirs of the Revolution in the Caro- 
 linas and Georgia," and died at Charleston in 1805. 
 
 BENJAMIN LINCOLN, was born at Hingham, Mas 
 sachusetts, in 1733, and was engaged in agricultural 
 pursuits until he was forty years old. At the com 
 mencement of the Revolution, he was elected a mem 
 ber of the Provincial Congress ; received the commission 
 of major-general in 1776, and vigorously employed 
 
 176 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 177 
 
 himself in improving the discipline of the militia. He 
 was second in command in the army which compelled 
 the surrender of Burgoyne, at Saratoga, in October 
 1777. On the day after the battle of Still water, he 
 received a dangerous wound in one of his legs, and 
 was confined for several months by its effects. He 
 was subsequently appointed to the command of the 
 Southern department, and while in this post attempted 
 the defence of Charleston, but capitulated in May 1780. 
 He was a prisoner until the November following, when 
 he was exchanged, and in the year following he joined 
 the army on the North River, NT. Y. Gen. Washington 
 placed great confidence in his military talents, and at 
 the siege of Yorktovvn he commanded a central division, 
 sharing largely in the dangers and honors of the day. 
 In 1781, he was appointed secretary of the war depart 
 ment, and on several occasions commissioner to treat 
 with the Indians. Peace being concluded, he returned 
 to Massachusetts, and in 1786 was appointed to com 
 mand the troops employed in the suppression of the 
 insurgents in that state. The insurgents, commanded 
 by Daniel Shays, were dispersed, and a few killed. 
 In 1788, he was chosen lieutenant-governor of Mas 
 sachusetts, and in 1789 he was a member of the con 
 vention which ratified the constitution of the United 
 States. He passed his days with honor, and closed 
 his useful career in 1810. He was the author of sev 
 eral interesting papers ; was a member of the Academy 
 of Arts and Sciences, etc. 
 
 JOHN RUTLEDGE, one of the earliest patriots of the 
 Revolution, in which he took an active part, and ren- 
 
178 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 
 
 dered his countrymen, the most effecient services. He 
 was a member of Congress, in 1774; commander-in- 
 chief of the province of South Carolina, in 1776 ; gov 
 ernor of it under the new constitution, in 1779 ; judge 
 of the court of chancery in 1784 ; judge of the Su 
 preme Court of the United States, in 1789; chief jus 
 tice of South Carolina, in 1791 ; and chief justice of 
 the United States, in 1796. His whole life, public and 
 private, was that of a pure patriot and upright citizen. 
 His death occurred in 1800. 
 
 AUGUSTUS DE KALB, a German nobleman, entered 
 the French service, and afterwards came to America. 
 He received the rank of major-general in the army under 
 Washington, and gained a high reputation as an officer. 
 He fell, fighting desperately at the head of his soldiers, 
 at the battle near Camden, in August 1780. As an 
 officer he was brave and skillful, and universally be 
 loved by those under his command. 
 
 HORATIO GATES, was an Englishman by birth, 
 (born in 1728,) and, having very early in life entered 
 the British army, rose by his merits to the rank of 
 major. He was under the command of Braddock in 
 that unfortunate officer s expedition against Fort Du- 
 quesne, and received in the famous battle with the In 
 dians a severe wound, which debarred him from active 
 service for some time. He settled in Virginia, where 
 he resided till the commencement of the Revolution. 
 Congress appointed him, in 1775, adjutant-general, 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 179 
 
 with the rank of brigadier, and in 1776, he received 
 the command of the army in Canada. In October 
 1777, he captured the army under Burgoyne. In 1780, 
 he was appointed to the chief command of the Southern 
 department, but proved unsuccessful, and was super 
 seded by Gen. Greene. He was restored to his com 
 mand in 1782. After the war, he resided on his farm 
 in Virginia for several years, but removed in 1790 to 
 New York, where he lived much esteemed and res 
 pected. He died in 1806. 
 
 COUNT PULASKI, was a native of Poland, a celebrated 
 soldier ; and he made brave, though successful, efforts 
 to restore his country to independence. During the 
 Revolution he came to America, and received the rank 
 of brigadier-general in the American army. At the 
 attack on Savannah in 1779, he was so seriously 
 wounded that he survived but a short time. Congress 
 voted to erect a monument to his memory. 
 
 CHARLES HENRY, COUNT D ESTAIGN, a French ad 
 miral, born in Auvergne. He was under Lally in the 
 East Indies, and escaped from an English prison by 
 breaking his parole. He was commander of the French 
 squadrons sent to assist the Americans, in their Revo 
 lutionary struggle, and was gullotined during the Reign 
 of Terror, arising out of the French Revolution. He 
 suffered in 1783. 
 
180 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 
 
 CHARLES CORNWALLIS, son of the first Earl of 
 Cornwallis, was born in 1738 ; educated at Westmin 
 ster, and St. John s College, Cambridge, and then en 
 tered the British army. In 1761 he succeeded to the 
 title. During the Revolution, he commanded in the 
 Southern states, and signalized himself at the siege of 
 Charleston ; but was surrounded at Yorktovvn and 
 compelled to capitulate. From 1786 to 1792, he was 
 governor-general of, and commander-in-chief in, the 
 British Indies. From 1798 to 1801, he was lord-lieu 
 tenant of Ireland. The treaty of Amiens, in 1802, was 
 signed by him. In 1804 he was again made governor- 
 general of India, and died in the fol owing year, at 
 Ghazepore, in the province of Benares. Sound prac 
 tical sense, not brilliant talent, was the characteristic of 
 Cornwallis. 
 
 SIR HENRY CLINTON, born in England, entered the 
 British army, served in the Hanoverian war ; he was 
 sent to America in 1775, with the rank of major-gen 
 eral. He distinguished himself at the battle of Bunker 
 Hill, evacuated Philadelphia in 1778, and took Charles 
 ton in 1780 ; for this last service he was thanked by the 
 House of Commons. He returned to England 1782, 
 and soon after published an account of the " Campaign 
 in 1781 83," which Cornwallis answered, and to 
 which Sir Henry replied. He was governor of Gibral- 
 ter in 1795, and died soon after. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 181 
 
 NATHANIEL GREENE, was born at Warwick, Rhode 
 Island, in 1741, and though he enjoyed but limited op 
 portunities of education, he early displayed a love of 
 study, and industriously applied himself to the acquisi 
 tion of such knowledge as was within his reach. He 
 was elected to the state legislature in 1770. In 1774 
 he enrolled himself as a private in a company called 
 the Kentish guards, and from this situation he was ele 
 vated to the command of three regiments, with the title 
 of major-general. In 1776, he accepted from Congress 
 a commission of brigadier-general, and distinguished 
 himself by his skill and bravery at the battles of Trenton 
 and Princeton. In 1778 he was appointed quarter 
 master general, and rendered great service in the office 
 by his talents for business. He presided at the court- 
 martial which tried Major Andre, and was appointed to 
 succeed the traitorous Arnold in command at West 
 Point. But he held this post only a brief time, being 
 appointed in that year (1780) to the command of the 
 Southern army. He assumed the command in Decem 
 ber, and in this situation displayed a prudence, intrepi 
 dity and firmness that elevated him to the first rank 
 among the officers of the American Revolution. In 
 September 1781, he commanded at the famous victory 
 of Eutaw Springs, for which he received from Congress 
 a British standard and a gold medal, as a testimony of 
 their value of his conduct and services. On the termi 
 nation of hostilities, he returned to Rhode Island, and 
 in 1785 removed with his family to Georgia, where he 
 died suddenly in June (the 19th) of the following year. 
 South Carolina had presented him with an estate worth 
 10.000; Georgia, with an estate a few miles from 
 Savannah, worth 5.000 ; and North Carolina, with 
 25.000 acres of land in the state of Tennessee. 
 16 
 
182 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 
 
 HENRY LEE, a Virginian, born in 1756, graduated 
 at Princeton college, and in 1776 was captain of one 
 of the six companies of cavalry raised by his native 
 state. These were afterwards embodied into one regi 
 ment, and added, in 1777, to the main body of the pro 
 vincials. At the battle of Germantown, Lee was se 
 lected with his company to attend Washington as his 
 body-guard. In 1780, with the rank of lieutenant- 
 colonel, he was sent with his legion to the army of the 
 south, and continued with it until the close of the war. 
 In 1786 he was a delegate to Congress from the state 
 of Virginia, and remained in that body until the adoption 
 of the present constitution. In 1792 he was honored 
 with the governor s chair of his native state, and in 
 1799 was again a member of Congress, and while 
 there he was selected to pronounce a funeral oration 
 upon the death of Washington. In the latter years of 
 his life he became embarrassed in his circumstances. 
 He was severely wounded during the riot in Baltimore, 
 1814, and his health declined. His death took place 
 in 1818. It was while confined for debt within the 
 limits of Spottsylvania county, that he prepared for 
 publication his " Memoirs of the Southern War," pub 
 lished in 1812 ; and from which excellent work a great 
 amount of information has been obtained for the present 
 compilation. 
 
 THOMAS SUMPTER, a very distinguished soldier of 
 the war in the southern states, was born in 1735. 
 Governor Rutledge appointed him brigadier-general in 
 1780, and his military career was bold and brilliant. 
 He took his seat in the United States senate, in 1811, 
 as a senator from the state of South Carolina. He 
 died at the age of 97 in 1832. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 183 
 
 OTHO HOLLAND WILLIAMS, a native of Virginia, 
 born in 1748. A company of riflemen was raised in 
 Frederick county at the beginning of the Revolution, 
 to which he was given the command, and he at once 
 repaired to the American camp near Boston. At the 
 capture of Fort Washington in New York, Williams 
 was taken prisoner. After being exchanged, he com 
 manded the 6th Maryland regiment, and was detached 
 to South Carolina, and, with the rank of adjutant-gen 
 eral, he continued to participate with zeal and activity 
 in the dangers of the campaign. He was subsequently 
 promoted to the rank of brigadier-general. He died 
 in 1794. 
 
 WILLIAM RICHARDSON DAVIE, was born in Eng 
 land, brought to America in his childhood, and educated 
 at Princeton college, where he graduated in 1776. He 
 studied law for a short time, but such was his interest 
 in the Revolution, he entered the army as a lieutenant 
 in Count Pulaski s legion, and distinguished himself by 
 his efficiency and courage. After the war, he devoted 
 himself to the practice of law ; and in 1787, he was 
 chosen a delegate from South Carolina to represent that 
 State in the Convention which framed the Constitution 
 of the United States. Unavoidable absence prevented 
 him from affixing his name to that instrument. He 
 was afterwards governor of North Carolina, etc. His 
 death occurred in 1820. His person was dignified ; as 
 a soldier no man was ever more courageous ; his legal 
 abilities were more than ordinary. 
 
184 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 
 
 JOHN EAGER HOWARD, a native of Baltimore city, 
 born in 1752. He was one of the most distinguished 
 officers of the American Revolution, and at the battle 
 of Cowpens, he had in his hands the swords of seven 
 British officers, who had surrendered to him personally. 
 After the war he resided on his estate, near Baltimore, 
 and the citizens of Maryland subsequently elected him 
 to the dignity of governor of their state, and he was 
 also a member of the United States Senate. He died 
 at the age of seventy-five in 1827. " As a patriot and 
 a soldier," said Gen. Greene, " Colonel Howard de 
 served a statue of gold no less than Roman and Grecian 
 heroes." 
 
 WILLIAM WASHINGTON, born in Virginia, served 
 in the Revolutionary war from the commencement of 
 the contest, received a wound at the battle of Trenton, 
 distinguished himself in the Southern campaigns, and 
 commanded the cavalry at the battle of Cowpens. For 
 his bravery and military skill at this battle, Congress 
 presented him with a sword. It was his misfortune to 
 be wounded and taken prisoner at Eutaw Springs, 
 which deprived his country of his services for the re 
 mainder of the war. He remained a prisoner until the 
 conclusion of the war, after which he married, and 
 settled in South Carolina ; in the legislature of which 
 state he exhibited the talents and virtues of an honest 
 statesman. His death took place in 1810. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 185 
 
 FRANCIS HASTINGS, LORD RAWDON, son of the Earl 
 of Moira, in Ireland, and born in 1754, educated at Ox 
 ford, travelled on the continent of Europe, and entered 
 the British army as an ensign. He was among the 
 troops sent to America at the commencement of the 
 Revolution, and took part in the engagement at 
 Bunker s Hill. He subsequently commanded in South 
 Carolina, where he displayed considerable valor, and 
 was perhaps the most efficient of the British officers in 
 the Southern war. Illness obliged him to embark for 
 Europe ; on the passage the ship in which he sailed 
 was captured by the French, and taken into Brest ; he 
 was soon released, and reached England, and was re 
 warded for his exertions in America by being created 
 a peer. In parliament he distinguished himself, and in 
 1793, upon the death of his father, he succeeded to the 
 title of Earl Moira. In 1794, with the rank of major- 
 general, he commanded, under the duke of York, against 
 the French armies in Holland. The Whigs -wished to 
 place him at the head of the ministry in 1797, but 
 were unsuccessful. In 1812, having for several years 
 previous been employed in political negotiations, he re 
 ceived the appointment of governor-general of British 
 India, in which office he evidenced great abilities. He 
 resigned in 1822, and returned to England. After 
 which he was appointed governor of the island of Malta. 
 He died in Nov. 1825. 
 
 JOHN LAURENS, son of Henry Laurens, the Ameri 
 can patriot and statesman, was liberally educated in 
 England, and, having returned to his native country, 
 joined the American army in 1777. He displayed pro- 
 16* 
 
186 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 
 
 digies of valor at Brandy wine, German town, Monmouth, 
 Savannah and Charleston, and was killed at the very 
 close of the war in a slight skirmish. In 1780, he was 
 sent as a special minister to France to negotiate a loan, 
 and, after being subjected to a vexatious delay, he de 
 termined to present a memorial to the king in person 
 at the levee. This purpose he carried into effect: the 
 memorial was graciously received by Louis XVI., and 
 the object of negotiation satisfactorily arranged. He 
 was but twenty-seven years old at the time of his death 
 in 1782. 
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON, the illustrious founder of 
 American independence, was born in 1732, in the 
 county of Fairfax, in Virginia, where his father was 
 possessed of great landed property. He was educated 
 under the care of a private tutor, and paid much atten 
 tion to the study of mathematics and engineering. He 
 was first employed officially by General Dinwiddie, 
 in 1753, in remonstrating to the French commander 
 on the Ohio, for the infraction of the treaty between 
 the two nations. He subsequently negotiated a treaty 
 of amity with the Indians on the back settlements, and 
 for his honorable services received the thanks of the 
 British Government. In the unfortunate expedition 
 of General Braddock he served as aid-de-camp, and on 
 the fall of that brave but rash commander, he conducted 
 the retreat to the corps under Colonel Dunbar in a 
 manner that displayed great military talent. He re 
 tired from the service with the rank of colonel, but 
 while engaged in agriculture at his favorite seat of 
 Mount Vernon, he was elected senator in the national 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 187 
 
 council for Frederic county, and afterwards for Fair 
 fax. At the commencement of the revolutionary war, 
 he was selected as the most proper person to take the 
 chief command of the provincial troops. From the 
 moment of taking upon himself this important office, 
 in June, 1775, he employed the great powers of his 
 mind to his favorite object, and by his prudence, his 
 valor, and presence of mind he deserved and obtained 
 the confidence and gratitude of his country, and finally 
 triumphed over all opposition. The record of his 
 services is the history of the whole war. He joined 
 the army at Cambridge in July, 1775. On the evacua 
 tion of Boston in March, 1776, he proceeded to New 
 York. The battle of Long Island was fought on the 
 27th of August, and the battle of White Plains on the 
 28th of October. On the 25th of December he crossed 
 the Delaware, and soon gained the victories at Trenton 
 and Princeton. The battle of Brandy wine was fought 
 on September llth, 1777; of Germantown, October 
 4th; of Monmouth, February 28th, 1778. In 1779 
 and 1780 he continued in the vicinity of New York, 
 and closed the important military operations of the war 
 by the capture of Cornwallis, at Yorktown, in 1781. 
 When the independence of his country was established 
 by the treaty of peace, Washington resigned his high 
 office to the congress, and, followed by the applause, 
 and the grateful admiration of his fellow-citizens, re 
 tired into private life. His high character and services 
 naturally entitled him to the highest gifts his country 
 could bestow, and on the organization of the govern 
 ment he was called upon to be the first president of the 
 states which he had preserved and established. It was 
 a period of great difficulty and danger. The unsub 
 dued spirit of liberty had been roused and kindled by 
 
188 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 
 
 the revolution of France, and many Americans were 
 eager that the freedom and equality which they them 
 selves enjoyed should be extended to the subjects of 
 the French monarch. Washington anticipated the 
 plans of the factious, and by prudence and firmness 
 subdued insurrection, and silenced discontent, till the 
 parties which the intrigues of Genet the French envoy 
 had roused to rebellion, were convinced of the wildness 
 of their measures and of the wisdom of their governor. 
 The president completed, in 1796, the business of his 
 office by signing a commercial treaty with Great 
 Britain, and then voluntarily resigned his power at a 
 moment when all hands and all hearts were united, again 
 to confer upon him the sovereignty of the country. 
 Restored to the peaceful retirement of Mount Vernon, 
 he devoted himself to the pursuits of agriculture; and 
 though he accepted the command of the army in 1798, 
 it was merely to unite the affections of his fellow 
 citizens to the general good, and was one more sacrifice 
 to his high sense of duty. He died after a short ill 
 ness on the 14th of December, 1799. He was buried 
 with the honors due to the noble founder of a happy 
 and prosperous republic. History furnishes no parallel 
 to the character of Washington. He stands on an un- 
 approached eminence ; distinguishad almost beyond 
 humanity for self-command, intrepidity, soundness of 
 judgment, rectitude of purpose, and deep ever active 
 piety. 
 
 JOHN CADWALADER, was born in Philadelphia, and 
 rose to the rank of brigadier-general in the American 
 army during the revolutionary war. He was a man 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 189 
 
 of inflexible courage, and possessed in a high degree 
 the esteem and confidence of Washington. In 1778, 
 he was appointed by Congress general of cavalry, an 
 appointment which he declined on the score of being 
 more useful in the situation he then occupied. After 
 the war he was a member of the assembly of Mary 
 land, and died in 1786, in the 44th year of his age. 
 
 CHARLES LEE, a major-general in the army of the 
 American revolution, was born in North Wales, and 
 became an officer when very young. He served at 
 an early age in America, and afterwards distinguished 
 himself under General Burgoyne, in Portugal. He 
 subsequently entered the Polish service, wandered all 
 over Europe, killed an Italian officer in a duel, and in 
 1773 sailed for New York. Espousing the cause of 
 the colonies, he received a commission from Congress 
 in 1775, with the rank of major-general. In 1776 he 
 was invested with the command at New York, and 
 afterwards with the chief command in the southern 
 department. In December, 1776, he was made 
 prisoner by the English, as he lay carelessly guarded 
 at a considerable distance from the main body of the 
 army in New Jersey. He was kept prisoner till the 
 surrender of Burgoyne, in 1777, and treated in a man 
 ner unworthy of a generous enemy. In 1778, he was 
 arraigned before a court-martial, in consequence of his 
 misconduct at the battle of Monmouth, and was sus 
 pended from any commission in the army of the 
 United States for one year. He retired to a hovel in 
 Virginia, living in entire seclusion, surrounded by his 
 books and his dogs. In 1782, he went to reside at 
 
190 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 
 
 Philadelphia, where he died in obscurity in October 
 of the same year. He was a man of much energy 
 and courage, with considerable literary attainments, 
 but morose and avaricious. He published essays on 
 military, literary and political subjects, which with his 
 extensive correspondence were collected in a volume 
 in 1792. The authorship of the Letters of Junius has 
 been ascribed to him. 
 
 RICHARD HENRY LEE, an eminent American patriot, 
 and signer of the Declaration of Independence, was 
 born in Virginia in 1732, and received his education 
 in England. He returned to his native country when 
 in his nineteenth year, and devoted himself to the 
 general study of history, politics, law, and polite litera 
 ture, without engaging in any particular profession. 
 In his 25th year, he was chosen a delegate to the house 
 of burgesses, where he soon distinguished himself by 
 his powers in debate. In 1764, he was appointed to 
 draught an address to the king, and a memorial to the 
 house of lords, which are amongst the best state papers 
 of the period. His efforts in resisting the various en 
 croachments of the British government were indefati 
 gable, and in 1774 he attended the first general Congress 
 at Philadelphia, as a delegate from Virginia. He was 
 a member of most of the important committees of this 
 body, and laboured with unceasing vigilance and 
 energy. The memorial of Congress to the people of 
 British America, and the second address of Congress 
 to the people of Great Britain, were both from his pen. 
 In June, 1776, he introduced the measure that de 
 clared the colonies free and independent states, and 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 191 
 
 supported it by a speech of the most brilliant eloquence. 
 He continued to hold a seat in Congress till June, 
 1777, when he solicited leave of absence, on account 
 of the delicate state of his health. In August of the 
 next year, he was again elected to Congress, and con 
 tinued in that body till 1780, when he declined a re 
 election till 1784. In that year he was chosen presi 
 dent of Congress, but retired at the close of it, and in 
 1786 was again chosen a member of the Virginia 
 assembly. He was a member of the convention which 
 adopted the present constitution of the United States, 
 and one of the first senators under it. In 1792 he 
 again retired from public life, and died in 1794. 
 
 PATRICK HENRY, an American orator and statesman, 
 was born in Virginia in 1736, and after receiving a 
 common school education, and spending some time in 
 trade and agriculture, commenced the practice of the 
 law, after only six weeks of preparatory study. After 
 several years of poverty, with the encumbrance of a 
 family, he first rose to distinction in managing the 
 popular cause in the controversy between the legisla 
 ture and the clergy, touching the stipend which was 
 claimed by the latter. In 1765 he was elected a 
 member of the house of burgesses, with express refer 
 ence to an opposition to the British stamp act. In 
 this assembly he obtained the honor of being the first 
 to commence the opposition to the measures of the 
 British government, which terminated in the revolu 
 tion. He was one of the delegates sent by Virginia 
 to the first general congress of the colonies, in 1774, 
 and in that body distinguished himself by his boldness 
 
192 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 
 
 and eloquence. In 1776 he was appointed the first 
 governor of the commonwealth, and to this office was 
 repeatedly re-elected. In 1786 he was appointed by 
 the legislature one of the deputies to the convention 
 held at Philadelphia, for the purpose of revising the 
 federal constitution. In 1788* he was a member of the 
 convention, which met in Virginia to consider the 
 constitution of the United States, and exerted himself 
 strenuously against its adoption. In 1794 he retired 
 from the bar, and died in 1799. Without extensive 
 information upon legal or political topics, he was a 
 natural orator of the highest order, possessing great 
 powers of imagination, sarcasm and humor, united 
 with great force and energy of manner, and a deep 
 knowledge of human nature. 
 
 THOMAS JEFFERSON was born in Albemarle county, 
 Virginia, in 1743, and was entered a student in the 
 college of William and Mary. On leaving this semi 
 nary, he applied himself to the study of the law, 
 under the tuition of the celebrated George Wythe, and 
 was called to the bar in 1766. He soon occupied a 
 high stand in his profession, and at the early age of 
 twenty-five entered the house of burgesses of his 
 native state. In 1774 he published a Summary View 
 of the Rights of British America, a bold but respectful 
 pamphlet addressed to the king. In 1775 he was 
 elected a member of the continental congress, and in 
 the following year draughted the Declaration of Inde 
 pendence. Between 1777 and 1779 he was employed 
 together with George Wythe and Edmund Pendleton 
 on a commission for revising the laws of Virginia. In 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 193 
 
 1779 he was elected governor of Virginia, and con 
 tinued in office until June, 1781. In the latter year 
 he commenced his celebrated Notes on Virginia, and 
 in 1787 published it under his own signature. In 
 November, 1783, he again took his seat in the con 
 tinental congress, and in May following was appointed 
 minister plenipotentiary, to act abroad with Adams and 
 Franklin in the negotiation of commercial treaties. In 
 1785 he was appointed to succeed Dr. Franklin as 
 minister to the court of Versailles, and performed the 
 duties of this office till 1789, when he returned to his 
 native country and was placed by President Washington 
 at the head of the department of state. In 1797 he 
 became vice-president, and in 1801 president of the 
 United States. At the expiration of eight years he 
 again retired to private life, and took up his residence 
 at Monticello. He still continued anxious to promote 
 the interest of science and literature, and devoted the 
 attention of several years to the establishment of a 
 university in Virginia. He died on the fourth of July, 
 1826, the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of In 
 dependence. In stature Mr. Jefferson was six feet 
 and two inches high. His person was erect and well 
 formed, though spare. In his manners he was simple 
 and unaffected, simple in his habits, and incessantly 
 occupied with the pursuits of business or study. Four 
 volumes of his Correspondence have been published 
 since his decease. 
 
 NICHOLAS BIDDLE, an American naval officer was 
 born in Philadelphia, in 1750. He entered the 
 British fleet in 1770, having previously served several 
 17 
 
194 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 
 
 years as a seaman on board merchant ships. On the 
 commencement of hostilities between the colonies and 
 the mother country, he returned to Philadelphia, and 
 received from Congress the captaincy of the Andrew 
 Doria, a brig of 14 guns, employed in the expedition 
 against New Providence. Towards the close of 1776, 
 he received command of the Randolph, a new frigate 
 of 32 guns, with which he soon captured a Jamaica 
 fleet of four sail richly laden. This prize he carried 
 into Charleston, and was soon after furnished by the 
 government of that town with four additional vessels, 
 to attack several British cruisers, at that time harassing 
 the commerce of the vicinity. He fell in with the 
 royal line of battle ship Yarmouth, of 64 guns, on the 
 7th of March, 1778, and after an action of twenty 
 minutes, perished with all his crew except four, by the 
 blowing up of the ship. 
 
 JOHNSON BLAKELY, a captain in the United States 
 navy during the late war, was born in Ireland in 1781. 
 TWO years after, his father emigrated to the United 
 States and settled in North Carolina. Young Blakely 
 was placed, in 1796, at the university of North Caro 
 lina, but circumstances having deprived him of the 
 means of adequate support, he left college, and in 1800 
 obtained a midshipman s warrant. In 1813 he was 
 appointed to the command of the Wasp, and in this 
 vessel took his Brittanic Majesty s ship Reindeer, after 
 an action of nineteen minutes. The Wasp afterwards 
 put into L Orient ; from which port she sailed August 
 27th. On the evening of the first of September, 1814, 
 she fell in with four sail, at considerable distances 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 195 
 
 from each other. One of these was the brig-of-war 
 Avon, which struck after a severe action ; but Captain 
 B. was prevented from taking possession by the ap 
 proach of another vessel. The enemy reported that 
 they had sunk the Wasp by the first broadside, but 
 she was afterwards spoken by a vessel off the Western 
 Isles. After this we hear of her no more. Captain 
 Blakely was considered a man of uncommon courage 
 and intellect. 
 
 DANIEL BOONE, one of the earliest settlers in 
 Kentucky, was born in Virginia, and was from in 
 fancy addicted to hunting in the woods. He set out 
 on an expedition to explore the region of Kentucky, in 
 May, 1769, with five companions. After meeting with 
 a variety of adventures, Boone was left with his 
 brother, the only white men in the wilderness. They 
 passed the winter in a cabin, arid in the summer of 
 1770 traversed the country to the Cumberland river. 
 In September, 1773, Boone commenced his removal 
 to Kentucky with his own and five other families. He 
 was joined by forty men, who put themselves under 
 his direction ; but being attacked by the Indians, the 
 whole party returned to the settlements on Clinch 
 river. Boone was afterwards employed by a company 
 of North Carolina, to buy, from the Indians, lands on 
 the south side of the Kentucky river. In April, 1775, 
 he built a fort at Salt-spring, where Boonesborough is 
 now situated. Here he sustained several sieges from 
 the Indians, and was once taken prisoner by them 
 while hunting with a number of his men. In 1782 
 the depredations of the savages increased to an alarm- 
 2A 
 
196 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 
 
 ing extent, and Boone, with other militia officers, col 
 lected one hundred and seventy-six men, and went in 
 pursuit of a large body, who had marched beyond the 
 Blue Licks, forty miles from Lexington. From that 
 time till 1798, he resided alternately in Kentucky and 
 Virginia. In that year, having received a grant of 
 two thousand acres of land from the Spanish autho 
 rities; he removed to Upper Louisiana, with his children 
 and followers, who were presented with eight hun 
 dred acres each. He settled with them at Charette, 
 on the Missouri river, where he followed his usual 
 course of life, hunting and trapping bears, till Sep 
 tember, 1822, when he died in the eighty-fifth year of 
 his age. He expired while on his knees, taking aim 
 at some object, and was found in that position, with 
 his gun resting on the trunk of a tree. 
 
 JOHN BURGOYNE, was a natural son of Lord Bingley 
 he entered early into the army; and in 1762 displayed 
 much talent and enterprise, in command of a party of 
 British troops in Portugal. In the American war, h* 
 led the army which was to penetrate from Canada 
 into the revolted provinces. At first, he was success 
 ful ; but, insuperable obstacles thickening round him, 
 he was ultimately compelled to surrender at Saratoga. 
 Disgusted by the conduct of the ministry after his re 
 turn, he resigned all his employments. He died in 
 August, 1792. Burgoyne wrote the dramas of the 
 Heiress, the Maid of the Oaks, the Lord of the Manor, 
 and Richard Coeur de Lion ; some pamphlets in his 
 own defence ; and a Probationary Ode. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 197 
 
 JOHN CHAMPE, a soldier in the American Revolution, 
 was born in Louden county, Virginia. In the year 
 1776 he was appointed a sergeant-major in Lee s regi 
 ment of cavalry, and after the discovery of Arnold s 
 treason was employed by Washington in a service of 
 much danger and difficulty; this was, to visit the 
 British army as a deserter, in order to ascertain if any 
 other American officers were engaged in that conspiracy, 
 and to secure if possible the person of Arnold. In the 
 latter object of his enterprise he unfortunately failed, 
 but he effected his own escape in safety, and returned 
 to his companions. Washington treated him munifi 
 cently, and presented him with his discharge from 
 further service, lest, in the vicissitudes of war, he should 
 fall into the hands of the enemy, and perish upon a 
 gibbet. He died in Kentucky about the year 1797 
 
 GEORGE ROGERS CLARKE, colonel in the service of 
 Virginia against the Indians in the revolutionary war, 
 distinguished himself greatly in that post, and rendered 
 efficient service to the inhabitants of the frontiers. In 
 1779 he descended the Ohio and built fort Jefferson 
 on the eastern bank of the Mississippi; in 1781 he re 
 ceived a general s commission. He died in 1817 at 
 his seat near Louisville, Kentucky. 
 
 RICHARD DALE, an American naval commander, was 
 born in Virginia in 1756. At twelve years of age he 
 was sent to sea, and in 1776 he entered as a midship 
 man on board of the American brig of war Lexington. 
 
 17* 
 
198 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 
 
 In the following year he was taken prisoner by a 
 British cruiser, and after a twelve month confinement 
 lie escaped from Mill prison, and succeeded in reach 
 ing France. Here he joined, in the character of 
 master s mate, the celebrated Paul Jones, then com 
 manding the American ship Bon Homme Richard. 
 He was soon raised to the rank of first lieutenant and 
 signalized himself in the sanguinary engagement be 
 tween the Bon Homme Richard and the English 
 frigate Serapis. In 1794, the United States made him 
 a captain in the navy, and in 1801 he took command 
 of the American squadron which sailed in that year 
 from Hampton roads to the Mediterranean. From the 
 year 1802, he passed his life in Philadelphia, in the 
 enjoyment of a competent estate, and much esteemed 
 by his fellow-citizens. He died in 1826, leaving the 
 reputation of a brave and intelligent seaman. 
 
 STEPHEN DECATUR, a distinguished officer in the 
 navy of the United States, was born in Maryland iu 
 1779, and received his education in Philadelphia. 
 He entered the navy in 1798, and first distinguished 
 himself when in the rank of lieutenant, by the destruc 
 tion of the American frigate Philadelphia, which had 
 run upon a rock in the harbor of Tripoli, and fallen 
 into the hands of the enemy. For this exploit, the 
 American Congress gave him a vote of thanks and a 
 sword, and the president immediately sent him a cap 
 taincy. At the bombardment of Tripoli the next year, 
 he distinguished himself by the capture of two of the 
 enemy s boats, which were moored along the mouth 
 of the harbor, and immediately under the batteries. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 199 
 
 When peace was concluded with Tripoli, Decatur re 
 turned home in the Congress, and afterward succeeded 
 Commodore Barron in the command of the Chesapeake. 
 In the late war between Great Britain and the United 
 States, his chief exploit was the capture of the British 
 frigate Macedonian, commanded by Captain Garden. 
 In January, 1815, he attempted to sail from New 
 York, which was then blockaded by four British ships ; 
 but the frigate under his command was injured in pass 
 ing the bar, and was captured by the whole squadron, 
 after a running fight of two or three hours. He was 
 restored to his country after the conclusion of peace. 
 In the summer of the same year, he was sent with a 
 squadron to the Mediterranean, in order to compel the 
 Algerines to desist from their depredations on American 
 commerce. He arrived at Algiers on the twenty-eighth 
 of June, and in less than forty-eight hours terrified 
 the regency into an entire accession to all his terms. 
 Thence he went to Tripoli, where he met with like 
 success. On returning to the United States, he was 
 appointed a member of the Board of Commissioners 
 for the navy, and held that office till March, 1820, 
 when he was shot in a duel with Commodore Barron. 
 He was a man of an active and powerful frame, and 
 possessed a high degree of energy, sagacity, and 
 courage. 
 
 GEORGE WYTHE, a signer of the Declaration of 
 American Independence, was born in Virginia in 1726. 
 His early course was dissipated, but at the age of thirty 
 he .reformed, turned his attention to literature, studied 
 law and commenced its practice. At the breaking out 
 
200 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 
 
 of the revolution he was a distinguished leader of the 
 popular party. He was for some time speaker of the 
 house of burgesses, and in 1775 was elected a member 
 of Congress. He was one of the committee to revise 
 the laws of Virginia in 1776, and had a principal 
 share in preparing the code adopted in 1779. Soon 
 after he was appointed one of the three judges of the 
 high court of chancery, and subsequently sole counsel 
 lor. He was a member of the convention of Virginia 
 to consider the constitution of the United States. 
 His death, which was attributed to poison, took place 
 in 1806. 
 
 JOHN PAUL JONES, a native of Scotland, was born 
 in 1747, at Selkirk, and settled in America when young. 
 He distinguished himself by his bravery in the 
 American service, during the contest with the mother 
 country, particularly in a desperate action with the 
 Serapis frigate, which he captured. He died in Paris 
 in 1792, and was buried at the expense of the national 
 convention. Jones was not only a man of signal 
 courage, but also of great talent, and keen sagacity, 
 wrote poetry, and in France aspired to be a man of 
 fashion. His memorials and correspondence are quite 
 voluminous. 
 
 GEORGE WALTON, a signer of the Declaration of 
 American Independence, was born in Frederic county, 
 Virginia, about the year 1740. He was early ap 
 prenticed to a carpenter, but at the expiration of his 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 201 
 
 apprenticeship he removed to Georgia and entered the 
 office of an attorney at law. In 1776 he was elected 
 to the continental congress. At the siege of Savannah 
 he was wounded and taken prisoner, but was exchanged 
 in September, 1779. In the following month he was 
 appointed governor of the state, and in the succeeding 
 January was elected a member of Congress for two 
 years. 
 
 DAVID RAMSEY, an American historian, was born in 
 Pennsylvania, in 1749, was educated at Princeton 
 College, and commenced the study of medicine. After 
 practising a short time in Maryland, he removed to 
 Charleston, South Carolina, in 1773, and soon rose 
 to an extensive practice. He took an active and early 
 part in the cause of the colonies, and was for some 
 time a surgeon in the revolutionary army. In 1782 
 he was chosen to a seat in Congress. He wrote a 
 History of the Revolution in South Carolina ; a History 
 of the American Revolution ; a Life of Washington ; a 
 History of South Carolina ; and a History of the 
 United States. He died in 1815. 
 
 CHARLES COTESWORTH PINCKNEY, a distinguished 
 officer of the revolutionary army, was born in South 
 Carolina, received his education in England, and 
 studied law in the Temple. On returning to his 
 native province in 1769, he devoted himself to the 
 successful practice of his profession. On the com 
 mencement of hostilities he renounced law for the 
 
202 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 
 
 study of military tactics, and was soon promoted to 
 the command of the first regiment of Carolina infantry. 
 He was subsequently aid-de-camp to Washington, and 
 in this capacity at the battles of Brandywine and 
 Germantown. On the surrender of Charleston he 
 was taken prisoner, and remained so till all opportunity 
 of gaining fresh reputation in the field, had passed. 
 He was a member of the convention which formed 
 the federal constitution, and in 1796 was appointed 
 minister to France. When preparations were making 
 for war on account of the expected French invasion, 
 Mr. Pinckney was nominated a major-general, but he 
 soon had an opportunity of retiring to the quiet of 
 private life. He was afterwards president of the 
 Cincinnati Society of the United States. He died in 
 1825. 
 
 DANIEL MORGAN, a distinguished officer in the army 
 of the American Revolution, was born in New Jersey, 
 and removed to Virginia in 1755. He enlisted in 
 Braddock s expedition as a private soldier, and on the 
 defeat of that general returned to his occupation as a 
 farmer. At the commencement of the Revolution he 
 was appointed to the command of a troop of horse, 
 and joined the army under Washington, then in the 
 neighbourhood of Boston. He distinguished himself 
 very much in the expedition against Quebec, where 
 he fell into the hands of the enemy. On the exchange 
 of prisoners, he rejoined the American army, was ap 
 pointed to the command of a select rifle corps, and 
 detached to assist General Gates on the northern fron 
 tier, where he contributed materially to the capture of 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 203 
 
 General Burgoyne. After a short retirement from 
 service, on account of ill health, he was appointed 
 brigadier-general by brevet, and commanded at the 
 force by which Colonel Tarleton was routed at the 
 battle of Cowpens. He soon after resigned his com 
 mission. In 1794 he commanded the militia of 
 Virginia called out to suppress the insurrection in 
 Pennsylvania, and continued in the service till 1795. 
 He afterwards was elected to a seat in Congress. He 
 died in 1799. 
 
 JAMES NICHOLSON, an officer in the American navy, 
 was born in Chestertown, Maryland, in 1737. He 
 followed the life of a sailor till the year 1763, when 
 he married and settled in the city of New York. 
 Here he remained until 1771, when he returned to his 
 native province. At the commencement of the Revolu 
 tion, the government of Maryland built and equipped 
 a ship of war, called the Defence, and the command 
 of her was intrusted to Nicholson. He performed 
 various exploits during the war, and before the close 
 of it was taken prisoner and carried into New York. 
 He died in 1806. 
 
 JAMES MONROE, President of the United States, 
 born in Virginia, in 1759, and was educated in William 
 and Mary College. He entered the revolutionary war 
 in 1776 as a cadet, was at the battles of Haerlem 
 Heights and White Plains, and in the attack on Trenton, 
 and rose through the rank of lieutenant to that of cap- 
 
204 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 
 
 tain. He was present at the battles of Brandywine. 
 Germantown, and Monmouth, as aid to Lord Sterling* 
 Resuming the study of the law, he entered the office 
 of Mr. Jefferson, and after being a member of the 
 assembly of Virginia and the council, he was elected 
 in 1783, a member of the old Congress. In 1790 he 
 was elected a member of the Senate of the United 
 States, in 1794 went as minister plenipotentiary to 
 France, and in 1799 was appointed governor of 
 Virginia. In 1803 he was appointed minister extra 
 ordinary to France, in the same year minister to Lon 
 don, and in the next minister to Spain. In 1806 he 
 was again appointed in conjunction with Mr. William 
 Pinkney, minister to London. He was subsequently 
 governor of Virginia ; in 1811 was appointed secretary 
 of state, and continued to exercise the duties of this 
 department, and for some time those of the department 
 of war, till 1817. In that year he was chosen presi 
 dent of the Union, and in 1821 was re-elected by a 
 vote, unanimous, with the single exception of one vote 
 in New Hampshire. He died in New York, on the 
 fourth of July, 1831. 
 
 ARTHUR MIDDLETON, a signer of the Declaration of 
 American Independence, was born in South Carolina 
 in 1743, and received his education in Europe. Soon 
 after his return home, he began to take an active part 
 in the revolutionary movements, and in 1776 was 
 chosen one of the delegates from his native state to the 
 American Congress. At the close of the year 1777 
 he resigned his seat, leaving behind a character for 
 the purest patriotism and unwavering resolution. In 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 205 
 
 the year 1779 many of the southern plantations were 
 ravaged, and that of Mr. Middleton did not escape. 
 On the surrender of Charleston he was taken prisoner 
 and kept in confinement for nearly a year. In 1781 
 he was appointed a representative to Congress, and 
 again in 1782. In the latter year he went into retire 
 ment, and died in 1787. 
 
 JOHN ADAMS, a distinguished patriot of the American 
 Revolution, was born in 1735, at Braintree, Massachu 
 setts. He was educated at the University of Cam 
 bridge, and received the degree of master of arts in 
 1758. At this time he entered the office of Jeremiah 
 Gridley, a lawyer of the highest eminence, to complete 
 his legal studies ; and in the next year he was admitted 
 to the bar of Suffolk. Mr. Adams at an early age es 
 poused the cause of his country, and received numer 
 ous marks of the public confidence and respect. He 
 took a prominent part in every leading measure, and 
 served on several committees which reported some of 
 the most important state papers of the time. He was 
 elected a member of the Congress, and was among the 
 foremost in recommending the adoption of an indepen 
 dent government. It has been affirmed by Mr. Jeffer 
 son himself, " that the great pillar of support to the 
 Declaration of Independence, and its ablest advocate 
 and champion on the floor of the house was John 
 Adams." In 1777 he was chosen commissioner to 
 the court of Versailles, in the place of Mr. Dean, who 
 was recalled. On his return, about a year afterwards, 
 he was elected a member of the convention to prepare 
 a form of government for the state of Massachusetts, 
 18 
 
206 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 
 
 and placed on the sub-committee chosen to draught the 
 project of a constitution. Three months after his re 
 turn, Congress sent him abroad with two commissions, 
 one as a minister plenipotentiary to negotiate a peace, 
 the other to form a commercial treaty with Great 
 Britain. In June, 1780, he was appointed in the place 
 of Mr. Laurens ambassador to Holland, and in 1782 
 he repaired to Paris, to commence the negotiation for 
 peace, havjng previously obtained assurance that Great 
 Britain would recognise the independence of the 
 United States. At the close of the war Mr. Adams was 
 appointed the first minister to London. In 1789 he 
 was elected vice-president of the United States, and 
 on the resignation of Washington, succeeded to the 
 presidency in 1797. After his term of four years had 
 expired, it was found, on the new election, that his 
 adversary, Mr. Jefferson, had succeeded by the majority 
 of one vote. On retiring to his farm in Quincy, Mr. 
 Adams occupied himself with agriculture, obtaining 
 amusement from the literature and politics of the day. 
 The remaining years of his life were passed in almost 
 uninterrupted tranquillity. He died on the fourth of 
 July, 1826, with the same words on his lips, which 
 > fifty years before, on that glorious day, he had uttered 
 on the floor of Congress " Independence for ever." 
 Mr. Adams is the author of An Essay on Canon and 
 Feudal Law ; a series of letters published under the 
 signature of Novanglus ; and Discourses on Davila. 
 
 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, a philosopher and statesman, 
 the son of a soap-boiler and tallow chandler, was born 
 in 1706, at Boston, in America. He was apprenticed 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 207 
 
 as a printer to his brother, at Boston. It was while 
 he was with his brother that he began to try his 
 powers of literary composition. Street ballads and 
 articles in a newspaper were his first efforts. Dis 
 satisfied with the manner in which he was treated by 
 his relative, he, at the age of seventeen, privately 
 quitted him, and went to Philadelphia, where he ob 
 tained employment. Deluded by a promise of patron 
 age from the governor, Sir William Keith, he visited 
 England to procure the necessary materials, for esta 
 blishing a printing office in Philadelphia ; but, on his 
 arrival at London, he found that he had been deceived, 
 and he was obliged to work as a journeyman for 
 eighteen months. While he was in the British 
 metropolis, he wrote a Dissertation on Liberty and 
 Necessity, Pleasure and Pain. In 1726 he returned 
 to Philadelphia ; not long after which he entered into 
 business as a printer and stationer, and, in 1728, esta- 
 tablished a newspaper. His prudence soon placed 
 him among the most prosperous of the citizens, and 
 the influence which prosperity naturally gave was en 
 hanced by his activity and talent. Chiefly by his ex 
 ertions, a public library, a fire preventing company, an 
 insurance company, and a voluntary association for 
 defence, were established at Philadelphia. In 1732, 
 he began Poor Richard s Almanac. His first public 
 employment was that of clerk to the general assembly 
 of Pennsylvania ; his next that of postmaster; and he 
 was subsequently chosen as a representative. Philoso 
 phy, also, now attracted his attention, and he began 
 those inquiries into the nature of electricity, the results 
 of which have ranked him high among men of science. 
 In 1753, he was appointed deputy postmaster-general 
 of British America ; and from 1757 to 1762, he resided 
 
208 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 
 
 in London, as agent for Pennsylvania and other colonies. 
 The last of these offices was intrusted to him again in 
 1764, and he held it till the breaking out of the con 
 test in 1775. After his return to America, he took an 
 active part in the cause of liberty, and, in 1778, he 
 was despatched, by the Congress, as ambassador to 
 France. The treaty of alliance with the French 
 government, and the treaties of peace, in 1782 and 
 1783, as well as treaties with Sweden and Prussia, 
 were signed by him. On his reaching Philadelphia, 
 in September, 1785, his arrival was hailed by applaud 
 ing thousands of his countrymen, who conducted him 
 in triumph to his residence. He died April 17th T 
 1790. His Memoirs, written by himself, but left un 
 finished, and his Philosophical, Political, and Mis 
 cellaneous Works, have been published by his grand 
 son, in six volumes octavo. 
 
 SAMUEL ADAMS, one of the most remarkable men 
 connected with the American Revolution, was born at 
 Boston in 1722. He was educated at Harvard College, 
 and received his honors in 1740. He was one of the 
 first who organized measures of resistance to the 
 mother country ; and for the prominent part which he 
 took in these measures he was proscribed by the 
 British government. During the revolutionary war, 
 he was one of the most active and influential asserters 
 of American freedom and independence. He was a 
 member of the legislature of Massachusetts from 1766 
 to 1774, when he was sent to the first Congress of the 
 old confederation. He was one of the signers of the 
 Declaration of 1776, for the adoption of which he had 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 209 
 
 always been one of the warmest advocates. In 1781 
 he retired from Congress, but only to receive from his 
 native state additional proofs of her confidence in his 
 talents and integrity. He had already been an active 
 member of the convention that formed her constitution, 
 and after it went into effect, he was placed in the 
 senate of the state, and for several years presided over 
 that body. In 1789 he was elected lieutenant-governor, 
 and held that office till 1794 ; upon the death of Han 
 cock, he was chosen governor, and was annually re- 
 elected till 1797, when he retired from public life. He 
 died in 1803. The following encomium upon Mr. 
 Adams is from a, work upon the American Rebellion, 
 by Mr. Galloway, published in Great Britain, 1780 ; 
 " He eats little, drinks little, sleeps little, thinks much, 
 and is most indefatigable in the pursuit of his object. It 
 was this man, who, by his superior application, managed 
 at once the factions in Congress at Philadelphia, and 
 the factions of New England." 
 
 WILLIAM PINKNEY, an eloquent lawyer and states 
 man, was born in Maryland in 1765, and prepared 
 himself for the bar under the instruction of Judge 
 Chase. He was admitted to practice in 1786, and 
 soon gave indications of possessing superior powers. 
 He was a member of the convention of Maryland 
 which ratified the federal constitution. In 1776 he 
 was appointed one of the commissioners under the 
 British treaty. The state of Maryland also employed 
 him to procure a settlement of its claims on the Bank 
 of England, and he recovered for it the sum of eight 
 hundred thousand dollars. This detained him in 
 
210 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 
 
 England till the year 1804, when he returned and re 
 sumed his professional labors. In 1806 he was sent 
 as envoy extraordinary to London, and in 1808 re 
 ceived the authority of minister plenipotentiary. He 
 returned to the United States in 1811, and soon after 
 was appointed attorney-general. This office he held 
 till 1814. During the incursion of the British into 
 Maryland, he commanded a battalion, and was wounded 
 in the battle of Bladensburgh in August, 1814. He 
 was afterwards representative in Congress, minister 
 plenipotentiary to Russia, envoy to Naples, and in 
 1819 senator in Congress. In the last office he con 
 tinued till his death in 1822. 
 
 OLIVER HAZARD PERRY, an American naval officer, 
 was born in Rhode Island in 1785. Entering the 
 navy in 1798, he served in the Mediterranean in the 
 expedition against Tripoli, and distinguished himself 
 in the late war with Great Britain by obtaining a 
 splendid victory over a superior force on Lake Erie. 
 For this exploit he was raised to the rank of captain. 
 He commanded the Java in the expedition to the 
 Mediterranean under Commodore Decatur. He died 
 in the West Indies in 1820. 
 
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