The Life of George Washington, Vol. 4 (of 5)
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The late movement of the British army had left the garrison of Ninety
Six and of Augusta exposed to the whole force of Greene, and he
determined to direct his operations against them. Lee was ordered to
proceed against the latter, while the general should march in person
to the former.
The post at Ninety Six was fortified. The principal work, which, from
its form, was called the Star, and which was on the right of the
village, consisted of sixteen salient and reentering angles, and was
surrounded by a dry ditch, fraize, and abattis. On the left was a
valley, through which ran a rivulet that supplied the place with
water. This valley was commanded on one side by the town prison, which
had been converted into a block-house, and on the other by a stockade
fort, in which a block-house had been erected. The garrison, commanded
by Lieutenant Colonel Cruger, was ample for the extent of the place,
but was furnished with only three pieces of artillery.
On evacuating Camden, Lord Rawdon had given directions that the
garrison of Ninety Six should retire to Augusta; but his messengers
were intercepted; and Cruger, remaining without orders, determined to
put his post in the best possible state of defence.
[Sidenote: Greene invests Ninety Six.]
On the 22nd of May the American army, consisting of about one thousand
continental troops, appeared before the town, and encamped in a wood,
within cannon shot of the place. On the following night they broke
ground, within seventy yards of the British works; but the besieged
having mounted several guns in the star, made a vigorous sally under
their protection, and drove the advanced party of the besiegers from
their trenches, put several of them to the bayonet, and brought off
their intrenching tools.
This sortie was made with such rapidity, that, though General Greene
put his whole army in motion, the party making it had accomplished the
object and retired into the fort, before he could support his troops
in the trenches. After this check, the siege was conducted with more
caution, but with indefatigable industry.
On the 8th of June, Lee rejoined the army with the troops under his
command.
The day after the fall of fort Granby, that active officer proceeded
with great celerity to join General Pickens, and lay siege to Augusta.
On the march, he took possession of fort Golphin, on the northern bank
of the Savannah, which surrendered on the 21st of May; immediately
after which the operations against Augusta were commenced.
The place was bravely defended by Lieutenant Colonel Brown; but the
approaches of the besiegers were so well conducted, that on the 5th of
June he was reduced to the necessity of capitulating; and the
prisoners, amounting to about three hundred, were conducted by Lee to
the main army.
This reinforcement enabled General Greene, who had till then made his
approaches solely against the star, to commence operations against the
works on the left also. The direction of the advances to be made in
that quarter was entrusted to Lieutenant Colonel Lee. While the
besiegers urged their approaches in the confidence that the place must
soon capitulate, Lord Rawdon received a reinforcement which enabled
him once more to overrun the state of South Carolina.
{June 7.}
On the third of June three regiments arrived from Ireland; and, on the
seventh of that month, Lord Rawdon marched at the head of two thousand
men to the relief of Ninety Six. Greene received intelligence of his
approach on the eleventh, and ordered Sumpter, to whose aid the
cavalry was detached, to continue in his front, and to impede his
march by turning to the best account every advantage afforded by the
face of the country. But Lord Rawdon passed Sumpter below the junction
of the Saluda and Broad rivers, after which that officer was probably
unable to regain his front.
Greene had also intended to meet the British and fight them at some
distance from Ninety Six, but found it impossible to draw together
such aids of militia as would enable him to execute that intention
with any prospect of success. The only remaining hope was to press the
siege so vigorously as to compel a surrender before Lord Rawdon could
arrive.
{June 17.}
In the execution of this plan, the garrison was reduced to
extremities, when the near approach of his lordship was communicated
to Cruger, by a loyalist who passed through the American lines, and
extinguished every hope of carrying the place otherwise than by storm.
Unwilling to relinquish a prize he was on the point of obtaining,
Greene resolved to essay every thing which could promise success; but
the works were so strong that it would be madness to assault them,
unless a partial attempt to make a lodgement on one of the curtains of
the star redoubt, and at the same time to carry the fort on the left,
should the first succeed.
{June 18.}
[Sidenote: Is repulsed and retires from before that place.]
The proper dispositions for this partial assault being made,
Lieutenant Colonel Lee, at the head of the legion infantry and
Kirkwood's company, was ordered to assault the works on the left of
the town; while Lieutenant Colonel Campbell was to lead the first
regiment of Maryland, and the first of Virginia, against the star
redoubt. The lines of the third parallel were manned, and all the
artillery opened on the besieged. About noon the detachments on this
service marched cheerfully to the assault. Lee's attack on the left
was successful. He forced the works in that quarter and took
possession of them. But the resistance on the right was more
determined, and Campbell, though equally brave, was less fortunate.
Lieutenants Duval of Maryland, and Selden of Virginia, led the forlorn
hope, and entered the ditch with great intrepidity; but its depth, and
the height of the parapet opposed obstructions which could not be
surmounted. After a severe conflict of more than half an hour, during
which Lieutenants Duval and Selden were both badly wounded, and nearly
all the forlorn hope were either killed or wounded, the assault was
relinquished, and the few who remained alive were recalled from the
ditch. The next day, Greene raised the siege, and, crossing the
Saluda, encamped on Little River. The loss of the besieging army, in
killed and wounded, amounted to one hundred and fifty-five men, among
the former of whom was Captain Armstrong of Maryland. That of the
garrison has been stated at eighty-five.
On the morning of the 21st of June, Lord Rawdon arrived at Ninety Six;
and, on the evening of the same day, marched in quest of the American
army. In the preceding operations of the campaign, he had felt the
want of cavalry so severely that, while at Monk's Corner, and in
Charleston, he had formed a corps of one hundred and fifty horse.
[Sidenote: Active movements of the two armies.]
Greene, foreseeing that his active adversary would avail himself to
the utmost of his superiority, had sent his sick and wounded
northward; and, as soon as Rawdon had crossed the Saluda, he retreated
towards Virginia. Lord Rawdon pursued him to the Eunora, whence he
returned to Ninety Six.
The retreat ceased with the pursuit. General Greene halted near the
cross roads, on the north of Broad River.
As Rawdon retired, he was followed close by the legion as far as
Ninety Six, at which place he remained but two days. Still retaining
the opinion that circumstances required him to contract his posts, he
left the principal part of his army, under the command of Lieutenant
Colonel Cruger, to protect the loyalists while removing within those
limits which were to be maintained by the British forces; and, at the
head of less than one thousand men, marched in person towards the
Congaree.
Supposing that his adversary intended to preserve the post at Ninety
Six, where the royalists were numerous, and to establish one or two on
the Congaree, where provisions were more plentiful than in any other
part of the state, Greene determined to interrupt the execution of the
plan which he believed to have been formed. Leaving his sick and
baggage at Wynnsborough, to be conducted to Camden, he marched with
the utmost expedition for Friday's ferry on the Congaree, at which
place Lord Rawdon had arrived two days before him. As Greene drew near
to his enemy, a detachment from the legion under the command of
Captain Eggleston, announced his approach by attacking a foraging
party within a mile of the British camp, and bringing off a troop
consisting of forty-five men, with their officers and horses. Rawdon
retreated the next day to Orangeburg, where he formed a junction with
a detachment from Charleston, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Stuart.
{July 11.}
On the Congaree, Greene was reinforced by Sumpter and Marion with
about one thousand men; and, on the 11th of July, marched towards
Orangeburg with the intention of attacking the British army at that
place. He arrived there the next day, but found it so strongly posted
as to be unassailable. He offered battle, but prudence restrained him
from attacking the enemy in his camp.
{July 13.}
At this place, intelligence was received of the evacuation of Ninety
Six, and that Lieutenant Colonel Cruger was marching down to
Orangeburg. The north branch of the Edisto, which, for thirty miles,
was passable only at the place occupied by Rawdon, interposed an
insuperable obstacle to any attempt on Cruger; and Greene thought it
most adviseable to force the British out of the upper country by
threatening their lower posts at Monk's corner and at Dorchester.
Sumpter, Marion, and Lee, were detached on this service; and, on the
same day, Greene moved towards the high hills of Santee, a healthy
situation, where he purposed to give some refreshment and repose to
his harassed army, and where he hoped to be joined by a few
continental troops and militia from North Carolina.
The detachments ordered against the posts in the north-eastern parts
of the state, under the command of Sumpter, were not so completely
successful as their numbers, courage, and enterprise deserved. The
several corps took distinct routes, intending to fall on the different
posts between Ashley and Cooper rivers, at the same time. That at
Dorchester was broken up, on the approach of Lee, who captured horses,
military stores, and baggage to a considerable amount, and obtained
some trivial successes over the flying enemy. Lieutenant Colonel Wade
Hampton, of the state cavalry, fell in with a body of mounted
refugees, dispersed the whole, and made forty or fifty prisoners.
Sumpter advanced against Monk's corner. This post was defended by
Lieutenant Colonel Coates with the 19th British regiment, and a troop
of horse. He had taken possession of a brick church at a bridge over
Biggin creek, the most northern of the water courses which form the
west branch of Cooper river. After passing Biggin, the road to
Charleston crosses first Wattoo, and then Quinby creek; neither of
which is passable except at the bridges over which the road leads, and
at a ferry over Quinby.
On the sixteenth, Sumpter approached Monk's corner, but, not supposing
himself strong enough to hazard an attack until all his detachments
should be collected, sent a party to seize the bridge over Wattoo, and
either to hold or to destroy it. This party being attacked by a
superior force, retired from the bridge without completing its
destruction, and without informing Sumpter that his orders had not
been fully executed.
Marion had joined Sumpter. Lee arrived late in the evening, and the
resolution was taken to attack Coates early next morning.
In the course of the night he set fire to the church, in order to
destroy the stores which were collected in it, and commenced his march
to Charleston, by the road east of Cooper. Having repaired the bridge
over Wattoo, he met with no obstruction; and proceeded with his
infantry on the road leading to Quinby bridge, directed his cavalry to
take a road turning to the right, and crossing the creek at the ferry.
About three next morning, the flames bursting through the roof of the
church announced the retreat of the British; and the pursuit was
immediately commenced. Sumpter was preceded by the legion, supported
by the state cavalry. A detachment from this regiment followed the
British horse, in the vain hope of overtaking the troop at the ferry,
while Lee pursued the infantry. Within a short distance of the bridge,
which is eighteen miles from Monk's corner, he perceived the rear
guard of the British, consisting of about one hundred men, commanded
by Captain Campbell, which the cavalry charged, sword in hand. They
threw down their arms, and begged for quarter; upon which they were
placed under the care of a few militia horsemen, and the American
cavalry resumed the pursuit.
They had not proceeded far, when Lee was called to the rear, by
information that the prisoners had been ordered to resume their arms.
At this critical moment, Armstrong, at the head of the leading
section, came in sight of Coates, who having passed the bridge, and
loosened the planks, lay, unapprehensive of danger, intending to
destroy it as soon as his rear guard should cross the creek.
Armstrong, in obedience to orders, given in the expectation that he
would overtake Coates before passing the creek, dashed over the bridge
on the guard stationed at the opposite end with a howitzer, which he
seized. In this operation, his horses threw off some of the loosened
planks, and made a chasm, over which the following section, led by
Lieutenant Carrington, leaped with difficulty. In doing this some
other planks were thrown off, and the horses of the third section
refused to take the leap. At this time Lee came up, and every effort
was made to replace the planks, but without success. The creek was too
deep and miry to afford foot hold to those who attempted to raise them
from the water.
This halt revived the courage of the British soldiers, who returned to
the support of their commander, then engaged in an equal conflict with
the cavalry who had passed the bridge. These gallant men[4] finding
themselves overpowered by numbers, and that their comrades could not
support them, pressed over the causeway, and wheeling into the woods,
made their escape.
[Footnote 4: Mr. Johnson states that Captain M'Cauley, of
South Carolina, had joined Armstrong and Carrington. Some of
the troopers were killed on the bridge.]
After finding the impracticability of replacing the planks on the
bridge, in attempting which, Doctor Irvin, surgeon of the legion
cavalry, and several of the troopers were wounded, Lee withdrew from
the contest, and moved some distance up the creek, to a ford where he
was soon joined by the infantry of the legion.
Coates then completed the demolition of the bridge, and retired to an
adjoining plantation, where he took possession of the dwelling house
and out buildings that surrounded it.
As the Americans were obliged to make a considerable circuit, Sumpter,
who unfortunately left his artillery behind, did not arrive on the
ground till three in the afternoon, and at four the house was
attacked. The fire was kept up chiefly by Marion's division, from a
fence near the house, till evening, when the ammunition was exhausted,
and the troops were called off. In the course of the night, it was
perceived that the loss had fallen almost entirely on Marion. Great
discontent prevailed, and many of the men left him. The infection was
communicated to Sumpter's troops, and there being reason to fear the
approach of Lord Rawdon, the enterprise was abandoned. Sumpter crossed
the Santee; and the legion rejoined the army, then encamped at the
high hills of that river.
The intense heat of this sultry season demanded some relaxation from
the unremitting toils which the southern army had encountered. From
the month of January, it had been engaged in one course of incessant
fatigue, and of hardy enterprise. All its powers had been strained,
nor had any interval been allowed to refresh and recruit the almost
exhausted strength and spirits of the troops.
The continued labours and exertions of all were highly meritorious;
but the successful activity of one corps will attract particular
attention. The legion, from its structure, was peculiarly adapted to
the partisan war of the southern states; and, by being detached
against the weaker posts of the enemy, had opportunities for
displaying with advantage all the energies it possessed. In that
extensive sweep which it made from the Santee to Augusta, which
employed from the 15th of April to the 5th of June, this corps, acting
in conjunction, first with Marion, afterwards with Pickens, and
sometimes alone, had constituted an essential part of the force which
carried five British posts, and made upwards of eleven hundred
prisoners. Its leader, in the performance of these services, displayed
a mind of so much fertility of invention and military resource, as to
add greatly to his previous reputation as a partisan.
The whole army had exhibited a degree of activity, courage, and
patient suffering, surpassing any expectation that could have been
formed of troops composed chiefly of new levies; and its general had
manifested great firmness, enterprise, prudence, and skill.
The suffering sustained in this ardent struggle for the southern
states was not confined to the armies. The inhabitants of the country
felt all the miseries which are inflicted by war in its most savage
form. Being almost equally divided between the two contending parties,
reciprocal injuries had gradually sharpened their resentments against
each other, and had armed neighbour against neighbour, until it became
a war of extermination. As the parties alternately triumphed,
opportunities were alternately given for the exercise of their
vindictive passions. They derived additional virulence from the
examples occasionally afforded by the commanders of the British
forces. After overrunning Georgia and South Carolina, they seem to
have considered those states as completely reannexed to the British
empire; and they manifested a disposition to treat those as rebels,
who had once submitted and again taken up arms, although the temporary
ascendency of the continental troops should have induced the measure.
One of these executions, that of Colonel Hayne, took place on the
third of August, while Lord Rawdon[5] was in Charleston, preparing to
sail for Europe. The American army being at this time in possession of
great part of the country, the punishment inflicted on this gentleman
was taken up very seriously by General Greene, and was near producing
a system of retaliation. The British officers, pursuing this policy,
are stated to have executed several of the zealous partisans of the
revolution who fell into their hands. These examples had
unquestionably some influence in unbridling the revengeful passions of
the royalists, and letting loose the spirit of slaughter which was
brooding in their bosoms. The disposition to retaliate to the full
extent of their power, if not to commit original injury, was equally
strong in the opposite party. When fort Granby surrendered, the
militia attached to the legion manifested so strong a disposition to
break the capitulation, and to murder the most obnoxious among the
prisoners who were inhabitants of the country, as to produce a solemn
declaration from General Greene, that any man guilty of so atrocious
an act should be executed. When fort Cornwallis surrendered, no
exertions could have saved Colonel Brown, had he not been sent to
Savannah protected by a guard of continental troops. Lieutenant
Colonel Grierson, of the royal militia, was shot by unknown marksmen;
and, although a reward of one hundred guineas was offered to any
person who would inform against the perpetrator of the crime, he could
never be discovered. "The whole country," said General Greene in one
of his letters, "is one continued scene of blood and slaughter."
[Footnote 5: The execution of Colonel Hayne has been
generally ascribed to Lord Rawdon, and that gallant nobleman
has been censured throughout America for an act which has
been universally execrated. A letter addressed by him to the
late General Lee, on receiving the memoirs of the southern
war, written by that gentleman, which has been published in
the "View of the Campaign of 1781, in the Carolinas, by H.
Lee," gives the British view of that transaction, and
exonerates Lord Rawdon from all blame. Lieutenant Colonel
Balfour commanded, and Lord Rawdon sought to save Colonel
Hayne.]
Greene was too humane, as well as too judicious, not to discourage
this exterminating spirit. Perceiving in it the total destruction of
the country, he sought to appease it by restraining the excesses of
those who were attached to the American cause.
At the high hills of Santee the reinforcements expected from North
Carolina were received. The American army, counting every person
belonging to it, was augmented to two thousand six hundred men; but
its effective force did not exceed sixteen hundred.
[Sidenote: Active movements of the two armies.]
After the retreat of General Greene from Orangeburg, Lord Rawdon was
induced by ill health to avail himself of a permit to return to Great
Britain, and the command of the British forces in South Carolina
devolved on Lieutenant Colonel Stuart. He again advanced to the
Congaree; and encamping near its junction with the Wateree, manifested
a determination to establish a permanent post at that place. Though
the two armies were within sixteen miles of each other on a right
line, two rivers ran between them which could not be crossed without
making a circuit of seventy miles; in consequence of which Lieutenant
Colonel Stuart felt himself so secure, that his foraging parties were
spread over the country. To restrain them, and to protect the
inhabitants, General Greene detached Marion towards Combahee ferry,
and Washington over the Wateree. Frequent skirmishes ensued, which,
from the superior courage and activity of the American cavalry,
uniformly terminated in their favour.
Finding that Lieutenant Colonel Stuart designed to maintain his
important position on the Congaree, Greene prepared to recommence
active operations. Breaking up his camp at the high hills of Santee,
he crossed the Wateree near Camden, and marched towards Friday's
ferry.
[Sidenote: After a short repose, they resume active operations.]
On being informed of his approach, the British army retired to Eutaw,
where it was reinforced by a detachment from Charleston. Greene
followed by slow and easy marches, for the double purpose of
preserving his soldiers from the effects of fatigue under a hot sun,
and of giving Marion, who was returning from a critical expedition to
the Edisto, time to rejoin him. In the afternoon of the seventh that
officer arrived; and it was determined to attack the British camp next
day.
{September 8.}
[Sidenote: Battle of Eutaw.]
At four in the morning of the eighth, the American army moved from its
ground, which was seven miles from Eutaw, in the following order: The
legion of Lee and the state troops of South Carolina formed the
advance. The militia moved next, and were followed by the regulars.
The cavalry of Washington and the infantry of Kirkwood brought up the
rear. The artillery moved between the columns.
At eight in the morning, about four miles from the British camp, the
van fell in with a body of horse and foot, who were escorting an
unarmed foraging party, and a brisk action ensued. The British were
instantly routed. The cavalry made their escape at the sight of the
legion dragoons, and the infantry were killed or taken. About forty,
including their captain, were made prisoners. The foraging party which
followed in the rear saved themselves by flight, on hearing the first
musket. Supposing this party to be the van of the English, Greene
arranged his army in order of battle.
The militia, commanded by Generals Marion and Pickens, composed the
first line. The second was formed of the continental infantry. The
North Carolina brigade, commanded by General Sumner, was placed on the
right; the Virginians, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Campbell,
formed the centre; and the Marylanders, commanded by Colonel Williams,
the left. The legion of Lee was to cover the right flank; the state
troops of South Carolina, commanded by Colonel Henderson, the left;
and the cavalry of Washington, with the infantry of Kirkwood, formed
the reserve. Captain Lieutenant Gaines, with two three-pounders, was
attached to the first line; and Captain Brown, with two sixes, to the
second.
The British line also was immediately formed. It was drawn up across
the road, in an oblique direction, in a wood, on the heights near the
Eutaw springs, having its right flank on Eutaw creek. This flank was
also covered by a battalion commanded by Major Majoribanks, which was
posted in a thicket, in a line forming an obtuse angle with the main
body. The left flank was protected by the cavalry commanded by Major
Coffin, and by a body of infantry held in reserve. A detachment of
infantry was pushed forward about a mile, with a field piece to employ
the Americans until his arrangements should be completed.