08SEP1780: In Only Two Weeks of Irregular Warfare, Marion’s 150 Men are Targeted by the British

The last we heard of Marion, he had split his militia force in the face of larger British/Tory numbers into three units. Maj. James had some intel that indicated on the evening of 07SEP1780 that 400 Redcoats/Tories under Wemyss were in Kingstree only 20 miles west of Marion with orders to finish Marion off. Marion was also made aware of 200 more Redcoats coming north out of the port of George Town heading his way as well.

With the news of overwhelming forces headed their way, Marion took counsel with the militia leadership and decided to move back east and north away from this pressure. Many of the men we audibly anxious about this news as they knew their homes in the Williamsburg area would be subjected to the pillaging efforts of the British as they gave chase to the fox (Marion).

The morning of 08SEP1780, Marion had more intel about the same force he had dispersed at Blue Savannah, Gainey and his Tory militia was headed toward Marion from the east. It is at this point that Marion makes the call to release those under his command to go and give aid and comfort to their own families as well as other patriotic families in the region and left with the balance, 60 men in all, to move north. Maj. James with a small band of men were to move directly in the path of Wemyss in the Williamsburg area to do what they can to counter act the wrath of the British.

By this time, from the west, the British force under Wemyss was only two miles away and so Marion decided to address the items he had that slowed him down, two old iron artillery pieces, probably six-pounders, and dumped them in the swamp just before crossing the North Carolina border.

By 15SEP1780, Marion and his men would be safely in Great White Marsh which is in eastern North Carolina, 30 miles past the border. Francis Marion, like a fox, sensed eminent danger and pressure from all sides and safely withdrew into a swamp area that offer protection and rest for the remainder of his men. Without a direct conflict in a week, Marion reflects on his efforts in late August / early September 1780.

With two weeks of irregular warfare with NO support from the Continentals prompted Francis Marion to use this time in relative safety to write Gen. Gates and explain that he and his men would remain in North Carolina until he heard from Gates or had another opportunity.

In Marion’s absence, the British left an indelible impression on the region:

Upon his arrival in Indiantown around September 7 Wemyss burned the Presbyterian church there, calling it a “sedition shop.” (Ironically, Wemyss was himself a Presbyterian.) Over the next few days he put the torch to several more homes, including that of Major James, allegedly because James’s wife refused to provide information as to her husband’s whereabouts.

He also hanged Adam Cusack, a local ferryman, in front of his wife and children as they pleaded for his life. According to American accounts, Cusack was executed either for refusing to ferry Wemyss’s officers across a creek or because he fired a shot across the creek at a slave of Tory militia captain John Brockinton. When Dr. James Wilson tried to intercede on Cusack’s behalf, Wemyss burned his house too. …

On his march north from Kingstree to the town of Cheraw, Wemyss cut a path of destruction seventy miles long and five miles wide on both sides of the Pee Dee River, burning fifty houses and plantations along the way. He claimed that these “mostly” belonged to people who had broken their paroles or oaths of allegiance and were now in arms against the British. (He offered no justification for burning the others.) Wemyss also ordered his men to destroy blacksmith shops, looms, and mills and to shoot or bayonet any milk cows and sheep not taken by the British for themselves. The residents thus lost not only their shelter but also their means of livelihood, food, and clothing. Wemyss’s scorched-earth policy would have echoes in Sherman’s famous march through the South in the Civil War.

Oller, John. The Swamp Fox: How Francis Marion Saved the American Revolution (Kindle Locations 1093-1106). Da Capo Press. Kindle Edition.

There is a term that is used in the 21st century to describe the unintentional consequences of this kind of warfare on the civilian population, BLOWBACK. The US Empire’s CIA is well aware of what happens when these kind of tactics are used in that a majority of the population is so incensed that freedom fighters/insurgents are “birthed” at incredible rates. This is what would be the case in 18th century South Carolina, where any gains the British had after practically overrunning the whole state by the end of May 1780 would be erased by the conduct of British officers and Tory/Loyalists.

While it was tempting for the patriotic forces to mimic the British in a “tit-for-tat” move, for the most part Marion was able to control those under his command. While some junior officers did go rogue and follow the British “total war” strategy, Marion sought to distance himself from this and communicated with Gen. Gates specifically which officers had crossed that line. Unfortunately, there were few if any British officers that reined in their men like Marion did, and the civilian population in South Carolina took the brunt of this immoral use of military troops directly on families, their livelihood and their property.

-SF1

25AUG1780 Early Morning Hours: Marion Awakes His Militia on its First Mission

My previous post talked about how intelligence was leaked to Francis Marion about 150 Maryland prisoners of war held at Thomas Sumter’s abandoned house on the north savanna of the Santee River guarded with 90 British. Knowing that “leaks” can happen in either direction, he kept this information from his men as they went to bed on August 24th and were awakened before dawn on the 25th to ride to the first Francis Marion led militia effort (as well as his first military expedition leadership effort in the three months since the fall of Charles Town (Charleston, SC)).

Before this point in the war, Marion was operating within the Continental line with infantry and other units. His operational structure now, at this desperate hour, was with volunteer militia who received no pay for their service. Freedom fighters who sacrificed time and sometimes their lives in securing their family, friend and communities from the tyranny of the British Empire.

Battle of Nelson’s Ferry / Great Savannah involved 23 killed or captured British regulars in order to release all the prisoners. Even after this heroic effort, MOST elected NOT to join Marion’s Militia. It is fairly certain that this was the first time British General Cornwallis heard of Marion.

Col. Francis Marion leadership that day included:

  • Lt. Col. Lemuel Benton (Cheraws regiment) with 16 men
  • Kingstree regiment led by Lt. Col. Hugh Horry and Maj. John James  with four (4) known companies, led by:
    -Capt. John James, Jr.-Capt. John McCauley, Capt. Robert McCottry, Capt. William McCottry
  • Berkeley County Regiment detachment of one (1) known company, led by:
    Capt. William Dukes
  • Lower Craven County Regiment detachment of one (1) known company, led by: Capt. Henry Mouzon

[Source material from JD Lewis at http://www.francismariontrail.com/ ]

The reaction of Lt. Gen. Charles Lord Corwallis is to issue this order to Maj. James Wemyss to move from the High Hills of the Santee to Kingstree:

“I should advise your sweeping the country entirely from Kingstree bridge to Pedee, and returning by the Cheraws. I would have you disarm in the most rigid manner, all persons who cannot be depended on and punish the concealment of arms and ammunition with a total demolition of the plantation.”

Cornwallis, who thought that he was done in South Carolina is now having to send troops back into the Kingstree district to suppress the momentum shift due to Marion’s surprise victory and release of 150 prisoners of war. Hope is renewed from this small 60 man force!

Irregular warfare is about to emerge, and the British are ill equipped strategically to counter act it.

SF1