Category: American Revolution

28SEP1781: Siege at Yorktown Begins – Thank the FRENCH/SPANISH Strategists! Peak Liberty Achieved!

Capt. Francisco Saavedra de Sangronis, Spain’s New World Forces strategist

Popular history lavishes praise on George Washington for cornering the British at Yorktown and having the French navy arrive to bottle them up. While the French allowed this myth to prevail, probably due to Washington’s ego (anyone who has really researched GW knows how fragile his ego was), the truth needs to emerge.

This does not take away the accomplishments of George Washington, as he tactically delayed a British victory in the northern colonies for years, but appreciation for French involvement is necessary to understand the true context of this conflict, which was only a minor part of the global conflict going on in 1781 between the British Empire, and the French with their allies, the Spanish.

It needs to be noted that it is at this time in this republic’s history that Americans were the most free. As noted by Albert Nock in the 1930s in his epic book called “Our Enemy, the State” he says:

When political independence was secured, the stark doctrine of the Declaration went into abeyance, with only a distorted simulacrum of its principles surviving.

This is the sad reality. The abandonment of the Articles of Confederation towards the adoption of the US Constitution only accelerated the move AWAY from liberty and freedom. Albert Nock continues:

As well as one can put a date to such an event, the surrender at Yorktown marks the sudden and complete disappearance of the Declaration’s doctrine from the political consciousness of America. Mr. Jefferson resided in Paris as minister to France from 1784 to 1789. As the time for his return to America drew near, he wrote Colonel Humphreys that he hoped soon “to possess myself anew, by conversation with my countrymen, of their spirit and ideas. I know only the Americans of the year 1784. They tell me this is to be much a stranger to those of 1789.” So indeed he found it. On arriving in New York and resuming his place in the social life of the country, he was greatly depressed by the discovery that the principles of the Declaration had gone wholly by the board. No one spoke of natural rights and popular sovereignty; it would seem actually that no one had ever heard of them. On the contrary, everyone was talking about the pressing need of a strong central coercive authority, able to check the incursions which “the democratic spirit” was likely to incite upon “the men of principle and property.”

The American Revolution was effectively hijacked by other interests. We have seen that in recent times as well with that of the Tea Party and other freedom movements that are infiltrated by those who are not friends of liberty and freedom but place their hope in the state.

But I digress.

On this anniversary of the beginning of the siege of Yorktown toward being a French-American victory started 238 years ago today, I should probably share some truths about the events leading up to this battle.

Gen. George Washington’s personnel and persistent dreams was to knock out the British forces in New York City with the French navy’s assistance. A pretty good article from the Daily Beast (please pardon all the advertisements) outlines the behind the scenes military and political maneuvering that preceded this strategic decision.

The Franco-American alliance was more than two years old, in July 1780, when the Rochambeau-led Expédition Particulière arrived in Rhode Island with 5,500 troops, some long-range cannon, and a relatively small fleet. The alliance had already had two large military disasters, at Newport in 1778 and at Savannah in 1779. Rochambeau wasn’t sure what he could accomplish either, having been forced to leave behind a good chunk of his army and ships, and being burdened with a set of instructions from Louis XVI, dictated by Lafayette, that in unequivocal language put him under the command of General Washington and made the French troops and ships no more than auxiliaries of the Americans.

There was not much hope at this point in the arrangement. As will be seen, George Washington ended up being one of the most challenging roadblocks toward a decisive victory over the British:

Washington had dreamed of this moment, and of having naval superiority over Great Britain. He had long believed that the only way to end the war was to capture a significant British stronghold and army, and for several years he had been fixated on New York as the most likely target for such an attack. Now, with the French fleet, it could be achieved! But to Rochambeau, an attack on New York seemed difficult and dangerous, as likely to end in the capture of his and Washington’s armies as in the capture of British commander Henry Clinton’s. In Rochambeau’s view, he didn’t have enough ships and men to assure himself and Washington of victory.

When one researches Washington’s life, one will see the many times he wished things to be true that only ended up in disaster. In fact, as a young British officer, his decisions led directly to the start of the French-Indian War. His surprise breakfast massacre of French troops, whom he was to “meet up with and negotiate with” in the Appalachian mountains, led to a war that ended up raising taxes in the colonies that started a revolution.

Again, I digress. Back to the decision on Yorktown vs. NYC.

Washington and Rochambeau first met in Hartford on Sept. 20, 1780, at the home of Washington’s former commissary general and longtime supporter, Jeremiah Wadsworth. To this conference, Washington brought an eight-page plan for the attack on New York. Rochambeau came with a neatly written series of 10 questions, with space on the sheets to record Washington’s answers.

The French queries were an elegant, Socratic trap. By answering the first one honestly, Washington would be led, inexorably and through his own logic, to the only possible conclusion, the one chosen ahead of time by Rochambeau.

So Washington was asked whether naval superiority was essential to a big victory over a target defended by the British Navy. When he responded truthfully, “There can be no decisive enterprise against the maritime establishments of the English in this country, without a constant naval superiority,” his fate was sealed because the French fleet was not yet strong enough.

Washington was being played, but for his and the 13 colony’s own good. The French knew the big picture, the global paradigm and GW was myopic in focusing on only brute force to displace the British from NYC.

After the 10 questions had been answered, Rochambeau insisted that there would be no attack on New York in 1780, and none until Louis XVI dispatched more troops and a larger fleet to America. And he was able to induce Washington to co-sign a letter to the king to that effect. It was the only real product of the conference.

That the French were content with this meant that their focus was on the global situation. They were well aware of their own resourcing issues, and rightly so, they had to protect their own interests first. Nations and empires that want to survive need to know how to hold them, know how to fold them, know when to walk away and know when to run (from the military strategist Kenny Rogers).

Eight months later, on May 21, 1781, came the Washington-Rochambeau conference at Wethersfield. In American lore, this is where and when the leaders jointly decided to attack Yorktown. But that’s a myth.

This myth is the key point in all the state approved history books that have been printed in the last couple centuries in the United States. There is nothing you can trust in these books until you have done your own research. The state is convinced that that effort is so labor intensive, the most people will just adopt the history book’s contents as true, because it is easier and it fits the narrative. Happy slave, happy life.

Rochambeau asked: If and when the new and larger French fleet arrived from the Caribbean, “What are the operations that we might have to view at that Epocha?”

Washington’s response: “Should the West India Fleet arrive upon this Coast—the force thus Combined may either proceed in operation against New York, or may be directed against the enemy in some other quarter, as circumstance may dictate.”

Still NYC-centric .. even the next day after a night’s reflections:

The next day, Washington rote in his diary that he had “Fixed with Count Rochambeau” to proceed with a campaign against New York, to begin once the French had transferred to the Hudson River to join his Continentals. He added, almost as an afterthought, that he had agreed to “extend our views Southward as circumstances and a naval superiority might render more necessary & eligible.”

Washington was not budging. This was his fight, it was his terms, and Rochambeau was technically reporting to Gen. George Washington!

Maybe we should shift toward looking into the real strategist’s mind, that of Rochambeau:

In late July, when Rochambeau did move to the Hudson River, just below Peekskill, where his forces encamped next to Washington’s, the French left behind in Rhode Island the resident fleet and the largest of the cannon, which they believed would be wrecked if dragged over Connecticut’s roads. The cannon would have to be brought by ship to whatever target. To my mind—although no documents say so—the abandoning of the cannon argues that Rochambeau had already decided they would soon be transferred by ship to the Yorktown peninsula.

Actions speak louder than words. The excuse Rochambeau had would have convinced Gen. Washington who at this point was just giddy that maybe this was the year that the French navy would arrive.

Indeed, by mid-July Rochambeau had made a significant end-run around Washington’s cherished objective. He, and his new Newport fleet commander, de Barras, and the French plenipotentiary at Philadelphia, La Luzerne, had all sent word to Admiral François Joseph Paul de Grasse, then in the Caribbean, that the best target in America was the large British force on the relatively exposed Yorktown peninsula, where it could not long survive without naval reinforcement.

Inside the French chain of command, this strategic sharing of information sets the tone for what is about to come. From July to November is peak hurricane season in the Caribbean. This might be good timing to get the French assets (ships, guns and men) out of the Caribbean for an alternative mission.

Around that time, aboard the majestic Ville de Paris at Cap-Français, Haiti, de Grasse was meeting with Captain Francisco de Saavedra, a former theology student who had become Spain’s New World forces strategist. They laid out a two-punch plan for ridding the hemisphere of the British. The first blow would be against Yorktown, the second, once de Grasse had returned to the Caribbean and in conjunction with the Spanish fleet there, would be against Jamaica. To enable de Grasse to depart for northern waters, Saavedra committed the Spanish fleet to act as guardian for the French-controlled islands in the Caribbean. As Saavedra put it in his diary, they “could not waste the most decisive opportunity of the war,” to take the Cornwallis army while it was at its most vulnerable.

Who knew that the decision about Yorktown was actually made in Haiti, with French and Spanish strategists? You don’t read any of that in most US History books now do you?

As de Grasse set out for the Yorktown peninsula, he sent ahead a letter to Rochambeau. Forwarded to the Hudson by de Barras, it reached Rochambeau and Washington on Aug. 14. It said that de Grasse was en route to the Yorktown peninsula, “the spot which seemed to be indicated by you, M. le comte, and by MM Washington de la Luzerne and de Barras as the surest to effect the good which you propose.”

Some sources say that Washington was disappointed but then committed his forces to join in the march to Yorktown. Other sources say that Washington lashed out at this news and then went and pouted for an hour before recomposing himself and getting on with the PLAN, the French Plan. In either case, eventually he came around and supported this plan.

Before Rochambeau and Washington’s armies arrived at Yorktown, the battle was essentially won by de Grasse, whose fleet outmaneuvered the British and then, along with de Barras’s, occupied Chesapeake Bay. That forced the British fleet to return to New York, leaving Cornwallis and his army utterly exposed.

At this point it was just a matter of time in defeating the British forces under Cornwallis at Yorktown since there was no re-supply line afforded them. This was NOT the end of this conflict as both Charleston and NYC would not be evacuated by the British until over a year after the Yorktown victory was secured on 17OCT1781. Peace itself was not secured until the Treaty of Paris was signed on 03SEP1783, almost TWO years after Yorktown!

Now you know.

-SF1

Amexit: Post War of Independence from British Empire – Politically Hijacked

[A] large group of soldiers who saw the goal of the Revolution as getting rid of the power of a centralised government to rule over Americans. They had a fellow American feeling with comrades in other states for shared sacrifices and they were willing to entertain a federal (not national) government to handle some of the joint affairs of the States, but insisted that such a government must be kept within a strictly circumscribed role.

Yes, even Francis Marion, as you shall see, was himself marginalized at the end of the War for Independence from the British Empire. There were efforts already in the works politically to turn this “win” into something of their own choosing that was much different than what the soldiers and militias were fighting for.

The above quote is from a 2014 article about James Jackson who immigrated to the Georgia colony as a 15 year old. My guess is that you never heard of him. Maybe some of these names you will recognize from your academic experiences:

Nicholas Gilman of New Hampshire, John Lansing of New York, Thomas Mifflin of Pennsylvania, John Francis Mercer of Maryland, Nathaniel Macon of North Carolina, Thomas Sumter of South Carolina, and James Monroe, St. George Tucker, and John Taylor of Virginia.

Well maybe you have heard of Thomas Sumter and possibly John Taylor, but the others have been obscured by the academic history books for some time. The likes of these people had the following qualities:

A patriot did not seek public fame and fortune. His task was alertness to preserve the principles of free government against all comers. He did not seek power, but if called to public office he took it as a duty to his society, not as an opportunity for self-advancement. His ambition was for his country, not himself. The example here was the Roman hero Cincinnatus, who was called from his farm to lead an army and having won the victory went home and resumed his plowing.

This type of person was one that could see quickly into an existing situation and rightly identify the bad actors behind the scenes. These men, with their prophetic ability, typically would see the red flags much sooner than someone like Thomas Jefferson or James Madison as explained here:

[James] Jackson was nearly alone in 1790 in discerning and exposing the implications of what was afoot; joined only by William Maclay of Pennsylvania in the Senate. As one historian has put it:

The astonishing thing is that the comparatively crude Maclay from the wilds of Pennsylvania and the leather-lunged James Jackson from sparsely settled Georgia should have caught the full significance of it all before it dawned on Jefferson and Madison.

So even three years after the coup d’etat at Philadelphia where the “perpetual” Articles of Confederation was shredded in favor of a NEW document formed in secret called a constitution, there were two yet in the government who saw this new direction for the union for what it was. Patrick Henry had rightly said “I smell a rat” in 1787 as he was the most prophetic of all.

So what helps to form such an honest sort of individual. A mixture of nature and nurture no doubt, as can be seen in a quick biographical sketch here below:

James Jackson was born in 1757 in Devonshire, England. At the age of fifteen he sailed the Atlantic unaccompanied and landed in 1772 at Savannah, Georgia, where some family friends were living. Despite his youth and his recent arrival from the mother country, Jackson enthusiastically joined the cause of American independence. Throughout the war he was active in military service. After the British capture of Savannah, Jackson escaped, reportedly swam the Savannah River, and arrived barefoot and in tatters to join the South Carolina patriot forces as a private, serving 17 months with Thomas Sumter’s partisans. He took part in most of the fighting in the Southern colonies and in expeditions into Florida and to the Indian frontier. He was wounded at least once and repeatedly cited for gallantry and enterprise. Jackson ended the war as a twenty-four-year-old lieutenant colonel in command of his own battalion and was selected to receive the official surrender of Savannah from the departing British, July 11, 1782.

A pioneer, a survivor, a fighter .. “.. a tough, independent citizen ready to defend his society against foreign threats. Equally important, it was characterized by the wisdom to discern and the courage to oppose threats to liberty from inside. History furnished many examples of the undermining of free governments by plausible, designing men ambitious for power and profit. This is why Thomas Jefferson said that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty and that the tree of liberty needs to be watered from time to time with the blood of tyrants and patriots. A virtuous republican had the makings of such a patriot.” – Clyde Wilson & Brion McClanahan

In 1782, with the War for Independence almost over, James goes back to the plow:

After the war Jackson established himself as a successful lawyer and planter. Georgia was the smallest of the States in population and settled territory (though already filling fast with new settlers) and had an exposed frontier. It quickly ratified the proposed Constitution for the United States without the reservations that concerned many and kept North Carolina out of the Union for several more years. In 1788 the George legislature elected Jackson Governor. He declined on grounds that he was too inexperienced for the august position. The next year he was elected as one of Georgia’s two Representatives to the First Congress. Shipwrecked on his way to New York, he arrived too late for the inaugural day but was soon an outspoken member of the House.

Notice the humble nature of this man, declined his election as governor of Georgia because he felt himself too inexperience! More of this please!

What he found a year later in New York, NY, the first capital of the united States drove him toward using “straight” language:

Jackson found the House discussing the proper way to address the President, with proposals like “His Excellency,” “His Grace,” and “His Serene Highness” being offered by those who wanted to endow the new government with dignity and awe.

He lamented that the probably source of this trend toward having a god in government on earth to displace the God in Heaven was most likely Boston, where as he rightly explains:

.. a town which, fifteen years ago, would have acknowledged no Lord but the Lord of hosts ..

Cutting, but so very true. In fact, after a miraculous win by 13 united colonies against a world power like the British Empire, one can only see that as the Israelites of old, they still could not trust a God that delivered them and proceeded to form a central government that would guarantee this independence for years to come. The downside was that liberty itself would be sacrificed for this perceived safety.

Typical of the pioneer reluctant hero and patriot of the day, his opponents ridiculed his character and speech:

.. some opponents hinted that the Representative from Georgia was too loud and crude. “I have accustomed myself to a blunt integrity of speech,” Jackson told the House, “which I hope the goodness of my intentions will excuse.” The more serious criticisms of the Representative from Georgia were uttered in private. It was known that Jackson had more than once taken his stand on the Savannah dueling ground and had always walked away.

But the disgust for the words to be used in this new republic was pale compared to Alexander Hamilton’s intentions that made the rich richer and the poor/soldier poorer:

The first move came in Hamilton’s proposal to pay off the Continental debt of the Revolution. Everyone agreed that the debt had to be retired, but the devil was in the details. Hamilton’s plan was to pay the holders of the debt in interest-bearing government bonds, thus to create a permanent public debt, which would in turn require tax revenue.

There was an even more serious kicker. The debt was to be funded at face value. The debt, aside from loans from European allies, consisted of paper that had been issued by the Continental Congress for soldiers’ pay and bounties and army supplies. Almost all of it was now in the hands of Northern and European capitalists who had acquired it at cents on the dollar when it was “not worth a Continental.” Jackson pointed out that there were not twenty of the original receivers of Continental paper left in Georgia and that soldiers had invariably been forced by necessity to sell their paper at a large discount.

.. and, there’s more!

Hamilton’s proposal was soon followed by another—the government should assume the remaining debts of the States, now also in the hands of speculators, and fund them in the same way. A proposal in the House to pay some of the proceeds to the original holders was roughly quashed by what was beginning to look like an organized party. Not only that, but, Jackson pointed out, certain money men who obviously had advanced knowledge of Hamilton’s plans had been in Georgia very recently buying up debt certificates.

Yes, by this time the ’cause’ had been fully hijacked by a new political machine that would give Lincoln everything he needed to permanently change this nation into something so much different. The balance of this article show the emergence of government scandals that have unfortunately continued to this day, sucking the life out of taxpayers at every revolution of the sun.

Here in 2019 we can see the fruits of the labors of Hamilton and Lincoln that were seasoned by the likes of Teddy Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, FDR, Johnson, Nixon, Bush 1, Clinton, Bush 2, Obama and even Trump today. The American Empire is the “same thing only different” from the British one that the American colonies sought to remove themselves from. Now we (US government/empire) are the global and domestic oppressors that operate above the law.

Not cool.

-SF1

SEP – NOV1781 – Slow Push on British and Loyalist Troops Toward Charlestown

Port of Wilmington, North Carolina – evacuated by the British forces on 14NOV1781

One might figure that with the Battle of Eutaw Springs done, there is little to do at this point of the Revolutionary War or for what was actually the civil war in SC between Whigs and Tories and those who switched sides back and forth. There is also the transition from a British military presence for 12-18 months that displaced civil government as so we see at this time Gov. Rutledge attempting to piece back together something.

Post Eutaw Springs battle, Greene dispatched Lee and Marion to attempt to get in front of Stewart’s British forces as they withdrew towards Charlestown but 400 fresh Brits arrived in Moncks Corners from Charlestown itself to cover the retreat.

On 12SEP1781, Stewart, who was wounded, was temporarily replaced by Col. Paston Gould, who had been Balfour’s position until he was promoted to commandant of the Charleston district for the British.

Gould had stayed put in Charleston until now and was unfamiliar with the territory. He briefly took an expedition out towards Greene but then came back to a point 50 miles outside Charleston while half his men came down with seasonal fever. He returned to Charleston and was replaced by Gen. Alexander Leslie and Steward, having recovered from his wounds, took command of 1,200 troops 7 miles north of Moncks Corners where he proceeded to raid plantations for food (harvest time was getting near), capturing slaves including women and children to return to Charleston where they were put to work strengthening British fortifications there.

At this time Greene felt confident with the British south of the Santee to take his own sickly army to the High Hills of the Santee to recover. Marion camped 50 miles away on the Santee ready to deploy but he himself was hit with the seasonal fever in spite of his vinegar and water concoction.

Between daily correspondence with Greene on intelligence reports and sometimes two letters a day from Gov. Rutledge in getting the right people in the right positions in the new civil government especially justices / judges, it was a different kind of busy for Marion.

Gov. Rutledge offered a Clinton-like proclamation that now allowed Tories to be pardoned and reunite with their families if they serve 6 months in the patriot militia.

Gov. Rutledge’s proclamation states that all Loyalists except those who held commissions from the British government could have:

“a free pardon and permission for their wives and families to return and reoccupy their possessions, on condition that such men appearing at our headquarters, or before a Brigade or the Colonel of any Regiment, and there subscribing an engagement to serve the State faithfully as militia men for six months.”

Those who declined this pardon faced banishment and property loss similar to the Clinton order a few years prior. 27SEP1781 was the day the amnesty proclamation was made official and gave 30 days for men to meet with a brigadier general of SC.

By early October 1781, Marion was able to attend to family matters as he continued to assist his nephews in collages in the north with a shipment of indigo to Philadelphia to supply them with winter clothes, etc.

By early November 1781, with all these distractions, it was learned that on October 19th Cornwallis surrendered ALL his troops at Yorktown.

With this news, Marion actually arranged for a celebration at a local plantation, a ball for his officers and area ladies, yet Marion remained subdued during the festivities. He still had on his mind two patriots that were still in prison, one would die there and the other would remain there until the official end of the war.

NOTE: Unlike what history books claim today, Yorktown was NOT the end of the Revolutionary War !!!

One more domino to fall was when the British evacuated the port of Wilmington, North Carolina on 14NOV1781! This too gives those in South Carolina hope that the evacuation of Charlestown, South Carolina is next!

Stay tuned for more details on the 1781 fall season in South Carolina where the British forces in Charlestown could be resupplied from the sea at any time to renew a push into this rebellious colony that seceded from the British Empire.

-SF1

08SEP1781 – Eutaw Springs: Continentals and Militias Assemble for a Coordinated Push Against the British

Artist rendering of the Battle of Eutaw Springs

In my last post, Marion was west of Charleston working his routing of British forces caught off guard when Marion set the stage on the last day of August 1781:

On 31AUG1781 at Parker’s Ferry Marion finally gets his battle with Lt. Col. Ernst Leopold von Borck. The British on 29AUG1781 had moved to Isaac Hayne’s Plantation where Issac was just buried and Brig. Gen. Marion had followed this force again and sets up his camp only five miles away. Marion conceals his men in a swamp beside the causeway and directs Col. William Harden’s men o move back 100 yards from the ambush line so they can be used as reserves. Maj. Samuel Cooper and sixty swordsmen are told to attack the rear of the enemy after the ambush is initiated. They then wait for an opportunity.

That opportunity came and Marion’s victory had the balance of British forces in South Carolina outside of Charlestown a bit nervous. The Continentals under Maj. Gen. Nathaniel Green also used the momentum from the summer’s push against the British to make his move.

Nathaniel Greene had completed resting his troops in the cooler climate of the High Hills of the Santee (only 15 miles from the British, each could see the other’s camp fires) about the same time that Marion went to the aid of Harden the other side of Charleston, he decided to engage the 1500 men under Rawdon’s replacement Alexander Stewart.

Separated by an impassible lake swollen with the summer rains Greene decided to go against the logic of moving south and then upriver to engage the Brit forces directly. Greene chose to go counter-clockwise at a slow pace moving only in the cool morning and early evening to conserve the men’s strength.

Greene himself had 1250 men but needed militia to help make up the difference. Virginia had promised 2000 militia but with Cornwallis in their backyard they opted to have them stay there. Greene’s route took him close to NC where he picked up some untested militia (150-200) under French commander Malmady. He also picked up 300 men under Pickens (some were former Sumter troops), William Henderson’s (Sumter replacement) 200 SC state troops and William Washington’s Virginia Continental Cavalry.

Lt. Col. Alexander Stewart had heard of Greene’s intention and moved 40 miles south down the Santee to Eutaw Springs specifically to take on supplies from Charleston. The supply line from Georgetown as no more and only a single stand of supplies was available to this British force.

Greene was well aware that Marion was working the other side of Charleston but was hoping he could make it back in time to be a factor now against the Brits who we on the move towards Charlestown. Greene stalled on 02SEP1781 in case he heard of Marion’s location. This allowed the British to feel secure near Eutaw Springs as the summer heat held on in the Carolinas. In summary, it is early in September and the 1,400 well-equipped British camp in cool shade beside the gushing springs of Eutaw, little dreaming that the fairly large Patriot army is close upon their heels.

Present day Eutaw Springs environment (photo taken Nov 2018 from the Eutaw Springs battlefield north overlooking the nearby waters)

Communique sent on 04SEP1781 to Marion that said Greene was collecting his force and planning to attack the British on the next day. On 05SEP1781, Greene received Marion’s Parker Ferry report and found out that Marion was only 20 miles south of Eutaw Springs. Yet another communique was sent and Marion used the nighttime to circle clockwise around Stewart’s Brit forces and by 07SEP1781 was together with Greene at Burdell’s Tavern just seven miles above Eutaw Springs. Marion’s plantation at Pond Bluff was only four miles away, this was home turf for the Swamp Fox.

Maj. Gen. Greene, hearing of the French plan to have Gen. George Washington’s encircle and embarrass the British at Yorktown, determines to prevent southern aid from reaching the beleaguered Lt. Gen. Charles, Lord Cornwallis. Contingents under generals Marion and Pickens, and lieutenant colonels Henry Lee, William Washington, Henry Hampton, among other South Carolina leaders are called together, and many units from other states join them.

One has to understand the condition of these 2,080 poorly-equipped, underfed, and near-naked Americans camp on September 7 th on the Congaree River Road at Burdell’s Tavern, only seven miles from Eutaw Springs. While the strategy for the ensuing attack is accredited to the genius of the dreaded “Swamp Fox,” Brig. Gen. Francis Marion, who knows every foot of the Santee swamps and river, it is no cake-walk as the patriots have been worn down enough that disciple can and will most likely break down during this battle.

Lt. Col. Alexander Stewart, a 40 year old Scot with a high opinion of himself, was caught off-guard by the proximity of 2000 patriot forces and even disbelieved a couple of patriot deserters who showed up in camp and proclaimed that a force of several thousand was near. Stewart did however dispatch a cavalry commander to check and he ran into the patriots only two miles away, engaged them and was overwhelmed and escaped to make it back to report to Stewart.

Marion and Greene then used the “Cowpens-model” by having militia (one-third of his total force present) at the center and cavalry on the flank with solid troops and by 9am 08SEP1781, the battle was green-lighted.

It should be noted that Stewart had no Hessians with him on this day and offered a single line on the other side of the battle field. Marion’s men advanced surging with Pickens’ and Henderson’s men on their left they continued to fire volley after volley, SEVENTEEN in all, a testament to the character of men Marion had formed.

The NC militia quit the field after only three rounds and left a hole in the middle (“the line is faltering”) which then encouraged the Brits to use a bayonet charge just when Greene’s seasoned Maryland and Virginia Continentals surged themselves with a bayonet charge to give the Brits a taste of their own medicine. This was the first and only time seasoned Brit troops were in full retreat back to their camp.

The rout pushed the point of the battle back 300 yards to a garden area adjacent to a brick house that the Brits used as a defensive line of last resort. The left flank of the patriots had the British commander Maj. John Marjoribanks putting up a devil of a fight and it was the Delaware Continentals, the cream of the crop for patriot troops drove his forces back to the garden area as well.

Then IT happened. The condition of these men and the heat of the region and of the day all factored in what happened next.

Greene’s troops, who had been “rummed-up” prior to the battle located the British alcohol in camp and decided to quench their thirst in the 90 degree SC sun. It was here that the patriots lost all their cannon and experienced a British counterattack.

So after four hours of fighting, Greene ordered a retreat. While many believe that this was a defeat for the patriots, what is known is that:

  • The British did not hold the field but were driven back to their camp
  • Stewart left 70 wounded men and his dead buried behind
  • Greene buried BOTH sides dead and cared for the enemy’s wounded
  • Strategically, the British decided to fall back to Charlestown.

This was great news for South Carolina but in no way did it mean the war was done. The British Empire at this moment of time could have had Cornwallis return to South Carolina to almost start all over again as the British had resources, but not possibly the will, they could pull from their global footprint.

At this point Marion and Greene were still in the mode of anxious anticipation of the next British move.

Stay tuned!

-SF1

04AUG1781 – The Hanging of Col. Issac Haynes (Age 35) Who Was Beloved by the People

In my last post regarding the American Revolution, specifically the actions in and around South Carolina that Brig. Gen. Francis Marion was heavily and sacrificially involved with, I eluded to the backstory around the British hanging of a beloved 35 year old, probably as an example towards intimidating the colony’s inhabitants.

Issac Haynes was a popular planter and patriot military officer who during the summer of 1780, after Charlestown’s fall to the British, was traveling from his plantation to Charlestown to obtain a doctor and medical supplies for his very ill wife and children. The British would not allow him to pass through their lines back home without swearing an oath of allegiance.

With the early 1781 successes of the militia in South Carolina, the British sought to enlist Issac in the Loyalist militia. At the same time, patriot militia groups were also hoping Issac would join them as Francis Marion had been told another 200 men would follow this beloved planter. Eventually, Marion himself issued a commission which made Issac a Lt. Col. in the South Carolina militia. After some reluctance on the part of Issac, he relented and joined the cause.

In early July 1781, Issac led the militia near Charlestown to capture former patriot leader Andrew Williamson who took British protection a year prior. British leadership at Charlestown countered by sending Thomas Fraser with 90 cavalry to retrieve Williamson and took Issac Haynes prisoner. The British served justice in a way that tyrants do by not allowing Issac any counsel and was unable to call any witnesses. He found himself sentenced to death.

This news caused such an uproar in Charlestown among the ladies their and even some high-society Loyalists that the British decided to stand firm and united in this decision. Balfour, Rawdon and even Charlestown police chief Charles Fraser (brother to Thomas) all concurred. Haynes had countered to the charge of switch allegiance was due to the lack of British protection in the countryside from the Whig groups which was the exchange for his taking this oath.

While there was logic to this argument, the British were not ready to have hundreds of others seeking justice due to the British inability to honor their end of this agreement. The British decided, in a Banastre Tarleton way, to make an example out of Issac Haynes.

So on 04AUG1781, after a farewell session with his family, he was paraded through the streets of Charlestown past crowds who were moved to tears to the gallows. He took control of this even in a firm and serene way, proceeded to pull the cap over his own eyes, shook hands with the three gentlemen who would oversee his children’s care and himself gave the signal to move the cart to let him hang.

The firestorm ensued and emotions ran high, not just in Charlestown, or in the colony of South Carolina, but even overseas as well as even the British Parliament considered a motion to condemn Rawdon in this decision. The Southern Region Continental leader Greene stressed restraint (was Marion an influence here?) as the cycle of violence would result in revenge hangings across the colony.

This event had its blow-back, causing a potent rallying cry for southern patriots to be created. While there were other men closer to Charleston who quit the field thinking they were next, those away from the last British stronghold were more fervent in their cause.

Gen. Nathanael Greene soon orders Marion to attack British lines of
communication around Charleston. From his base on the Santee, Marion departed with his 200 men and picked up another 150 with the destination being south of Charleston on the Ashepoo River called the Horseshoe. The forces opposite his was a Hessian led force of over 500 men (180 Hessians, 150 British Redcoats, 130 Tory Loyalists and 80 dragoons under Fraser). This was essentially a foraging party that were transporting rice back to Charleston.

On 27AUG1781, Marion attempted an ambush at Godfrey’s Savannah. Lt. Col. Ernst Leopold von Borck was in charge of this British contingent, Maj. Thomas Fraser was the real target of this effort, but in the end he has to abort his plan. There were multiple failures to follow his orders as it was pretty apparent with the enemy’s two field pieces (none for the patriot militia), this would not end well.

On 31AUG1781 at Parker’s Ferry Marion finally gets his battle with Lt. Col. Ernst Leopold von Borck. The British on 29AUG1781 had moved to Isaac Hayne’s Plantation where Issac was just buried and Brig. Gen. Marion had followed this force again and sets up his camp only five miles away. Marion conceals his men in a swamp beside the causeway and directs Col. William Harden’s men o move back 100 yards from the ambush line so they can be used as reserves. Maj. Samuel Cooper and sixty swordsmen are told to attack the rear of the enemy after the ambush is initiated. They then wait for an opportunity.

Lt. Col. Ernst Leopold von Borck leaves Hayne’s Plantation in mid-afternoon with his infantry and has placed his two pieces of artillery in front of the column while Maj. Thomas Fraser and his mounted SC Royalists are in the rear of the column. It is almost dark on the 31st when they stumble into a firefight between Marion’s men and handful of Loyalist that have just discovered them.

Lt., Col. von Borck orders Maj. Fraser to drive off the Patriots so he sends Lt. Stephen Jarvis charging forward while he places his three other divisions on the road, and also to the left and right of the road.

Brig. Gen. Marion’s mounted men charge Lt. Jarvis, who reverses course quickly. Maj. Fraser believes that these are Col. William Harden’s men and
orders his cavalry in full gallop to intercept them.

Marion now has the enemy right where he wants them. He signals his hidden men, and instantly Maj. Fraser’s horsemen are surrounded. At a distance of 40 yards, the Patriots open up with buckshot and the dragoons go down.

Maj. Fraser rallies his men and tries to charge, but the Patriots deliver a second volley, and then a third volley. There is no way for Maj. Fraser to attack in the swamp so he has to withdraw down the causeway down the full length of the ambush. Maj. Fraser is badly bruised when his horse is killed and the rest of his cavalry rides over him as he lies in the road.

The patriots militia continue to occupy the causeway for three more hours until Marion sees British infantry with a field piece coming their way. His riflemen fire upon the field piece wounding and killing many accompanying it. Brig. Gen. Marion could have easily slaughtered
more of the SC Royalists with his rifles, but he is low on ammunition and his men have also not eaten in 24 hours, so he has them all just slip away
into the swamp.

Brig. Gen. Francis Marion reports that 20 Loyalist dragoons and 23 horses are dead on the spot. Brig. Gen. Francis Marion loses one man killed.
Col. William Stafford loses three wounded. The British evacuate the area and move back to Charlestown and Brig. Gen. Marion sends a party after them and they find 40 dead horses on the road. He then returns “home” to the Santee with his prisoners.

Mission accomplished! August 1781 has concluded with a further tighening around Charleston to keep the British foraging parties more heavily armed. Issac Haynes’ hanging motivates the true patriots to stay the course and drive the British Empire out of the colony of South Carolina.

-SF1