Category: American Revolution

15-28MAY1781: South Carolina is able to Expel British/Tory Forces from Key Strongholds

From my last post about South Carolina’s effort in MAY1781 to leave the British Empire for good I said:

… seems that the tide is turning into a flood, and mid-May 1781 will come more changes as this internal civil war rages on in South Carolina between Tories and Whigs, British regulars and Continentals and everyone else caught in between …

The flood keeps surging in mid-May as more good news is received that the British force at Orangeburg fell to Sumter and Lt. Col. Henry Lee moved to Fort Granby and accepted surrender of British forces there on May 15th.

Seems the typical hot-headed “Gamecock”, Brig. Gen. Thomas Sumter was ticked that HE was not allowed to accept the surrender on the siege he had started two weeks before.  Sumter threatened resignation but ended up getting munitions and slaves to pay his men via “Sumter’s Law”.  Greene also at this time ensured that Sumter was top dog and could order Marion where he needed him.

Continental leader Maj. Gen. Nathaniel Greene and his forces continued on to Ninety-Six where the last inland detachment of British were entrenched.  Lt. Col. Henry Lee is dispatched 16MAY to join Brig. Gen. Andrew Pickens and to place a seige on Augusta, Georgia and to work with militia leader Elijah Clarke in taking Fort Galphin on May 21st then on to assist the militia leader Brig. Gen. Andrew Pickens in taking out smaller forts around that key city.

In the meantime, on 19MAY, Marion sends news to Greene that Francis, Lord Rawdon is still at Moncks Corner and GeorgeTown is now garrisoned by only ~80 men, including Redcoats and Loyalists. Marion requests approval to go take Georgetown.

On 26MAY, Marion receives a conditional “yes” (as long as Sumter would not be exposed and Rawdon did not move on Ninety-Six) and moved on Georgetown and laid siege, learning from Fort Watson and Fort Motte experiences.  Again he was without cannon but that did not keep him from using black painted peeled logs!

The British leadership had already been given permission to exit should they be pressed and so on the same day the siege started (28MAY) the British spiked their cannons, boarded their ships and left the city. These forced lingered safely in the bay a few days (until 11JUN1781 actually) and then sailed for CharlesTown.

With the occupation of GeorgeTown, Brig. Gen. Marion is able to replenish his wardrobe and fit himself out in a new suit of ‘regimentals’. He is then ordered by Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene to assist with the next siege attempt, that of Ninety-Six, so he leaves a small force in Georgetown under the command of Lt. Col. Peter Horry and marches away with the captured British supplies.

His militia, seeing that the job in GeorgeTown is finished, quietly go back to their homes. Frustrated by the fluidity of volunteer militia, Brig. Gen. Marion begins gathering a new militia to harass Francis Lord Rawdon on his way to Ninety-Six.

Ninety-Six lay in the middle of Tory country and so a siege was tough sledding.  It actually should never had taken place except the orders from Rawdon to Cruger (commander at ’96) to leave Ninety-Six for Augusta was intercepted by the rebels and never delivered. The fortification was intense and artillery consisted of three three-pounders and 550 motivated soldiers knowing that this was the last significant outpost in the interior of South Carolina where once the British had over 30 strongholds and now only had a dozen mainly located near CharlesTown.

In addition to this difficulty, there was a rumor afloat that on about 02JUN1781, Col. Pasten Gould landed another 2,000 new British Regulars from Cork, Ireland at CharlesTown.

June 1781 would be a rough month in this seesaw set of events that can easily occur when an empire can land more troops at will from anywhere in the globe.

Stay tuned for what happens at Ninety-Six!

-SF1

07-12MAY1781: Fort Motte is the Next British Stronghold to Fall

In my last post concerning this Spring 1781 effort to take back South Carolina from the grips of the British Empire, I mentioned how Cornwallis had left the region for good and was in route to Virginia.

Fort Motte was constructed in and around the Motte Plantation house 30 miles up river from Fort Watson. 06MAY1781 started yet another siege of a fort as now the post-by-post elimination of British strongholds set in motion. Rebecca Motte, recent widowed, aristocrat and ardent patriot had been moved into the overseers log cabin by the British who took over her house perched on a 250 foot hill was now surrounded by protective wall of wooden stakes 10 foot high with a seven foot wide, six foot deep ditch around the walls. Inside were 80 Redcoats, 59 Hessians and 45 loyalist Tories led by Lt. McPherson, a Scottish unit that had proved itself in Canada and was now a part of the Brit regulars.

Lt. Col. Lee (‘Lighthorse’ Harry) had 250 and Brig. Gen. Marion 150 with one six-pounder cannon. The plan was to use slave labor to build zig-zag trenches close to the fort using patriot sharpshooters to protect the laborers.

In the middle of this siege, Marion fell into his deepest sour mood to date having done nine months being chased by “death squads” and having no practical consistent military help and being prodded to give, give, give. Again it was the request of horses that set him off (triggered in today’s language), but the root issues included

  • The undermining from other militia leaders who said “Marion had come across plenty of horses”
  • The outright murder of a patriot on his own front porch in front of his family by Tories
  • Typical comings and goings of a militia army.

Marion offered to quit and go north to Philadelphia to be assigned elsewhere. Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene, whom he had yet to meet, wrote back and backed off on the horses but saying the cause and his state needed him at such a time as this. Marion ended up sending Greene one quality horse with a promise of more horses when they could.

Word came on 11MAY1781 that the British commander at Camden, Francis Lord Rawdon had left for Charles Town and was in route to reinforce Fort Motte. The tower that worked at Fort Watson would not work in this instance, but raining down fire was the action agreed upon when Lee and Marion met with Rebecca Motte for permission, which she gave.

So on 12MAY1781 the main house was targeted with fire, and with the cannon used to spread canister shot, the Brits could not put out the fire and surrendered. Details from J.D. Lewis’ work called “The Evolution of Marion’s Brigade after the Fall of Charlestown 1780 to 1782” follows:

Waiting until noon when the roof has become hot and dry, Lt. Col. Lee orders the house to be set on fire.

[Weems (known for the fiction about George Washington cutting down a cherry tree) writes that Mrs. Motte lends the Patriots a bow and “African arrows.” However, William Dobein James is there and in his later book about Marion he writes, “the house was not
burnt, as is stated by historians, nor was it fired by an arrow from an African bow, as sung by poets. Nathan Savage, a private in Marion’s brigade, made up a ball of rosin and brimstone, to which he set fire and slung it on the roof of the house.”]

As the roof catches fire, Lt. McPherson sends a detail aloft to rip off the burning shingles. Capt. Samuel Finley fires upon those on the rooftop using his 6-pounder with grapeshot. When Lt. McPherson’s men begin jumping from the burning house, he raises the white flag on May 12 th .

As soon as the British and Loyalists lay down their arms, Brig. Gen. Marion sends his men to the house to help put the fire out. He offers the enemy generous terms. When they march out, Lt. Col. Lee accepts the surrender of the British regulars, while Brig. Gen. Marion accepts the surrender of the Loyalist militia – this is how fractured the Patriots are at that point in time – Continentals versus militia.

Basically, the patriots saved the house from fire, the prisoners were granted generous conditions even keeping their recent loot. The Brits lost no men and the patriots lost two. McPherson surrendered to Lee and the Tories to Marion. McPherson thought he was surrendering to a gentleman BUT three months earlier Lee himself had employed tactics (i.e. “Tarleton’s Quarter”) used by the hated Banastre Tarleton himself. This tendency that all leaders on all sides of conflicts struggle with will be highlighted in the next few hours.

After the surrender, Lee again received wrath from Marion when Francis learned that Lee was hanging Tories:

Mrs. Motte invites both the Patriot and British officers to dine with her that night. The dinner is marred when one of Lt. Col. Lee’s officers, Cornet William Butler Harrison, orders three Loyalists to be hanged.

Brig. Gen. Marion is seated at the table when Lt. McPherson receives the news of this hanging. Brig. Gen. Marion leaps up from the table and storms out of the mansion, arriving to find two dead Loyalist on the ground and one swinging from a noose.

He orders the man cut down and strongly tells Lt. Col. Lee’s men that he is in charge and that he will kill the next man
who harms any prisoners.

Lee complained but said that Marion’s humanity among the ranks could not be overcome.

THIS is a critical point! If the rank and file are empowered to interject morals into the middle of war, then long term relationships after the conflict could be so much better. Total war drives wedges into society that lasts generations. Examples include not only “Tarleton’s Revenge”, but also Sheridan’s burning of the Shenandoah Valley and Sherman’s 50 mile wide path through Georgia and South Carolina! Same goes for the CIA taking out the democratically elected president of Iran in 1953. But I digress.

It was finally at this point for the first time that Greene met with Marion personally and cleared the air. There were no more threats of quitting from this point forward. Again, from J.D. Lewis:

Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene finally meets Brig. Gen. Francis
Marion in person at McCord’s Ferry on the Congaree River. They all camp here for the night.

The Brit Rawdon arrived at Nelson’s Ferry on 14MAY only to hear that Fort Motte was gone and dismantled and all the supplies taken by the patriots. From there his only recourse was to move his troops to within 30 miles of Charles Town at Monck’s Corners.

It seems that the tide is turning into a flood, and mid-May 1781 will come more changes as this internal civil war rages on in South Carolina between Tories and Whigs, British regulars and Continentals and everyone else caught in between.

-SF1

APR2017 Throwback: “Swamp Fox (Reflections)”

A few years ago during my first read of ‘The Swamp Fox: How Francis Marion Saved the American Revolution‘ I had a moment of reflection that I still believe holds true today.

Note the names have been changed to “protect the innocent”:

Halftime in this book, time for a little reflection as to how things were in 1780, how things were for us in the 1990s .. and reflecting on the future.

In dialog over the past week with my son Captain1776 regarding the recaps I have been sharing went like this:

Captain1776: “.. Can’t imagine evading, hiding, having limited food n clothes, fighting a long war away from family as your brothers and neighbors die… its crazy ..”
SF1/Dad: “.. Back then society consisted of mainly pioneer types … this allowed Marion to be supplied buy a slim majority in some areas .. today society is full of snowflakes IMHO . look at your neighbors and think how many would risk to supply you if you led rebellion against the Government. Yup .. a LOT of work to do to change hearts and minds .. will probably need to be preceded by government defaulting on it’s promises in a big way ..”
Captain1776: “..That’s some truth right there. I don’t think there’d be anyone willing to help lol. Smh!..”

I was sitting on the deck this morning in the mid-40s sunshine that SW Michigan offered up with my eyes closed. My mind reflected back to the 1990s when we had a time as family where springtime, especially by April 10th meant it was time for chickens and pigs: (Malibu holding spring chicks)

As a young father, what were my priorities? Family first .. and then community/extended ‘family’. What gave the capacity to do this? Love. Plain and simple, there were just some things that one sacrifices for that don’t always benefit ones self.

As a dad, I love all my kids, and time with them was a premium. But there was also a time that I expanded that to what I call ‘extended family’ .. usually good friends would emerge (whether it was neighbor M.S. or L.G. who I met at church, or B.P. or J.F. or even Pastor R.V.) that would expand my world. My daily thoughts were/are still for them and their families.

It does seem that since 9/11 the distractions from the American Empire and the world have taken center stage, and our love for country wants safety for all involved .. the soldiers as well as the civilians caught up being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Not long after this “noble” war we learned that it was all based on a lie. Soldiers that did return from the Middle East felt as betrayed as the ones that returned from Vietnam in the 1970s. The American “exceptionalism” meant that we were to go around the world and create new democracies .. however, this too has turned into a lie.

The American media which for generations have brought Americans the journalism that shaped our worldview has started to reveal their true allegiance .. and it is not towards telling the truth.

The American educational system which for generations have taught us a local/regional/national view that has begun to unravel. More Americans everyday are starting to wakeup to the fact that we have been lied to, our parents have been lied to .. our grandparents as well as the version of history, economics and even psychology taught is a subset of what is real.

The American government’s war on poverty, war on drugs, etc. are utter failures, by design, as their monopoly works so that they just need a little more money to get it right while tricking the pawns caught in the web to experience perpetual government dependence or life in prison.

The American corporatism (corporate welfare recipients) have also corrupted our country, with a suspect food supply, suspect health”care” system that only benefits those elites that can gain profit and power from these intrusions into families and communities across America.

The American police state has made it their business to know everything about everybody, and the CIA/FBI/NSA and 14 other intelligence agencies in this country can control both individual lives as well as politics. They now have the dirt on everyone over the past decade plus that can be used as blackmail since all that data can easily be taken out of context to prove ones guilt to the myriad of laws on the books .. and even remove anyone from society with a trip to Gitmo or soon, a drone strike.

Twenty short years from the 1990s it seems that we have lost almost the rest of what America had to offer to those pioneers in the 1600/1700s that provided Francis Marion that opportunity to serve his FAMILY and COMMUNITY by doing sacrificially what he did over the course of two plus years to help the “cause” for each of the thirteen sovereign states to be independent from the English Empire.

While the erosion of locality, family & community, has been ongoing since almost right after the American Revolution .. the last 20/50/150 years has seen times that accelerated this slide.

Personally, I am in the middle of unlearning all that government schools taught me in the 1960s/1970s .. George Washington and Abraham Lincoln are not the people the text books make them out to be. This is NOT an exercise in bashing others to make me look good or right. This is an effort to knock down those idols, those deified gods our state has propped up to support their narrative on being that “shining city on a hill” BS.

The real heroes are the family men and women who sacrifice their time, money and sometimes life to provide their kids and community with liberty and freedom.

Francis Marion is one of those rare people that became a legend and yet when a light is shined on their lives they were real people with a heart for others.

So while the evening news, Yahoo News or Google searches try to distract you into thinking that only the American Empire can keep you and your family safe, and that the Nanny State loves all her children and that the Daddy State (Military Industrial Complex) is a righteous power for good in this world and that the Police State can keep you safe from all the bad guys by knowing everything (if you see something, say something) .. think again.

Do your own homework and research. Teach your kids and challenge your co-workers to “change minds and hearts”. Above all, know that Papa is especially fond of you, that He has been greatly misunderstood by many religious teachers and know that Jesus is with you and can relate to where you might be at when you feel you are at the end of your rope. Trust the Holy Spirit in your heart to be your guide and your True North.

“The true test of civilization is, not the census, nor the size of cities, nor the crops – no, but the kind of man the country turns out.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Love y’all

Spring must be a season for reflections .. soak up time with family and friends!

-SF1

Remake of  in 2014 – RIP Dean Ford – Life is Short:

14APR-22APR1781: Tough Times Can Produce Innovations that Matter

In my last American Revolutionary War post, I suggested that after some darkness, that change was in the air, and that a new course might be upon the efforts in South Carolina to exit the British Empire. Time to hoist the sails, capture that wind and move forward:

Francis Marion believes it is time to slip away into North Carolina to preserve their numbers in light of the nearby British force bent on Marion’s destruction. On this night, a detachment from Lt. Col. Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee, part of the Continental Army, arrives and all talk of slipping away is put aside. The rest of Lee’s Legion is on their way. Not only that, news was delivered that Gen Greene had stopped Corwallis at Guilford Courthouse in North Carolina.

Marion and Lee wasted no time in embarking on some new tactics toward controlling most of South Carolina and Georgia for the cause. It is interesting that the great military minds that do adapt to new strategies sometimes, when they have a second chance, they can then secure a region militarily. In this case, General Greene of the Continental Army was about to adopt the “war of posts” strategy that he had dissed before.

What had allowed the freedom to operate was that Cornwallis was so impacted by the Guilford Court House battle in North Carolina that he decided to move his troops to Wilmington NC on the coast to recover. After this his plan was to then invade Virginia never again to enter South Carolina. Greene used this opportunity to secure South Carolina and Georgia land so that if a peace treaty were to be achieved, the colonies would have these territories.

With Cornwallis’ exit from the deep south colonies, the various Tory elements in South Carolina started to melt away into the countryside as news spread of Cornwallis’ departure from the region. The British left only significant forces at Camden, Georgetown and Charleston along with other troops at various posts across the colony numbering 8,000 in total. These posts were along the supply line that kept forces 800 strong supplied in Camden which is over one hundred miles away from the coast and ports.

Greene’s army numbered only 1,400 but was on the move now deep into South Carolina. In this scenario, Watson gave up chasing Marion and dumped his artillery and heavy baggage into a creek and sped toward Camden to join forces with British officer Rawdon and then circled back steering clear of the rebel forces going back to the coast at Georgetown.

“Lighthorse” Harry Lee arrived at Marion’s camp on April 14th, 1781 and filled in Marion on the details of Guilford CH, a bloody battle that the British technically won but having outrun their own supply line, Cornwallis’ troops were a mess. British cavalry officer Tarleton himself had several finger amputated from wounds he suffered in the conflict.

Lee articulated how his troops would now focus on the larger garrisons at Camden and Ninety-Six while the militia (Pickens, Sumter and Marion) work away on the smaller posts in SC. However, it was another target that Lee had in mind that Marion did not see “eye-to-eye” on. Lee wanted to lay siege to Fort Watson WITH Marion, while Marion wanted to continue his chase of British office Watson. Marion had seen first hand both the disastrous Savannah siege in 1779 and also Thomas Sumter’s attempted siege in which he got impatient and lost a lot of his men.

While the 49 year old Marion was technically in charge and 25 year old Lee was second in command, the fact that Lee had 300 troops to Marion’s 80 at this time probably led to Marion acquiescing.

Fort Watson was surrounded on April 15th, however, all the trees around the fort were gone so there was no way sharpshooters could be utilized. The British had learned much from previous militia encounters. Cutting off the water supply was also attempted but the the well right outside the fort could be used at night through a covered passage had been built. After the siege had started, the 120 defenders started digging a well inside the fort and struck water on the fourth day of the siege.

The rebels had requested a six-pounder from Greene which would have made quick work of this fort since it had no cannon of its own, but the men bringing the cannon got lost and returned to Greene’s location outside Camden.

The bottom line was that Marion’s men were not prepared for a siege and were not experienced at it. This was not their strong suite. Morale was sinking and Marion was corresponding with various militia’s around the state about some significant issues that distracted Marion from a situation he was not comfortable in:

  1. Militia Capt. Snipes was free-lancing/looting around the state and bad-mouthing Marion suggesting that people should not send supplies to him
  2. “Sumter’s Law”, which paid ten months of service to men with plunder from local Tories (horses, clothing and slaves), was causing many potential militia members to join Sumter instead of Marion’s militia. Marion did not agree with the plunder reward, but was in the minority opinion on this one.
  3. Rumor was out that Marion’s men killed three prisoners in their care according to the Brit commander in Charleston and Marion’s mentor suggested in a letter that he half-believed it.

The siege was taking its toll on the ones facilitating the siege until an innovative spirit emerged in militia leader Lt. Col. Hezekiah Maham. A tower would be built out of range from the Brits in the fort, but tall enough for sharpshooters to do their work. The fort walls were 7 foot on top of a 23 foot mound so the tower would have to be very, very high. Geometry as well as ballistics played a part in this experiment.

By April 22nd it was ready with a perch at the top with openings for the long rifles. The rebels sharpshooters rained down fire into the fort and simultaneously a patriot unit was taking down the stockade section of the fort itself. A surrender request was made and the commander McKay put up the white flag. In his journal it seemed the British inside the fort refused to fight any longer. Generous terms were offered and the British troops made their way to Charleston.

Lee and Marion reaped a bounty of ammunition and public praise was awarded to Maham and his innovation. Lee, whose ego usually precedes himself, actually came to praise Marion publicly and asked to be formally placed under Marion’s leadership “in some degree”. Greene wrote Marion and said praise would travel to General Washington and the world.

With Fort Watson out of the picture, it would be the first of many dominoes to fall for the British in South Carolina as the summer heat started returning to the region.

-SF1

01-13APR1781 – Marion’s Militia Targets British Regulars and Loyalist Militias

In my previous post, it was said that Francis Marion might have responded to the British destruction of his winter quarters:

“It ain’t winter anymore”

For the British it was again about “too little, too late”. The arrogance (“British Exceptionalism” maybe?) …

… as this attitude would dog them as underestimating a guerrilla leader operating in decentralized command structure is never a good idea, ask the US political and military leaders about Vietnam.

On 03APR1781, Marion’s 100 militia catch up with the British force of 300 after Brig. Gen. Francis Marion ordered Lt. Col. Hugh Horry to take his mounted infantry and find Lt. Col. Welbore Ellis Doyle.

At Witherspoon’s Plantation, Lt. Col. Doyle has some foragers there collecting food for his troops. When Lt. Col. Horry arrives at the plantation, they engage the Provincials, killing nine men and capturing sixteen. The Patriots pursue the fleeing enemy to Witherspoon’s Ferry and catch the British rear guard scuttling a ferryboat. The Patriots fire.

Lt. Col. Doyle quickly forms his men along the bank of Lynches Creek and delivers a volley of musket fire in return. After this, the British gather up their belongings and head towards the Pee Dee River no longer being able to forage for food. This daily task, still tough because it is springtime, will have to wait for another opportunity. Marion’s edge is the psychological warfare he uses that make the enemy always assume that behind ever tree, in every swamp, is Marion and his men.

By 08APR1781, Marion and his growing army crosses the Pee Dee River at
Mars Bluff and camps on the other side at Wahee Neck. He now has
nearly 500 men but their ammunition is very low, down to only two rounds per man. 500 men is impressive, however about the same time Lt. Col. John Watson Tadwell-Watson nears Marion’s location and he encamps along Catfish Creek with over 900 men.

Marion hears about the amassed troops and he calls a “Council of War” with his key officers, Lt. Col. John Baxter, Lt. Col. Alexander Swinton, Lt. Col. Hugh Horry, Lt. Col. Peter Horry, Lt. Col. John Ervin, Lt. Col. James
Postell, and Maj. John James. Francis Marion believes it is time to slip away into North Carolina to preserve their numbers in light of the nearby British force bent on Marion’s destruction. On this night, a detachment from Lt. Col. Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee, part of the Continental Army, arrives and all talk of slipping away is put aside. The rest of Lee’s Legion is on their way. Not only that, news was delivered that Gen Greene had stopped Corwallis at Guilford Courthouse in North Carolina.

The cat (British/Loyalist Militia) and mouse (Militia) quickly becomes the cat (Continentals/Militia) and mouse (British/Loyalist Militia).

With the news that Continentals have joined with Marion’s militia at Wahee Neck, the nearby enemy is soon panicked. Maj. Micajah Gainey
slips away quietly. Lt. Col. John Watson Tadwell-Watson realizing
that his position is now tenuous at best, burns his baggage and dumps
two small field pieces into Catfish Creek and marches double-time
back to the safety of Georgetown on the coast.

Another aspect of this phase of the American colonial war against the British Empire was the fact that in March 1781, the Articles of Confederation was signed by all the colonies and it did not give the Continentals, or the politicians in Philadelphia, clear power and control over these militia units. When Lee’s Continentals arrived in South Carolina, they in fact partnered with Marion’s militia who was under the guidance of the South Carolina governor, in exile in North Carolina, John Rutledge. Further confusing the chain of command was that Francis Marion still held his Continental commission as an officer. But with the tide changing, these leaders were about to target British outposts in South Carolina toward restoring trust in the cause of freedom and liberty in the southern colonies.

-SF1