Iran STILL Upholds the Treaty it Signed with the US and Other Nations, But the US is UPSET?

* actual numbers may be dated, however, the true character of each nation should be obvious to the most casual observer!

Iran has yet to violate the JCPOA treaty that was signed by many countries almost four years ago. Have you read it?

There seems to be some angst in major media today, 01JUL2019, when they heard that Iran has announced that it has exceeded 300kg of enriched uranium hexafluoride (UF6). Really? Did they not read the treaty and know what “triggered” this action? Did they not hear Iran warn about this during late-May and earlier last month? This should have been no surprise.

I had shared my own concerns of the heightened tensions between the US Empire and Iran in a post about a week ago when I mentioned:

A nations character is determined by its actions over time. The US’s character in domestic and world affairs has been going downhill for decades, even over a century. This nation has long passed the time when the world might see us as a “shining city on a hill”.

It takes TWO in any relationship, and in this case, the US has been nothing but a bully in “victim-blaming” Iran .. from when the CIA assassinated their president in 1953 to this April when Trump said:

“floods once again show the level of Iranian regime mismanagement in urban planning and in emergency preparedness.”

.. WHILE whole swaths of the US Midwest were underwater. You can’t make this up. Every administration assumes that the stupid American people will just nod their head and agree with main-stream-media and their masters, the US government (deep state, politicians and thousands of bureaucrats that suck the life out of the American taxpayer).

Moon of Alabama cuts to the chase about what is really going on here:

Iran does that [exceed 300kg UF6] within the frame of the JCPOA. It is not breaching it. Article 26 of the joint plan states that the U.S. will refrain from reimposing sanctions and that Iran will react in case that happens:

The United States will make best efforts in good faith to sustain this JCPOA and to prevent interference with the realisation of the full benefit by Iran of the sanctions lifting specified in Annex II. The U.S. Administration, acting consistent with the respective roles of the President and the Congress, will refrain from re-introducing or re-imposing the sanctions specified in Annex II that it has ceased applying under this JCPOA, without prejudice to the dispute resolution process provided for under this JCPOA. The U.S. Administration, acting consistent with the respective roles of the President and the Congress, will refrain from imposing new nuclear-related sanctions. Iran has stated that it will treat such a re-introduction or re-imposition of the sanctions specified in Annex II, or such an imposition of new nuclear-related sanctions, as grounds to cease performing its commitments under this JCPOA in whole or in part.

For the record, on 08MAY2019, the US broke the JCPOA when it reimposed sanctions on Iran. Period. There should be ZERO crocodile tears from the US on this latest development.

In addition to this, Mood of Alabama points out that on 03MAY2019:

the State Department removed sanction waivers that allowed Iran to export low enriched uranium in exchange for natural uranium:

In addition, any involvement in transferring enriched uranium out of Iran in exchange for natural uranium will now be exposed to sanctions. The United States has been clear that Iran must stop all proliferation-sensitive activities, including uranium enrichment, and we will not accept actions that support the continuation of such enrichment.We will also no longer permit the storage for Iran of heavy water it has produced in excess of current limits; any such heavy water must not be made available to Iran in any fashion.

Linked to this is the US’s attempt to isolate Iran in all this by its threat to keep EU (European Union) partners (especially Germany, France and the U.K.) from trading with Iran.Do you see any similarities to how the US treated Japan in 1940 for force them to fire first? (from a 15JUN2019 post):

Especially damning was the economic manipulation FDR orchestrated against Japan the year before Pearl Harbor and the fact that his administration was well aware of the Japanese fleet’s route to Pearl but decided to keep the US Navy in Hawaii in the dark. So much for that “surprise”.

Deja vu, all over again. When will the masses learn? Oh yes, we are in the process of erasing our history, how convenient!

But there is some good news, according to Zero Hedge:

Europe announced that the special trade channel, Instex, that will allow European firms to avoid SWIFT and bypass American sanctions on Iran, is now operational.

The EU has *alls! This is great news and the price of oil reflected this event.

This also has some more unintended consequences for the US playing “hard-ball” with Iran (on behalf of Israel and Saudi Arabia you know, because what other reason would the US be upset with Iran about?). Zero Hedge again points out this aspect of the empire that has some more cracks in it:

Here is a simpler summary of what just happened: this was the first official shot across the bow of the USD status as a global reserve currency, and not by America’s adversaries but by its closest allies. And once those who benefit the most from the status quo openly revolt against it, the countdown to the end of the USD reserve status officially begins.

Yes. You may ask why would I be happy about the economic mayhem that is bound to occur when the effects of this ripple out through all the US economic “spinning-plates”? It is because the only way for the US Empire to quit thinking that “American Exceptionalism” gives it a license to operated above the law (natural law) in the whole world without penalty, the only way the US Empire finally understands that it can no longer be the world’s policeman, that the only way the US political class / elites and deep state finally come to terms with the immorality of its ways (not practicing the golden rule on the macro level) is for the financial rug be pulled out from under it so the “beast” (i.e. swamp) can finally be starved (i.e. drained).

I yearn for the day that the American people (together (doubtful) OR separately (ideally) in various federations of states and city-states) get back to that moment in time when the American Revolution concluded when life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness were the top three in the minds of those that finally threw off the British Empire’s micro-managing / taxing agenda.

For the current US government who never saw a treaty that it couldn’t eventually break, it is no wonder why the political elite never wanted this deal with Iran to work, as one can see in the intro to the 2015 treaty:

The E3/EU+3 (China, France, Germany, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States, with the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy) and the Islamic Republic of Iran welcome this historic Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which will ensure that Iran’s nuclear programme will be exclusively peaceful ..

Yes, it is that word “peace”. The US Empire has not nor has never wanted peace. Free trade is the antidote to war, and the state knows this!

Know your history!

-SF1

Preparing (Prepping?) the Next Generation with Love

I am not a fan of labels. Labels are not all that accurate especially when it comes to the generations, for there are always exceptions. I am thinking on the latest buzzword, Millennials, as well as the others like Boomer, Gen X, Silent Generation and the like.

Being peak Boomer (literally, the year that had the most US births in American history, 1958) I also hear that the generation I am a part of did no favors in our raising of the next generation.

I believe if you try to picture me, you might assume that have gray hair, outright own my home, will soon retire with a good pension, healthy portfolio, and have a condo or two in other more temperate states or at least own a cottage in a location where the family can gather each summer.

Well, not so fast. Gray hair, ok .. you got me there, however the path we choose (or in some cases, the paths we might have been forced down) are not as typical as you might think.

From the start we (my wife and I at ages 22 and 19 at that time) really wanted our new family to be a one-family income home where our kids would have a parent to return from school to as well as to enjoy summer vacations. This ended up being quite the financial sacrifice since the economy transitioned to two-income families in the 1970s (about the time the US totally abandoned the gold standard). We would not trade that for the world.

Another thing we did was take the risk of raising our children on a few acres that allowed them to experience a few things that are atypical for kids these days, to have responsibilities in taking care of chickens, pigs and even a pony. While the old farm house needed plenty of upgrades, and at times it was a money pit, the end result is having some very humble children that are aware of life in multiple dimensions!

The result is that we have five awesome, independent and unique millennials that are a-typical for their cohort. Each one has charted their own course in this world and we are so proud of each and every one of them.

Along these lines comes Daisy Luther from Organic Prepper who shares her recipe for raising two daughters toward being women who are prepared much more that the typical millennial for the years and decades to come.

“Millenials” have been the butt of a million jokes about incompetence. The generation born between 1981 and 1996 is considered entitled, ultra-liberal, and naive about how life works. But maybe they’ve gotten a bad rap because what no one ever points out is that maybe the issue isn’t with these young people but with how they were raised. I know that my own millennial daughter is competent, frugal, and independent.

As a parent, the most important job I will ever hold is “mom” to my two daughters. And if I’m not teaching them the important life lessons they need to survive and thrive in this crazy world, I’m not doing a very good job at all. Of course, once they get out there, there are a million variables, but how they deal with those variables has a lot to do with whether they were raised to think independently or raised to wait for rescue.

What follows are a few snippets of what schools will not teach your kids but what love of our children might drive us to provide them:

Everyday skills every young person should have

Here are the lessons that I think every parent needs to teach their child, whether you’re raising boys or girls. Before leaving the nest, they should be able to:

Let me hit the pause button right there a minute. In this world of instant gratification there is nothing so awesome than seeing first hand a younger person hold off or actually say “no” to a purchase that might make them incredibly happy, until the credit card statement or monthly payment shows up in an e-mail.

Other categories are covered by Daisy as well:

  • Use basic tools for repairs
  • Cook a healthy meal from scratch
  • Cook a “company” meal – everyone needs one delicious meal that’s a little fancier they can cook when they have a guest
  • Grocery shop within a budget and have healthy food for the week ahead

Yes, this last one is so important in the long term. The diet of food that we live on greatly impacts how our body’s health might be in the decades to come, again, it seems against the grain, and does not have immediate effects, but is important for the long-haul. As someone who has seen the butter to margarine to butter shift for “health” as well as the eggs are bad for you to eggs are good for you, it is important that our kids know how to critically think and research things online in a way that seeks truths about the foods we have available in the US.

  • How to pay off debt if they have it
  • How to keep safe: they need to have basic self-defense and weapons-handling skills.
  • How to navigate with a paper map – not Google or their car’s GPS
  • How to make extra money fast if an emergency arises

Some of these things Daisy share makes perfect sense and are things I had not thought of. Even though all my kids are adults now, it is not too late for them to learn!

Emergency skills every young person should have

Some of the skills above will cross over into emergencies, like First Aid. Outside of the basics of everyday life, your kids leaving home should know:

  • How to light a fire
  • How to cook safely over an open fire
  • How to keep warm when the power is out, whether that means safely operating an indoor propane heater, using the woodstove/fireplace, or bundling up in a tent and sleeping bags in the living room
  • How to keep themselves fed when the power is out – they should have enough supplies on hand that they can stay fed at home for up to two weeks: cereal, powdered milk, granola bars, canned fruit, etc.
  • How to deal with the most likely disasters in their area
  • About the dangers of off-grid heating and cooking, such as the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning in unventilated rooms.
  • How to purify water
  • How to keep safe both at home and when they’re out. Be sure they know the difference between cover and concealment

I found Daisy’s article thought provoking and informative. I challenge you to have discussions with your families around the campfires this week as you “get out there” to enjoy summer in nature!

I know I will ..

-SF1

Collateral Damage: Can We Make Civilians Spectators Again? Probably Not

I am fully aware that the term “collateral damage” as used by the US Empire refers to the “unfortunate” death of innocent civilians as a result of “pre-war” sanctions. The most popular clip on the Internet is Secretary of State Madeline Albright being interviewed about the 500,000 children that died as a result of sanctions on Iraq between Gulf War I and II:

The reason I ‘air-quote’ the term pre-war is that in all reality, sanctions themselves are an act of war, even though it is on the economic variety. While there are no guns used, there is force used to ensure that the economic activity sanctioned actually does not take place, and that is indeed backed by guns. It is both coercion and violence-based. The state dictates that peaceful trade can not take place and its edicts will be followed, as the consequences to any business is well known. No business can go rogue in the sanction war.

Truth be told, we in the US on the domestic front are again close to having personal conversation scrutinized for words of support towards these sanctioned countries filled with people who desire peaceful trade with American citizens. If one supports Palestinian people, one is assumed to be anti-Semitic, if one supports Russian people, one is assumed to be a Russian-bot.

There was a time when war’s harm toward civilians caught in the crossfire was recognized and attempts were made toward international rules that safeguarded citizens as much as possible from the political conflicts that broke out across the world. By the 1700s in fact, this was the norm, which is why there was such disgust when British dragoon leader Banastre Tarleton would kill both the wounded enemy as well as civilians that appeared to “aid the enemy”.

By the time seven states decided to leave the American union in 1861, this norm had not yet changed. Most of the civilized world’s battles took place on the outskirts of cities.

From an article written by one who has seen war with his own eyes since Vietnam, Tom’s Dispatch writes about this time period:

In fact, the classic American instance of war-as-spectator-sport occurred in 1861 in the initial major land battle of the Civil War, Bull Run (or, for those reading this below the Mason-Dixon line, the first battle of Manassas). “On the hill beside me there was a crowd of civilians on horseback, and in all sorts of vehicles, with a few of the fairer, if not gentler sex,” wrote William Howard Russell who covered the battle for the London Times. “The spectators were all excited, and a lady with an opera glass who was near me was quite beside herself when an unusually heavy discharge roused the current of her blood — ‘That is splendid, Oh my! Is not that first rate? I guess we will be in Richmond tomorrow.’”

Yes, a picnic lunch adjacent to a large battle. You now know how everyone assumed that civilians would not be targeted. People in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as Syria, Pakistan, Yemen and Libya pretty much know the opposite is true with the US Empire in the 21st century.

Reflecting back once more:

That woman would be sorely disappointed. U.S. forces not only failed to defeat their Confederate foes and press on toward the capital of the secessionist South but fled, pell-mell, in ignominious retreat toward Washington. It was a rout of the first order. Still, not one of the many spectators on the scene, including Congressman Alfred Ely of New York, taken prisoner by the 8th South Carolina Infantry, was killed.

By in large, the southern armies were driven by principles. The leadership time and again desired to spare the civilian population of the havoc of war. When Robert E. Lee’s army invaded the northern states of Maryland and Pennsylvania, his men were under strict orders NOT to help themselves to the resources of these civilians but rely on their own supplies. This was even apparent at the end of the war in 1865 when a hungry, tired and destitute southern army under Robert E. Lee retreated from Richmond and came across a rare cow in the countryside. Robert E. Lee directed his hungry men to return that cow to its rightful owner.

We do however know that there were civilian deaths during this internal conflict where one section of the country desired to depart in peace. Tom’s Dispatch explains:

Judith Carter Henry was as old as the imperiled republic at the time of the battle. Born in 1776, the widow of a U.S. Navy officer, she was an invalid, confined to her bed, living with her daughter, Ellen, and a leased, enslaved woman named Lucy Griffith when Confederate snipers stormed her hilltop home and took up positions on the second floor.

“We ascended the hill near the Henry house, which was at that time filled with sharpshooters. I had scarcely gotten to the battery before I saw some of my horses fall and some of my men wounded by sharpshooters,” Captain James Ricketts, commander of Battery 1, First U.S. Artillery, wrote in his official report. “I turned my guns on that house and literally riddled it. It has been said that there was a woman killed there by our guns.” Indeed, a 10-pound shell crashed through Judith Henry’s bedroom and tore off her foot. She died later that day, the first civilian death of America’s Civil War.

We know she was not the last to die. Many would die as Union army cut swaths through the south in Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. Civilian’s fields, silver and homes would not be spared, nor were their personal bodies as many women were raped by the marauding troops from the north. As in many countries in the Middle East today, these atrocities would not soon be forgotten.

Tom’s Dispatch (Nick Turse) continues:

No one knows how many civilians died in the war between the states. No one thought to count. Maybe 50,000, including those who died from war-related disease, starvation, crossfire, riots, and other mishaps. By comparison, around 620,000 to 750,000 American soldiers died in the conflict — close to 1,000 of them at that initial battle at Bull Run.

So by 1865 these ratios were starting to change. Civilian deaths are hard to estimate, but you can be assured that military deaths these days are minimal when compared to those of innocent civilians.

In Vietnam, we saw this on black and white TV before the government decided to control more of what the masses would view:

A century later, U.S. troops had traded their blue coats for olive fatigues and the wartime death tolls were inverted. More than 58,000 Americans lost their lives in Vietnam. Estimates of the Vietnamese civilian toll, on the other hand, hover around two million. Of course, we’ll never know the actual number, just as we’ll never know how many died in air strikes as reporters watched from the rooftop bar of Saigon’s Caravelle Hotel ..

Since the 1960s, this trend has only accelerated and has not only produced more of what our own CIA calls “blowback” (I mean, when you blow up funeral processions with drones, you will multiply the number of freedom-fighters, errr I mean “terrorists” in a region) but it also has cause economic and political refugees seeking a better life in other regions of the world. For both the military-industrial complex and politicians, this is actually a win-win for them. How sick is that?

Tom’s Dispatch article winds down by saying:

In this century, it’s a story that has occurred repeatedly, each time with its own individual horrors, as the American war on terror spread from Afghanistan to Iraq and then on to other countries; as Russia fought in Georgia, Ukraine, and elsewhere; as bloodlettings have bloomed from the Democratic Republic of Congo to South Sudan, from Myanmar to Kashmir. War watchers like me and like those reporters atop the Caravelle decades ago are, of course, the lucky ones. We can sit on the rooftops of hotels and listen to the low rumble of homes being chewed up by artillery. We can make targeted runs into no-go zones to glimpse the destruction. We can visit schools transformed into shelters. We can speak to real estate agents who have morphed into war victims.  Some of us, like Hedrick Smith, Michael Herr, or me, will then write about it — often from a safe distance and with the knowledge that, unlike Salah Isaid and most other civilian victims of such wars, we can always find an even safer place.

A safer place. I am sure this is what those imprisoned in Gaza feel, or those in Libya near Tripoli these days, or in various areas of Iraq and Afghanistan and even in areas of Syria.

This will probably all “come home to roost” as our foreign policy of intervention and disruption plus regime change causes people to uproot and move. There is always “baggage” involved when violence displaces families.

This all will not end well, nor will this country be exempt from the fallout.

-SF1

Words Matter: What Happens When it is the Right Word, But the Wrong Translation?

Don’t worry, I am not talking about the Bible which has been misinterpreted time and again from the original languages as well as from the context of the time in which it was said centuries ago.

I am talking about Western Media misinterpreting Iranian leadership’s words, whether mistakenly or on purpose, ends up giving those that worship their government-directed news sources a false impression of what really is. Remember, this nation is driven lately with “feelings”, and so how better a way to get people back on-board the war-train but to twist what is said, and hope no one catches it.

Moon of Alabama reflects on the time when someone mentioned that a certain country must be:

“wiped off the map”

Can you remember this? Almost fifteen years ago, in 2005 it was reported that Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmedinejad said this about Israel. Can you imagine the brouhaha? Oh yes, tensions between the US (protectorate of Israel) and Iran flared, even though those specific words were never said in Persian.

“He did say he hoped its regime, i.e., a Jewish-Zionist state occupying Jerusalem, would collapse.” Since Iran has not “attacked another country aggressively for over a century,” he said in an e-mail exchange, “I smell the whiff of war propaganda.”

Also, ..

Jonathan Steele, a columnist for the left-leaning Guardian newspaper in London, recently laid out the case this way: “The Iranian president was quoting an ancient statement by Iran’s first Islamist leader, the late Ayatollah Khomeini, that ‘this regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time,’ just as the Shah’s regime in Iran had vanished. He was not making a military threat. He was calling for an end to the occupation of Jerusalem at some point in the future. The ‘page of time’ phrase suggests he did not expect it to happen soon.”

However, the misinterpretation stuck. I bet you remembered this phrase from 2005 if you are over 30 years old. It made an impression on you.

Retractions don’t stick except for those who are critical thinkers and can do their own research. The damage is done, however, for the masses as the propagandist and manipulators in our midst use it for their own purposes, even if it could lead to WWIII, they don’t care.

So when the trustworthy AP (Associated Press, with the emphasis on the first three letters) publishes this:

The Associated Press @AP – 7:52 utc – 25 Jun 2019

BREAKING: Iran’s President Rouhani mocks President Trump, says the White House is “afflicted by mental retardation.”

Donald Trump believes his own propaganda source:

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump – 14:42 utc – 25 Jun 2019

Iran leadership doesn’t understand the words “nice” or “compassion,” they never have. Sadly, the thing they do understand is Strength and Power, and the USA is by far the most powerful Military Force in the world, with 1.5 Trillion Dollars invested over the last two years alone..

….The wonderful Iranian people are suffering, and for no reason at all. Their leadership spends all of its money on Terror, and little on anything else. The U.S. has not forgotten Iran’s use of IED’s & EFP’s (bombs), which killed 2000 Americans, and wounded many more…

….Iran’s very ignorant and insulting statement, put out today, only shows that they do not understand reality. Any attack by Iran on anything American will be met with great and overwhelming force. In some areas, overwhelming will mean obliteration. No more John Kerry & Obama!

Truth is, words matter. If one takes the exact Persian words and translate them, retarded is not one of them:

Reza H. Akbari @rezahakbari – 15:58 utc – 25 Jun 2019

Absolutely incorrect. There is a word for “retarded” in Persian & Rouhani didn’t use it. Prior to him saying “mental disability” he even prefaced his comment by saying “mental weakness.” Those who speak Persian can listen & judge for themselves. Here is a video clip of Rouhani’s comment: link

In this day and age when one has seen the United Nations with everyone having headsets on hearing in almost real time the speeches in their own language, how can this still happen in 2019?

Actual word for word translation:

“They have become stricken with mental incapability [Persian: natavani-ye zehni]. The White House has become stricken with mental disability [Persian: ma’luliyat-e zehni]. They don’t know what to do.”

As Moon of Alabama says:

It is hard to believe that such significant mistranslations of official ‘enemies’, left without a timely correction, happen accidentally.

For sure. This was no accident, this was done intentionally to keep stoking the fires towards war and more sanctions that only serve to hurt the less fortunate in Iran, which makes the US officials like Bolton and Pompeo smile and laugh out loud:

“This is a sick world we’re living in. Sick people” – Sinbad in Jingle All the Way (1996)

-SF1

JUL1781: Dog Days (Campaign) are a Real Thing in South Carolina in the Summertime

In my last update on the slow attrition of British forces in South Carolina the summer of 1781 as well as the condition of the American Continentals:

Summer fighting in South Carolina requires a lot of a man should he come from Virginia or further north. Greene concluded that the American forces were weakened by the heat and could not survive on the rice in the region and needed bread again. With no beef they resorted to frogs and alligators, because they taste like chicken.

After the next encounter in July 1781, Greene would then moved his troops to the High Hills of the Santee for the rest of the summer.

To recap quickly, Georgetown and Ninety-Six had fallen and so two significant outposts remained slightly inland, Monck’s Corner 30 miles north of Charleston and Dorchester 20 miles northwest of Charleston.The only other occupied outpost is Ninety-Six which has a Loyalist contingent in place there many miles away from the action down state.

The British army was basically in Charleston, in these outposts, and then just one regular British army in the field at Orangeburg. Sumter convinced Greene that he should take out the two outposts cutting off the Brit army in Orangeburg from Charleston, using Lee’s and Marion’s forces of course. Greene’s objective was then to get the Brits stuck on the coast in a land siege and then pray the French Navy could bottle them up in Charleston.

05JUL1781: American Continental leader Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene orders Brig. Gen. Francis Marion and his militia to march from Ancrum’s Plantation towards Moncks Corner in an attempt to cut off Lord Rawdon who is in the field at Orangeburg.  Marion and his men passes around Lord Rawdon, whose troops are sick, exhausted, and almost mutinous and goes in the direction of Moncks Corners and the British forces that are in route to Orangeburg.

08JUL1781: At “o’dark thirty”, Marion quietly breaks camp
and begins moving stealthily down the highway between Orangeburgh
and Moncks Corner looking for Lt. Col. Alexander Stewart and his forces. They pass each other as they took different roads and so at daylight, Marion learns of this mistake and sends Lt. Col. Peter Horry back to pursue Stewart but it is too late. Marion gets word to return to Ancrum’s Plantation where Greene finally has almost all of his army with him at one location – Sumter, Marion, Washington, and Lee. Pickens is the only SC Brigadier General not there.

12JUL1781: July 12th marks the day that Marion followed his orders and took his 180 man force to Moncks Corner while Lee and his 150 man force moved on Dorchester. Sumter remained in the rear with his 200 infantry and one six-pounder.

Marion’s force had just went through some leadership changes with Hugh Giles retiring, a 27 year old John Ervin taking his place and Greene’s commissioning of Peter Horry and Hezekiah Maham to lead two dragoon forces within the Continental Army which meant signing on for one year. Complicating the matter was that both promotions were dated the same day, and if that was not enough, it was never made clear as to who they really reported to .. Greene OR Marion. This was never made clear and made for issues down the road from this day.

The target Greene had in sight at Moncks Corner was a British force of 500-600 redcoats from 19th Regiment of Foot was led by Lt. Col James Coates which had two field howitzers. In addition to this force were 100-150 provincial cavalry under Major Fraser (SC Royalists) which were remnant forces from SC Rangers and Queen’s Rangers, all native SC men who knew the back-country as well as Marion and Sumter.

16JUL1781: Sumter wanted to surround Coates cutting off his escape routes and any reinforcements from Orangeburg. Lee easily pushed the British out of Dorchester and so upon hearing this Coates surprises the patriots by moving five miles northeast to St. James Goose Creek Church which is locally called Biggin Church (a structure with three foot thick walls and where Marion himself worshiped as a boy). As the patriots adjusted to Coates new position, Maham’s dragoons were sent to destroy Wadboo bridge so Coates would not have an easy time getting to Charleston, unfortunately, Coates men were able to repair if overnight and were all set to escape down the Cooper River if and when they needed to.

17JUL1781: With insignificant skirmishing on July 16th at 4am the next morning the Biggin Church was ablaze and Coates had a head start toward Charleston. As the patriots chased Coates they found the Wadboo bridge had been destroyed by the British this time, and so they had to ford the river farther upstream wasting valuable time.

The Brits then went 18 miles south and settled briefly at a vacant plantation of patriot Col. Thomas Shubrick. They posted a howitzer at Quinby Bridge to guard the crossing and started tearing up the planks when Lee, Wade Hampton and some of Marion’s cavalry arrived. Some of the men crossed the creek and started their assault on the British forces, Lee himself chose not to send his cavalry across the 20-yard wide creek due to the muddy bottom. On the other side there was a causeway that led to deadly hand-to-hand combat. Many of the green recruits of the 19th Foot threw down their weapons and fled only to realize how few patriots made is across the creek. The Brits were able to fight their way back to the plantation for cover. Fraser’s Brit cavalry left for Charleston for reinforcements.

Lee and Marion saw the plantation to well fortified and chose to wait for Sumter and his six-pounder. When Sumter arrived WITHOUT his cannon he decided to attack anyway against Lee and Marion’s advice. Marion’s men had to advance across open field and then finding Taylor’s men facing a bayonet charge (NOTE: there are no bayonets on patriot rifles) diverted on an oblique to save Taylor and his men but took a lot of causalities. Forty minute battle was finally called off by Sumter whose troops as well as Lee’s remained in reserve. Fifty killed or wounded, mainly from Marion’s men was the result.

Reflection time: What does one do when a superior, errr, I mean a higher ranking officer gives an ill-advised order? Well the obedient will “just follow orders”, however, the militia volunteers will never forget!

Taylor let it be known that he would not fight alongside the Gamecock Sumter again, putting his men at risk for a poor objective and with no backup. From J.D. Lewis’s “Evolution of Marion’s Brigade after the Fall of Charlestown 1780 to 1782“:

.. Maj. John Baxter is knocked from his horse by a musket ball. He shouts to Lt. Col. Peter Horry, “I am wounded, colonel.” Horry replies, “Think no more of it, Baxter, but stand to your post.”

Baxter shouts, “But I can’t stand, I am wounded a second time!” Horry shoots back, “Lie down then, Baxter, but quit not your post.”

Baxter is hit a third time and says, “They have shot me again, colonel, and if I stay any longer here, I shall be shot to pieces.” Horry then says, “Be it so, Baxter, but stir not.”

Baxter obeys, but he was hit a fourth time.

Fifty of Brig. Gen. Marion’s men are killed or wounded in this assault.  Col. Thomas Taylor finds Brig. Gen. Sumter “sitting cooly under the shade of a tree.” He says, “Sir, I don’t know why you sent me forward on a forlorn hope, promising to sustain me and failed to do so, unless you designed to sacrifice me. I will never serve a single hour under you,” and then retires from Brig. Gen. Thomas Sumter’s command.

There is no post battle comments are on record from Marion to Sumter but to Greene he implied that he too was sent on a fools errand. Most evident of Marion’s true feelings was that he and Lee left the night of the battle and went 15 miles away to camp without informing Sumter. All but 100 of Marion’s men left at this point and Marion internally knew he was done with Sumter.

Within a month, things would change in the leadership of the South Carolina state militias yet again.

Stay tuned for what the conclusion of the “Dog Days Campaign”, what was won and what was lost.

-SF1