It was bound to happen. The winter quarters for Marion’s militia could only be kept secret for so long. The extra effort by the British might have been the militia’s capture of Cornet Thomas Merritt of the Queen’s Rangers when he was under a flag of truce on 18MAR1781 and taken to Snow’s Island. Marion’s own violation of the “laws of nations” was actually communicated to the British days prior, in response the the British doing their own share of violating this law, an ongoing “tit-for-tat”.
It must be clear that Snow’s Island actually is home to a half dozen places that the militia could call home and be safe for a time from the British and Loyalists. The particular location where Merritt was kept prisoner was at Goddard’s Farm.
Leading up to this event was a busy few weeks as I outlined in my last post about Marion’s experiences in the spring of 1781, the on-going skirmishes with British Lt. Col. John Watson in South Carolina. Witherspoon’s Ferry (12-13MAR), Black River Bridge (14-15MAR) and Blakely’s Plantation (15-16MAR) were all running encounters between 500 patriots and roughly the same British regulars and loyalists.
The final skirmish before Marion’s men dissolve to the farms in the region to plant crops takes place at Sampit Bridge on 20MAR1781. J.D. Lewis at his site has a Microsoft PowerPoint that on page 139 tells it best:
As the British approach the Sampit River, nine miles
from Georgetown, they find all the planks removed by Lt.
Col. Peter Horry’s men and the opposite bank lined with
Lt. John Scott and his riflemen. However, Lt. Col.
Watson’s army never slows down – they know they are in
trouble. As the advance guard approaches the destroyed
bridge they form in a close column and plunge across
on foot.
While the advance guard of the British army is forcing its
way across the Sampit River, Brig. Gen. Francis Marion
falls upon the rear guard with fury. There is heavy firing.
Lt. Col. Watson rallies his men, but a Patriot sharps-
hooter fells his horse. Quickly mounting another, he
orders his artillery to open with grapeshot.
When Marion’s men wheel back from the cannon fire, Lt.
Col. Watson loads his wounded into two wagons,
leaving twenty dead upon the field, and plunges across
the ford, the blood on the wagon floors tinging with red.
Late that evening, he encamps at the Trapier Plantation.
Georgetown, the port city on the Atlantic Ocean, is a point of safety for the British troops trying hard to escape the militia. There is a garrison in Georgetown that has kept that port city in British hands since 11JUL1780, and would keep hold of that port until the summer of 1781. There was no good reason for Marion to take the 500 troops against the Georgetown defenses without causing irreversible harm to the militia.
By 23MAR1781, while Marion and his dwindling army rest at Indiantown,
militia officer Col. Hugh Ervin and a small guard are surprised at Snow’s Island by Lt. Col. Welbore Ellis Doyle, sent by Lord Rawdon. Cornet Thomas Merritt of the Queen’s Rangers and about 25 other men are thereby released from captivity and return to Georgetown.
While the British may revel in discovering Marion’s winter quarters, I am sure Francis would say to any British officer, “It ain’t winter anymore”
The balance of March 1781, about 70 remaining militia attached directly to Marion rest near Indiantown, getting ready for another round of battles, as the British destruction of Snow’s Island and all the supplies there would not be forgotten.
As the calendar page flips to April 1781, the officer in charge of finding Snow’s Island, Lt. Col. Welbore Ellis Doyle who is the Commanding Officer of the Volunteer’s of Ireland led by second in command, Maj. John Doyle, and his 300 men become the new target of the militia.
Politics distorts both history (old news) and recent announcements (new news). Rarely are these accomplished as a conclusion of some logical research, but is almost always a reaction to something that this BIG news can cover up, you know, a distraction.
Case in point is the abrupt change in policy about the status of the Golan Heights:
It is “time”? Ok, to understand why it is time, one needs to follow independent media to get to the bottom of this. Moon of Alabama has the goods on what is really going on. In summary, with Israel’s Netanyahu’s election coming up, and all the scandals that have come to light, there was even a bigger scandal that just surfaced, and so the US President breaks with all former policy and against UN rulings to go out on a limb and state a stupid idea that will sound great all over DC where everyone’s pocket is filled with AIPAC money. Even the general public and evangelical Christians will cheer this message since in their mind it is Israel and US against the world.
Back to the back-story, the source of this recent “surfacing” (no pun intended) of this submarine-centric tale is an Israeli publication that has been keeping track of the corruption for decades. Similar to the US political environment, the Israeli one has its own immense swamp.
The high-profile Case 3000 investigation has ensnared several close associates of Netanyahu, but not the premier himself, on suspicion that they received illicit funds as part of a massive graft scheme in the multi-billion-shekel state purchase of naval vessels and submarines from German shipbuilder ThyssenKrupp. Some have called it the largest suspected graft scandal in the country’s history.
That seems a bit distant from Netanyahu, however, the article meticulously weaves this tale that comes right into his lap:
Having previously claimed he obtained the shares when he was a private citizen, Netanyahu has appeared to change his story, admitting he became a SeaDrift shareholder in 2007 while serving as the leader of the opposition, Haaretz reported Monday. The Marker website has reported a different timeline, saying Netanyahu purchased the SeaDrift shares in April 2005, when he was the finance minister.
This file photo taken on December 11, 2012 shows a general view of the headquarters of German heavy industry giant ThyssenKrupp AG in Essen, Germany. (AFP/Patrik Stollarz)
He sold his SeaDrift shares to Milikowsky on November 29, 2010 — a day before its merge with GrafTech was completed — according to The Marker — 20 months after being elected prime minister.
OK then, what is the difference of a few years? Well, what about the money, just follow the money:
Netanyahu’s selling of his Seadrift shares in 2010 to Milikowsky for NIS 16 million ($4.5 million) — reportedly four-to-seven times more than the amount he paid for the shares several years earlier. Analysts, including Channel 12’s Amnon Abramovich and the Yedioth Ahronoth daily’s Sever Plotzker, have said the premier received the shares from his cousin “virtually for free.”
That could potentially lead to a new investigation similar to Case 1000, in which Netanyahu faces fraud and breach of trust charges, pending a hearing, for allegedly receiving illicit gifts from billionaire benefactors. Milikowsky has reportedly given Netanyahu sums of money several times over the last two decades, and the fact that they are cousins isn’t likely to shield them from scrutiny.
So finally, back to Trump’s surprise move, it’s international law violation and most importantly, his ethical and moral violations are laid bare by Moon of Alabama:
The people who paid for Trump’s election campaign, foremost casino magnate and zionist Sheldon Adelson, want to keep the Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahoo in office. Netanyahoo is under investigation in several corruption cases and has a serious competitor in the upcoming general elections in Israel. Trump needs money for his re-election campaign and is willing to do anything to get it.
Trump is colluding with Netayahoo to influence the Israeli election. It is the reason why he decided yesterday to claim that Israel has sovereignty over the Golan Heights ..
So here we go again, right after it is made clear that the Russians did not influence the 2016 US elections, the US resorts to yet again, influence other country’s elections, something it has been doing for decades and in 1953 the US through the CIA actually assassinated a president of another country in an election they could not influence enough. This country is Iran and they will NEVER forget. But I digress .. :
About these heights, this is Syrian land period! Wrong side of the river Israel IF you are really Israel 2.0, following the Law of Moses and being led by people who have the DNA of Hebrews. The very real thing is that this is NOT Israel 2.0 but a convenient cover of Zionists.
President Donald Trump’s tweet on Thursday recognizing the Golan Heights as Israeli territory surprised members of his own Middle East peace team, the State Department, and Israeli officials.U.S. diplomats and White House aides had believed the Golan Heights issue would be front and center at next week’s meetings between Trump and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House. But they were unprepared for any presidential announcement this week.
Yeah, so has the US adopted Israel as the 51st state OR does Israel have Washington DC on a short leash? I pick B.
Trump’s declaration was expected, but not for yesterday. The reason for the premature ejaculation is obvious. Yesterday a new case of Netyahoo’s utter corruption came to light:
State prosecutors are reportedly considering opening yet another criminal graft investigation against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this time in the so-called submarine affair, citing “dramatic” new information.
Netanyahoo made a profit of $4 million from shares he owned in a company that was bought out by Thyssen-Krupp, a German conglomerate from which Israel under Netanyahoo ordered submarines and corvettes.
The new revelations threatened to blow up Netanyahoo’s reelection campaign. Trump’s sudden Golan Heights move was timed to bury them.
So on to the legal, moral and ethical around granting foreign land to a foreign nation? Who does that? Oh yeah, the country that has driven itself $22T into debt spending more on our military than the next TEN countries COMBINED. Our children and their children will be debt slaves for generations .. pure Boomer move.
Trump has no power to give Israel sovereignty over anything. Several UN resolutions determined (UNSCR242) and reconfirmed (UNSCR497) that the Golan Heights are Syrian territory illegally occupied by Israel. The European Union, Russia and others rejected Trump’s move and called it illegal.
Trump’s move though might have some standing in U.S. courts. That will become important when law suites are filed against Genie Energy Ltd., an oil company in Newark New Jersey that wants to drill for oil in the Golan Heights area:
Genie Energy is no “penny stock” run-of-the-mill oil company. Its board of Advisors includes Dick Cheney. It includes former CIA head and chairman of the above-mentioned Foundation for Defense of Democracies, James Woolsey. It includes Jacob Lord Rothschild of the London banking dynasty and a former business partner of convicted Russian oil oligarch, Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Before his arrest Khodorkovsky secretly transferred his shares in Yukos Oil to Rothschild.Further this little-known Newark, New Jersey oil company board includes former US Energy Secretary Bill Richardson, pro-Israel media mogul and owner of Trump’s favorite Fox News TV, Rupert Murdoch. Also on the board are former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and hedge fund billionaire Michael Steinhardt. Steinhardt, a philanthropic friend of Israel and of Marc Rich, is also a board member of Woolsey’s neo-con Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, which advises Trump among other things that it would be good for Washington to recognize Israel as legitimate owner of the Golan Heights lands taken by Dayan in the 1967 War.
Under international law it is illegal to draw natural resources from occupied territory. With Trump’s move the owners and board members of Genie Energy receive an additional layer of legal cover in U.S. and Israeli courts.
Cheney is involved in this too? Geez, nice swamp draining there Donald ..
Anyway, so what does this mean for the Middle East where Zionists and Arabs play (remember, Israel’s BEST regional partner is Saudi Arabia, and that country is waging terror on Yemen just like Israel wages terror on Gaza)?
The occupied Golan Heights include the Sheeba farms which are Lebanese territory. The resistance axis of Hizbullah, Syria and Iran is strengthened by Trump’s move and will use it move to justify further activities against Israel and perhaps against United States interests elsewhere. The move will be used to recruit more resistance fighters, especially from the Druze on the Syrian side of the Golan who have brethren living on the Israel controlled side.
It further delegitimizes the Syrian ‘rebels’ and the Syrian Kurds who are allied with the U.S. while Trump gives away Syrian land. It demonstrates the weakness of those Arab rulers who are allied with the U.S. but were not even informed that Trump planed to hand off Arab land. It will incite their domestic population against them. That makes it much more difficult for them to continue their policy of detente with Israel.
The ‘deal of the century’ for peace between Arabs and the Zionists that Trump’s son in law Jared Kushner was supposed to arrange is now dead.
OK then .. more war to come .. this will make sure the Military Industrial Complex does not suffer from failure to overthrow Syria’s Assad .. or Venezuela’s Muduro.
Jesus said there would be wars and rumors of wars ad nauseum .. He was right. The thought that the US is a Christian nation must make Him nauseous. The US foreign and domestic policies are NOT His ways.
The last time I posted about Francis Marion in February 1781, Lord Cornwallis had left the state of South Carolina, however, this was not typical occupied and subdued territory. As spring emerges, both Marion and British Lt. Col. John Watson start their positioning.
Watson had been ordered to bring his troops, the British 3rd Regiment of Guards and Loyalist/Provincial troops numbering about 400 from Ft. Watson to Georgetown on the coast while Marion had 300-500 troops starting to move to the center of the state to join up with the “Gamecock”, Brig. Gen Thomas Sumter.
Typical of the yet to be called “Swamp Fox”, Marion had his sources of Intel and was aware of Watson’s movements to the southeast and was waiting in the Wiboo Swamp for an opportunity. The chosen site is a marshy passageway located on the main Santee Road between Nelson’s and Murry’s Ferry.
Lt. Col. John Watson’s advance force of Loyalist Militia dragoons under Lt. Col. Henry Richbourg first clash with some of Brig. Gen. Marion’s cavalry under Lt. Col. Peter Horry, after which both fall back.
When Brig. Gen. Marion tries to send forth Lt. Col. Horry once more, Lt. Col. Watson’s infantry and artillery hold the Patriots back.
The Loyalists of the SC Rangers under Maj. Samuel Harrison then come up to charge the Patriots, but are arrested in their movement momentarily by one of Lt. Col. Horry’s horsemen, Gavin James, apparently a mighty individual, who single-handedly slews three of them before retiring.
Brig. Gen. Marion then orders in his horsemen under Capt. Daniel Conyers and Capt. John McCauley who drive the SC Rangers back, killing Maj. Samuel Harrison.
Right after this action, Marion learns in a letter from Capt. John Saunders, British Commandant of Georgetown, that he had seized Capt. John Postell under a flag of truce. Since this is 1781 (and not 1864 or 1944 or 2003, etc), there is in place a gentleman’s war to wage war, and Marion explains this in a letter that is sent in return with a copy to the Commandant of Charlestown:
March 7 th , 1781
Sir,
By my orders, Lt. Col. Ervin sent Capt. John Postell with a flag to exchange the men you agreed to, and am greatly
surprised to find you not only refused to make the exchange, but have violated my flag by taking Capt. Postell
prisoner, contrary to the laws of nations. I shall immediately acquaint the commandant of Charles Town, and, if
satisfaction is not given, I will take it in every instance that may fall in my power. I have ever used all the officers and
men taken by me with humanity; but your conduct in closely confining Capt. Clarke in a place where he cannot stand
up, nor have his length, and not giving him half rations, will oblige me to retaliate on the officers and men which are, or
may fall in my hands, which nothing will prevent but your releasing Capt. Postell immediately, and using my officers as
gentlemen and your prisoners as customary in all civilized nations.
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
Francis Marion, BG Militia
Lt. Col. John Watson himself weighs in on his view of the “laws of nations”:
“It is with less surprise that I find a letter sent by you in all the apparent forms of a flag of truce, attended by an
armed party who concealed themselves within a certain distance of a place that pointed itself out for the delivery
of it, than to see the contents of it exhibit a complaint from you against us for violating the law of nations. I believe,
sir, it would be as difficult for you to name an instance of breach of it in his Majesty’s troops, as it would for them
to discover one where the law of arms or nations has been properly attended to by any of your party… You say it
was agreed that an exchange of prisoners should take place at George Town, and that Capt. Postell went by a flag
for that purpose, in consequence of that agreement. But I conceive it was not agreed that a man on parole to us
should become our enemy. Capt. Postell was, I understand, taken at Charles Town, and admitted to the country on
parole, if so, his detention, with all its consequences, is justifiable.”
An eyewitness remembered Marion’s response:
“Marion made him no reply, but gave orders to his nightly patrols to shoot his sentinels and cut off his pickets.” – William Dobein James.
It is about to get real.
Marion then takes out a bridge in Watson’s path to Georgetown and so Watson starts chasing the “Swamp Fox”, but the fox gets away, again and again.
By 12-13MAR1781, Watson stops at Witherspoon’s Plantation in an attempt to get Brig. Gen. Francis Marion to attack him, but to no avail. While he is camped here, patriot Col. Archibald McDonald climbs a tree and shoots Loyalist Lt. George Torriano in the knee from 300 yards with a rifle with open sights. Epic shot, and a great way to keep the British humble around patriot sharpshooters!
This daily skirmish between Marion and Watson would continue in March 1781 but as planting season is upon the land, Marion’s volunteer force will continue to dwindle from 300 to 500 men to now number under 75 men, but not before Watson writes in his journal the following:
“ They will not sleep and fight like gentlemen, but like savages are eternally firing and whooping around us by night, and by day waylaying and popping us from behind every tree!”
The psychological edge in warfare is a thing!
Lt. Col. Watson has yet to arrive in Georgetown, SC and the patriot militia is the only reason for this delay. March 1781 is proving to be a feisty month in the American Revolutionary War.
History can always be used when investigating the scene of a crime. Investigators evaluate what happened and then piece the puzzle together be going back in time looking for evidence. It is hard to do on the criminal’s first crime, but when the same criminal continues their crime-spree, the investigators look for trends that help them accelerate and even be able to predict their next move.
The same can be said for the post-WWII US Empire. Within a few years it established their way of controlling the reach of the empire. It was decided that the US would not follow directly in the steps of the British Empire which tended to control other countries directly through an imperialistic form of control, but the US would use other more covert methods towards control.
Off the cuff, one thinks first of sanctions (like the US did to Japan before Pearl Harbor), and then on to propaganda to further agitate those opposed to the regime within the target country, and even using the UN to paint these countries as global lawbreakers.
Another method is going to the very heart of a country’s infrastructure that impacts everyday living to continue the agitation, the power grid.
This is only the most recent concerning Syria. Do you remember what the US did to Iran’s centrifuges? This occurred about a decade ago that turned out to be a secret U.S-Israeli cyberwar strike on Iran’s uranium enrichment plant at Natanz and elsewhere. The Stuxnet virus we introduced into Natanz put 1,000 centrifuges out of action, from a random worker’s USB drive as these devices were not on any network. The worm found the controlling software and inserted itself into it, seizing control of the centrifuges. Stuxnet carried out two separate attacks. First, it made the centrifuges spin dangerously fast, for about 15 minutes, before returning to normal speed. Then, about a month later, it slowed the centrifuges down for around 50 minutes. This was repeated for several months eventually causing these centrifuges to physically fail.
Unintended consequences followed as by 2010 this virus spread globally!
What does this have to do with Venezuela? Well, from the 2016 & 2017 sanctions the US placed on that country was followed up with more rhetoric during 2018. While the US is the biggest importer of the declining oil output from Venezuela, India and China come in at #2 and #2 and would be more than willing to pick up the slack for cheap oil.
The US was actually encouraged when it was announced that Venezuela would no longer sell its oil using USD in September of 2017. The decision is similar to that once made by former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, who dropped the dollar in favor of the euro a few years prior to the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. Countries that do this are well aware of the risks involved in shunning the US Empire.
This cycle will continue as it has in previous regime change attempts the US has engineered. I am sure the “greater good” propaganda will be flown as the citizens of Venezuela suffer, but a lot of it depends on how much truth emerges in these critical weeks before the US steps up the “need” for regime change.
This tidbit did not go unnoticed in the past few days as Moon of Alabama again points out:
When the first outage happened U.S. Senator Marco Rubio eagerly mocked the government of Venezuela. He also mentioned that some backup generators failed:
Marco Rubio @marcorubio – 22:18 utc – 7 Mar 2019
ALERT: Reports of a complete power outage all across #Venezuela at this moment.
18 of 23 states & the capital district are currently facing complete blackouts.
Main airport also without power & backup generators have failed.
#MaduroRegime is a complete disaster.
After the first outage the government of Venezuela said that it was caused by a cyberattack on the automated control system but gave no further details:
Communications Minister Jorge Rodriguez said Maduro’s government planned to bring “proof” of US involvement in the blackout to a UN Human Rights envoy who is set to visit the country in the coming days.
‘How did Marco Rubio know that backup generators had failed? At that time, no one knew that,’ the Bolivarian government official asked.
The Venezuelan government should contact the Russian cybersecurity specialists at Kaspersky Lab who are well known for detecting U.S. produced malware like the one used for the Stuxnet attack on Iran’s uranium enrichment plant. Kaspersky is highly respected in the international cybersecurity scene. Should it confirm that a U.S. attack malware caused the problem the U.S. will find it difficult to deny.
Yes, since there is history, a M.O. (modus operandi – a method of procedure), it will be fairly easy to identify the US fingerprints on this. Maybe that is why, as late as today, the US now states that their “regime change” timeline is not defined.
While one thinks that an electrical outage is not a big deal, one should know that attacks on electricity networks greatly affect the civilian population with hospitals being are hard to run without electricity depending on emergency generators. This also cuts off the civilian population to the Internet, to know what is really going on in their country and in the world:
It should be noted that in the Korean War, the US bombed dams to unleash great swaths of destruction on the civilian population. The blow-back of this kind of manipulation is a civilian population that will accept a bad government over the one that is doing this. Even in our own Civil War (War Against Southern Independence), these atrocities embittered people for generations.
But Sherman’s and Sheridan’s legacy lives on in the US Empire’s tactics. Both the Obama and the Trump administration, rejected international attempts to ban cyberattacks that “indiscriminate or systemic harm to individuals and critical infrastructure”:
All members of the European Union signed the agreement. Australia and Turkey joined the United States in declining.
…
Israel, which along with the United States conducted the most sophisticated cyberattack in history, the Stuxnet attack on Iran’s nuclear enrichment program, also declined to sign.
Bottom line:
Why Venezuela? Why now? Well, all the indicators show that the US petro-dollar is in trouble, countries have left or are starting to create ways to leave. From this site shows those smart countries who are aware of history and making preparations:
The list of the 23 countries which are creating new swap lines outside of the dollar include China, Russia, India, and surprisingly, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom. This means that the Eurozone itself is abandoning the dollar, and preparing for transition to a new central banking system.
To facilitate the transfer of currencies and swap lines, there needs to be a bank of sufficient size and stature to aid in handling of this monumental task. One year ago, China, along with the BRICs nations of Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa, loaned money to a new financial institution they established and labeled the BRICs bank. This bank was created with the intention of bypassing the dollar, and allowing free trade to occur between nations without the need to trade for dollars first, as is currently the format under the petrodollar system.
Russia, China and Iran already have their own way to trade since 2012, and attempted regime change by the US Empire in Syria was a strategic effort towards reversing this trend. These actions only make the Empire look more desperate. As Ron Paul pointed out how we got to this point:
“In essence, we declared our insolvency in 1971. Everyone recognized some other monetary system had to be devised in order to bring stability to the markets. Amazingly, a new system was devised which allowed the U.S. to operate the printing presses for the world reserve currency with no restraints placed on it– not even a pretense of gold convertibility! Realizing the world was embarking on something new and mind-boggling, elite money managers, with especially strong support from U.S. authorities, struck an agreement with OPEC in the 1970s to price oil in U.S. dollars exclusively for all worldwide transactions. This gave the dollar a special place among world currencies and in essence backed the dollar with oil.
The empires demise will probably take decades, but the writing is on the wall. Few empires have been able to willingly let go of its dominate role in global affairs. The USSR is a great example of a peaceful move towards the release of central power, just waiting for those in the US to use history to see that this might be the best way forward.
Reality is a b*tch, but learning from history can allow people groups to emerge into a better spot, but it will take a brave generation to accomplish.
Is there a generation of Americans that are up to this challenge?
Time will tell. Hang on, the surf’s up dude, we are in wild times.
One might think that South Carolina would be out of the limelight with Lord Cornwallis giving chase to the Continentals (Greene and Lee) in North Carolina, but this means all the more that the remaining rebel forces in this colony needs to keep the British hold there in doubt.
It was 11FEB1781 when Francis Marion received a letter that said Thomas Sumter, fellow militia leader in South Carolina, was back in action and that the “Gamecock” was the highest ranking officer in the state/colony. Thomas Sumter was not happy that Daniel Morgan had been given permission by the Continental Army to operate in the Catawba region of SC and made it look easy by what he pulled off at Cowpens, SC in JAN1781:
.. a huge patriot victory at Cowpens, South Carolina on January 17th where Daniel Morgan achieved a double pincer movement that utilized militia in the front lines to supply 2-3 volleys and then retreat which then brought Tarleton’s dragoons into a trap (remember that from the movie ‘The Patriot’?) and resulting of 85% loss in the dragoon’s 1050 man force (100 dead, 230 wounded and 600 captured). Also captured was two field cannon, 800 muskets and 100 horses.
What has to be remembered is that the united States (emphasizing the thirteen sovereign “states” and not necessarily the united or union component) under the Articles of Confederation which was to be formally ratified the next month (March 1781) did NOT give the federation’s government power over the state’s armed forces. Sumter was technically senior to Marion in the SC State militia even though Marion still held a commission in the Continental Army and Sumter had resigned his in 1778. At this point, recently promoted SC militia leader Andrew Pickens and Francis Marion would be reporting to Thomas Sumter who then reported to the SC governor, John Rutledge, who was in exile in North Carolina.
So with Cornwallis chasing Greene and Lee in NC, Sumter directed Marion to assist him in attacking smaller British outposts in SC. Sumter had just laid siege to Fort Granby on the Congaree River on Feb 19th. Sumter desired Marion’s actions to distract Rawdon, the British officer in charge at Camden, SC.
Unknown to Sumter was that Rowden was on the move and had forced Marion to retreat 20 miles right after Marion had tried to recruit more men west of the Santee. Marion’s recruiting was not going well because a rogue Whig militia leader named Snipes had been plundering the civilian areas telling people he was under orders from Marion! Marion countered by re-emphasizing his philosophy of no looting and no taking provisions from plantations without direct orders from himself. He also published a proclamation that said unidentified parties not associated with his militia would be identified by name and at that time all would be free to put them to death without prosecution. It had come to that.
Marion then moved back to Snow’s Island with Rowden in pursuit of him. The “Swamp Fox” was almost caught when Rowden was directed to go after Sumter who was threatening Ninety-Six. In Rowden’s reports he lists Marion’s strength at 300 and all mounted.
It wasn’t until Feb 26th that Marion received Sumter’s orders from a letter dated Feb 20th. In the mean time Sumter had given up a siege of Fort Granby which he attempted without artillery and also an aborted effort to storm a stockade at Belleville SC. Marion responded that the British pressure was too great to his west at this time but would venture out at the next opportunity. Marion was definitely not enthusiastic about Sumter, considered him a “showboater” and word of his recent attacks seemed like a fools errand. Marion knew his men did not like being at large distances from home but Marion saw this as an order and moved somewhat slowly 100 miles west toward Sumter, to give the appearance that he was attempting to follow orders.
Thomas Sumter was impatient and therefore struck at Fort Watson on Feb 28th, but called off action after 18 of his men were killed. Sumter again penned a letter emphasizing that Marion needed to connect with him but then on March 1st, Sumter heard of a British unit heading his way so he retreated to the High Hills region above the Santee, grabbed his paralytic wife and their son and rode another 40 miles to Black River at Bradley’s Plantation. More than likely Sumter and Marion passed each other in the night and did not know it.
These actions, although small on paper, demonstrated that South Carolina could not be counted on by the British as a reconquered province. Marion and the other militia leaders would continue to harass the British in their rear .. no pun intended!
March1781 would be a HUGE month for the rebel cause against the British Empire in the American Colonies.
