Tag: Brig. Gen. Francis Marion

Jun1781: Slow Attrition of British Forces Continues in the Hot Summertime

In my last post that focused on May1781, Francis Marion had successfully kicked the British out of Georgetown on the coast of South Carolina, however, the British remained on their ships in Winyah Bay and would not leave until 11JUN1781.

Continental Maj. General Nathanial Greene had started a siege of Ninety-Six which I described in my last post as the following:

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.

It seems that all three militia innovations were attempted during this 28 day siege, Mahem’s tower, flaming arrows and even a tunnel but all were compensated for by the Brits. Both Greene and militia leader Brig. Gen. Thomas Sumter present at Ninety-Six, they earnestly desired to have Marion’s men present as well for the final assault.

To show the timeline:

  • 05JUN1781: Brig. Gen. Francis Marion writes to Maj. Gen. Nathanael
    Greene – the evacuated British garrison of Georgetown is still
    sitting in their boats in Winyah Bay.
  • 05JUN1781: Marion receives another message – On 02JUN1781 British Col.
    Pasten Gould lands another 2,000 new British Regulars from Cork
    at CharlesTown. Marion forwards the news to Brig. Gen. Thomas Sumter
    and asks Sumter to forward it to Greene.
  • 06JUN1781: Marion camps at Murry’s Ferry. He continues to have great
    difficulty in raising men. Both Greene and Sumter attempt to get him
    to move, but Marion sits tight.
  • 07JUN1781: British leader Francis Lord Rawdon marches out of Moncks Corner and heads to Ninety-Six to break the stalemate between Maj. Gen. Greene and Lt. Col. John Harris Cruger, Loyalist Commandant of Ninety-Six.
  • 16JUN1781: Marion leaves Murry’s Ferry and slowly marches toward
    Ninety-Six. He stops at Nelson’s Ferry to again wait for his men to
    come in, but they continue to linger.

So what is up with Marion’s men? They can be fast and accurate!

Well, first the excuses that Marion offered:

  • Sumter assuming Rawdon was going to another fort and not Ninety-Six at first and him giving Marion orders that conflicted each other (halt, resume march, halt, etc). Mixed signals from leadership ALWAYS has the unintended consequences of this nature!
  • Marion mentioned that there were crops to be protected for Greene’s provisions as well as a growing presence at Monck’S Corner.

Unstated was the primary reason, Marion’s men refused to travel so far from their homes.

Psyche.

Actually, Marion’s men have no desire to fight under or with the Gamecock, Brig. Gen Thomas Sumter. Sumter’s method of fighting did not mesh with those under Marion’s leadership.

There were key philosophical differences between these two militia leaders. “Sumter’s Law”, enacted just a few months before in April 1781 was a recruiting plan that offered slaves and other Loyalist property, taken by the troops during the campaign, as an enlistment bounty granted to men willing to serve for a period of ten months in the state forces. Marion’s men found this morally wrong EVEN THOUGH it was “legal”!

Brig. Gen. Thomas Sumter
  • 19JUN1781: Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene breaks off his siege of Ninety-
    Six. He is acutely aware that British leaders Francis Lord Rawdon is on his way. He takes his army northward, across the Bush River.

Maj. Greene then issued a scathing report on 25JUN1781 of how the militia failed him yet again (and added that the Virginia militia did not show up either thanks to Thomas Jefferson). Greene now orders Marion to cooperate with Sumter “in any manner he may direct.”

Greene failed to look in the mirror as his inexperience in the ways of sieges had his troops not discover the water source for Ninety-Six fortification that could have made that fortification fall in less than two weeks instead of almost a month. Marion never responded to this letter but I am sure he had words ready for that opportunity should he see Greene again face-to-face.

How does Marion and his men respond? Marion’s Militia still refuses to join him – most of his men have no desire to fight under Sumter, yet they all know it is almost inevitable.

This is the way it should be. The negatives of militias are outweighed by this important fact, real men should be able to “consent” to an action of their own free will. The militia actually acted as a check on the powers that standing armies have in at any time opt for decisions that a amoral and an offense to society as a whole. Bring a true civil war in South Carolina, this Whig/Tory and Patriot/Loyalist split would someday have to be healed for all to live in community once the violence could subside after the British exited the colony.

So how bad was the real impact of Marion not showing up at Ninety-Six? Two weeks after the siege and assault failed, the British left Ninety-Six and they tried to go after Greene but the Irish in wool uniforms and 100F heat were not holding up well and 50 died from heat-stroke.

Returning to Ninety-Six briefly, Rawdon saw that it could not be held as the troops could not be provisioned there and battles won made little difference if the troops were starving. The loyalists in the area (non-military) left with Rawdon and Cruger as their protection and safe passage for Charleston.

Greene had actually won by losing at this point in the conflict. He called together Sumter, Lee and Marion to take advantage of the momentum offered. On 26JUN1781, Brig. Gen. Marion finally collects about 400 men, and after Lt. Col. William Washington urges him to meet up at the
Congarees, he leaves Nelson’s Ferry and marches northward to meet personally with Lt. Col. Washington and Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene at Ancrum’s Plantation.

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.

-SF1

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

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

 

05MAR1781: Spring Emerges as Both the British and Patriots Make Their Moves

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.

J.D. Lewis (from http://www.carolana.com/home.html ) paints the scene:

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.

-SF1