In my last post, Marion was west of Charleston working his routing of British forces caught off guard when Marion set the stage on the last day of August 1781:
On 31AUG1781 at Parker’s Ferry Marion finally gets his battle with Lt. Col. Ernst Leopold von Borck. The British on 29AUG1781 had moved to Isaac Hayne’s Plantation where Issac was just buried and Brig. Gen. Marion had followed this force again and sets up his camp only five miles away. Marion conceals his men in a swamp beside the causeway and directs Col. William Harden’s men o move back 100 yards from the ambush line so they can be used as reserves. Maj. Samuel Cooper and sixty swordsmen are told to attack the rear of the enemy after the ambush is initiated. They then wait for an opportunity.
That opportunity came and Marion’s victory had the balance of British forces in South Carolina outside of Charlestown a bit nervous. The Continentals under Maj. Gen. Nathaniel Green also used the momentum from the summer’s push against the British to make his move.
Nathaniel Greene had completed resting his troops in the cooler climate of the High Hills of the Santee (only 15 miles from the British, each could see the other’s camp fires) about the same time that Marion went to the aid of Harden the other side of Charleston, he decided to engage the 1500 men under Rawdon’s replacement Alexander Stewart.
Separated by an impassible lake swollen with the summer rains Greene decided to go against the logic of moving south and then upriver to engage the Brit forces directly. Greene chose to go counter-clockwise at a slow pace moving only in the cool morning and early evening to conserve the men’s strength.
Greene himself had 1250 men but needed militia to help make up the difference. Virginia had promised 2000 militia but with Cornwallis in their backyard they opted to have them stay there. Greene’s route took him close to NC where he picked up some untested militia (150-200) under French commander Malmady. He also picked up 300 men under Pickens (some were former Sumter troops), William Henderson’s (Sumter replacement) 200 SC state troops and William Washington’s Virginia Continental Cavalry.
Lt. Col. Alexander Stewart had heard of Greene’s intention and moved 40 miles south down the Santee to Eutaw Springs specifically to take on supplies from Charleston. The supply line from Georgetown as no more and only a single stand of supplies was available to this British force.
Greene was well aware that Marion was working the other side of Charleston but was hoping he could make it back in time to be a factor now against the Brits who we on the move towards Charlestown. Greene stalled on 02SEP1781 in case he heard of Marion’s location. This allowed the British to feel secure near Eutaw Springs as the summer heat held on in the Carolinas. In summary, it is early in September and the 1,400 well-equipped British camp in cool shade beside the gushing springs of Eutaw, little dreaming that the fairly large Patriot army is close upon their heels.
Communique sent on 04SEP1781 to Marion that said Greene was collecting his force and planning to attack the British on the next day. On 05SEP1781, Greene received Marion’s Parker Ferry report and found out that Marion was only 20 miles south of Eutaw Springs. Yet another communique was sent and Marion used the nighttime to circle clockwise around Stewart’s Brit forces and by 07SEP1781 was together with Greene at Burdell’s Tavern just seven miles above Eutaw Springs. Marion’s plantation at Pond Bluff was only four miles away, this was home turf for the Swamp Fox.
Maj. Gen. Greene, hearing of the French plan to have Gen. George Washington’s encircle and embarrass the British at Yorktown, determines to prevent southern aid from reaching the beleaguered Lt. Gen. Charles, Lord Cornwallis. Contingents under generals Marion and Pickens, and lieutenant colonels Henry Lee, William Washington, Henry Hampton, among other South Carolina leaders are called together, and many units from other states join them.
One has to understand the condition of these 2,080 poorly-equipped, underfed, and near-naked Americans camp on September 7 th on the Congaree River Road at Burdell’s Tavern, only seven miles from Eutaw Springs. While the strategy for the ensuing attack is accredited to the genius of the dreaded “Swamp Fox,” Brig. Gen. Francis Marion, who knows every foot of the Santee swamps and river, it is no cake-walk as the patriots have been worn down enough that disciple can and will most likely break down during this battle.
Lt. Col. Alexander Stewart, a 40 year old Scot with a high opinion of himself, was caught off-guard by the proximity of 2000 patriot forces and even disbelieved a couple of patriot deserters who showed up in camp and proclaimed that a force of several thousand was near. Stewart did however dispatch a cavalry commander to check and he ran into the patriots only two miles away, engaged them and was overwhelmed and escaped to make it back to report to Stewart.
Marion and Greene then used the “Cowpens-model” by having militia (one-third of his total force present) at the center and cavalry on the flank with solid troops and by 9am 08SEP1781, the battle was green-lighted.
It should be noted that Stewart had no Hessians with him on this day and offered a single line on the other side of the battle field. Marion’s men advanced surging with Pickens’ and Henderson’s men on their left they continued to fire volley after volley, SEVENTEEN in all, a testament to the character of men Marion had formed.
The NC militia quit the field after only three rounds and left a hole in the middle (“the line is faltering”) which then encouraged the Brits to use a bayonet charge just when Greene’s seasoned Maryland and Virginia Continentals surged themselves with a bayonet charge to give the Brits a taste of their own medicine. This was the first and only time seasoned Brit troops were in full retreat back to their camp.
The rout pushed the point of the battle back 300 yards to a garden area adjacent to a brick house that the Brits used as a defensive line of last resort. The left flank of the patriots had the British commander Maj. John Marjoribanks putting up a devil of a fight and it was the Delaware Continentals, the cream of the crop for patriot troops drove his forces back to the garden area as well.
Then IT happened. The condition of these men and the heat of the region and of the day all factored in what happened next.
Greene’s troops, who had been “rummed-up” prior to the battle located the British alcohol in camp and decided to quench their thirst in the 90 degree SC sun. It was here that the patriots lost all their cannon and experienced a British counterattack.
So after four hours of fighting, Greene ordered a retreat. While many believe that this was a defeat for the patriots, what is known is that:
- The British did not hold the field but were driven back to their camp
- Stewart left 70 wounded men and his dead buried behind
- Greene buried BOTH sides dead and cared for the enemy’s wounded
- Strategically, the British decided to fall back to Charlestown.
This was great news for South Carolina but in no way did it mean the war was done. The British Empire at this moment of time could have had Cornwallis return to South Carolina to almost start all over again as the British had resources, but not possibly the will, they could pull from their global footprint.
At this point Marion and Greene were still in the mode of anxious anticipation of the next British move.
Stay tuned!
-SF1