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.
Stay tuned!
-SF1