Tag: Francis Marion

Big Picture – When an Empire Starts Invading Your Region (Part 1 of 2)

 

(20AUG2018: New image replaces old image that had an error)

You probably thought I would be talking about the Middle East, or Africa, and the American Empire of the 2000s, but this will be about 1776-1780 South Carolina when kicking out an empire is starting to become a lot harder than imagined. The resolve of the British Empire to retain the American colonies was evident in the early part of the war but led to a stalemate in the northern colonies.

In the southern colonies, Savannah fell to the British in late December 1778. Efforts by the Southern Command of the Continentals, Maj. Gen. Benjamin Lincoln, to get control of Georgia back under patriot control left Charleston vulnerable to British forces elsewhere.

By April 1779, British general  Augustine Prévost, decided to move his forces from Florida and threaten Charleston. By May 11th he arrived near the port and demanded its surrender. The South Carolina legislature, ticked at the lack of northern support, decided to offer the port only if South Carolina could remain neutral during the rest of the war. So much for South Carolina being fire-eaters right?

A politician might have accepted this, but this British military commander would have nothing of that and rejected the offer.  All it took was word that the Continentals under Lincoln were heading back to Charleston to force the British back to Georgia. Charleston dodged a capture like they did back in June 1776 when the British attempted to take the port and South Carolina. John Laurens, age 24, son of the famous Henry Laurens and an aide-de-camp to General George Washington himself suggested arming 3000 black slaves to protect South Carolina from another British threat! Those who served would be freed after the war and their masters would be compensated by South Carolina for their loss of capital. Christopher Gadsden however, fearful of slave insurrection, thought that plan was dangerous on multiple fronts.

The Continental Southern Command decided that the best way to defend Charleston, was to attack and recapture Savannah, Georgia. With the assistance of the French under Admiral d’Estaing who had defeated the British in the West Indies in August 1779. The French had 4000 in their regular army and 500 free Haitian blacks to join the 3000 American Continentals including Francis Marion and his 200 men.

 Replica of French frigate

The French arrived early and never mentioned that the Americans were in route and demanded Savannah’s surrender. The British dug in and then a siege was the only other option as a direct assault was no longer possible. This strategic blunder meant that the clock was ticking as the French navy would only stay for the balance of the hurricane season before returning to its primary mission in the West Indies. By mid-October 1779 the French – American forces made their assault and 1500 died, 70% of them French. OUt of the 600 South Carolina forces, 250 died. The French promptly left and Lincoln returned to Charleston leaving Francis Marion near Beaufort, SC to guard against any possibly movement from Savannah.

The American Continentals are now on the defensive and British general Clinton in New York harbor senses an opportunity to exploit this and by December 1779 sets a plan in motion to move ships and troops into the South towards wrapping up this rebellion in the American colonies.

Part 2 of this overview will be covered in a subsequent post. A handy resource for this piece in history can be found in John Oller’s book “The Swamp Fox: How Francis Marion Saved the American Revolution”

SF1

August 17, 1780 Francis Marion Goes Into Action – As a Guerrilla Leader/Freedom Fighter

The day after the British defeated the Continental Army at Camden, Francis Marion knew that something had to be done to delay the British rolling up through the colonies and crushing George Washington in the North. In addition to this, if the British were allowed total control of South Carolina, the colony and its people would no longer have control of its own society, taxes and laws.

Marion traveled 80 miles by horseback arriving at Witherspoon’s Ferry to meet up with the Kingstree Militia on 17AUG1780. As South Carolina’s 2nd Regiment leader, either of his own initiative OR on orders from the South Carolina governor who was in exile in North Carolina, he gave orders for all the boats to be destroyed along the Santee. The Santee served as a highway of sorts for the British to supply their forces inland. It was key for the militia to slow the British advance! On 18AUG1780, the militia dispersed in various directions to do what they could do to preserve the cause.

 

August 10, 1780 – British Lt. Gen. Lord Cornwallis Leaves Charleston for South Carolina Interior

Francis Marion’s area of Operations August 1780

2nd Regiment of the South Carolina militia

As a follow-up to my earlier post: http://seekingliberty.org/2018/07/26/july-1780-continentals-attempt-quick-victory-against-british-in-south-carolina/

… August 1780 is a very busy and transitional month in the colony of South Carolina:

10AUG1780: While the British make their way into the interior of this colony, Gov. John Rutledge authorizes Francis Marion to take command of the militia east of the Santee River. So the question now is, does Francis Marion become a Colonel of the militia or is he still a Lt. Col. in the Continental organization?

12AUG1780: Lord Cornwallis’ forces cross the Santee at Nelson’s Ferry and arrive at Camden on the 13th of August making quick work at moving inland with no real resistance.

15AUG1780: Maj. Gen. Horatio Gates storms into South Carolina and orders Francis Marion and his men to seize all the boats along the Santee River. This group of militia then moves away from the Continental Army north of Camden (Rugeley’s Mill) to the west side of Camden opposite the British army on the other side of the Wateree River.  The next day’s events would unfold without the aid of any South Carolina militia groups as Gates and the Continentals think they have this under control.

Stay tuned .. 16AUG1780 is a day that will set the tone for the rest of this war.

July 1780 Continentals Attempt Quick Victory Against British in South Carolina

13JUL1780: Major General Horatio Gates (BLUE) arrives in Hillsborough, NC. He served the British army before he moved to the American Colonies and volunteered as a Staff Officer in the Continental Army in 1775. In September and October 1777 he commanded the army that defeated the British invasion from Canada at Saratoga, NY. He sends out notice to all Continental officers still at liberty in the south to join him as soon as possible.

Note that for South Carolina forces alone, most regiments were at 10% strength as compared to their JAN1780 numbers. While SC Governor John Rutledge fled to North Carolina before MAY1780, SC Lt. Governor Christopher Gadsden was a POW, as well as 10 of 13 officers (Major General Lincoln, Brigadier Generals and Colonels) in the highest ranks. In addition to this, the British have occupied SIX major areas of South Carolina since the fall of Charleston on 12MAY1780.

One would think that this is the low ebb for the patriot/rebel cause in South Carolina, but things are going to get much worse before they get better.

25JUL1780: Gates meets Major General Baron DeKalb at Deep River, NC (just south of Greensboro) and assumed command of the Southern Military Department of the Continental Army. Lt. Colonel Francis Marion (decades later called “Swamp Fox”) and Lt. Colonel Peter Horry along with 20 others including servants are present to offer their services and receive direction.

27JUL1780: The Continentals and the SC militia unit start their 150 mile march toward Camden, SC. Faulty intelligence and a route that offered little in the way of food for these troops meant that their condition upon arrival in South Carolina will not be good.

03AUG1780: The Continentals and SC militia are joined by NC militia at the Pee Dee River in Anson County, NC. A week later Lt. General Lord Cornwallis would lead his British forces north from Charleston, SC for a showdown.

Stay tuned.

SF1

 

July 1780 -Kickoff Time for Francis Marion (Swamp Fox) to Morph into a Militia Leader

Life is a process. We are never the same person we were born as, as this process ebbs and flows culminating into the legacy we leave as we depart this world. Such is the case of Francis Marion, an officer in the Continental Army who escaped capture by the British due to his being at his home nursing a injured ankle due to his “character”!

So, I am sure you are wondering about that last line. What could his character have to do with his injured ankle? Apparently, it was common practice of senior officers in the military to hold a drinking party in their home and lock the doors so fellow officers could not leave until they were all plastered, king of a 1700s version of a “team-building” event! Francis Marion, as of 20 January 1780 a Lt. Col., commands the 2nd South Carolina Regiment. On the night of 19 March 1780 at a party on Tradd St. in Charleston being more of a ‘man of moderation’ he decided to exit the party and therefore slipped (no pun intended) out of a window and fell to the street injuring or breaking his leg or ankle. As a result, he returned to his home in Pond Bluff which is 50 miles north of Charleston.

The British decided in early 1780 to redouble their shift in their focus to the southern colonies where they believed they had much more support and then roll up through Virginia and cornering the balance of the Continentals under George Washington near New York City in quick fashion. The British had already captured Savannah, Georgia early in the war in December 1778 after it had failed to capture Charleston on 28 June 1776 when British attacked Sullivan’s Island from the sea while Francis commanded the guns at Fort Sullivan (later called Fort Moultrie). The British naval attack failed when the palmetto logs held against bombardment.

Francis Marion also participated in the attempt to retake Savanna, Georgia in the fall of 1779 but the Continentals and militia failed in their siege. So early in 1780 the British captured and occupied Beaufort, South Carolina on 03 February 1780 and then turned its focus on Charleston.

Starting 28 March 1780 the British laid siege to Charleston and by 12 May 1780, Charleston surrendered. Maj. Gen. Benjamin Lincoln surrendered all of the existing Continental Army in SC, plus much of the SC militia and NC Militia. Most of the Continental Army officers and men were captured, over 5000 men in all, and signed documents stating that they would not take up arms against the British ever again.

In the days after this the British moved into the South Carolina back country as they had the momentum as news spread causing many people to switch allegiances and now back the British. On 29 May 1780 Lt. Col. Banastre Tarleton and his Legion bayoneted 113 Continental soldiers of Col. Abraham Buford’s Virginia unit. Subsequent captures included South Carolina strategic locations such as Moncks Corners, Cheraw, Orangeburgh, Ninety-Six, and Dorchester. A month later on 11 July 1780 they also occupied Georgetown on the South Carolina coast as well, getting very close to Francis Marion’s plantation near St. Stephens.

Francis Marion is 48 years old at this point in time and is 5′ 2″ tall. His ability to lead men mainly on horseback over the next 24 months will be critical to the success of South Carolina and the rest of the colonies to finally break with the largest empire in the world.