Tag: Lt. Col. John Watson

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

 

23MAR1781 (or 29MAR1781) Snow’s Island Discovered by British Loyalists

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