Tag: Sumter’s Law

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

14APR-22APR1781: Tough Times Can Produce Innovations that Matter

In my last American Revolutionary War post, I suggested that after some darkness, that change was in the air, and that a new course might be upon the efforts in South Carolina to exit the British Empire. Time to hoist the sails, capture that wind and move forward:

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.

Marion and Lee wasted no time in embarking on some new tactics toward controlling most of South Carolina and Georgia for the cause. It is interesting that the great military minds that do adapt to new strategies sometimes, when they have a second chance, they can then secure a region militarily. In this case, General Greene of the Continental Army was about to adopt the “war of posts” strategy that he had dissed before.

What had allowed the freedom to operate was that Cornwallis was so impacted by the Guilford Court House battle in North Carolina that he decided to move his troops to Wilmington NC on the coast to recover. After this his plan was to then invade Virginia never again to enter South Carolina. Greene used this opportunity to secure South Carolina and Georgia land so that if a peace treaty were to be achieved, the colonies would have these territories.

With Cornwallis’ exit from the deep south colonies, the various Tory elements in South Carolina started to melt away into the countryside as news spread of Cornwallis’ departure from the region. The British left only significant forces at Camden, Georgetown and Charleston along with other troops at various posts across the colony numbering 8,000 in total. These posts were along the supply line that kept forces 800 strong supplied in Camden which is over one hundred miles away from the coast and ports.

Greene’s army numbered only 1,400 but was on the move now deep into South Carolina. In this scenario, Watson gave up chasing Marion and dumped his artillery and heavy baggage into a creek and sped toward Camden to join forces with British officer Rawdon and then circled back steering clear of the rebel forces going back to the coast at Georgetown.

“Lighthorse” Harry Lee arrived at Marion’s camp on April 14th, 1781 and filled in Marion on the details of Guilford CH, a bloody battle that the British technically won but having outrun their own supply line, Cornwallis’ troops were a mess. British cavalry officer Tarleton himself had several finger amputated from wounds he suffered in the conflict.

Lee articulated how his troops would now focus on the larger garrisons at Camden and Ninety-Six while the militia (Pickens, Sumter and Marion) work away on the smaller posts in SC. However, it was another target that Lee had in mind that Marion did not see “eye-to-eye” on. Lee wanted to lay siege to Fort Watson WITH Marion, while Marion wanted to continue his chase of British office Watson. Marion had seen first hand both the disastrous Savannah siege in 1779 and also Thomas Sumter’s attempted siege in which he got impatient and lost a lot of his men.

While the 49 year old Marion was technically in charge and 25 year old Lee was second in command, the fact that Lee had 300 troops to Marion’s 80 at this time probably led to Marion acquiescing.

Fort Watson was surrounded on April 15th, however, all the trees around the fort were gone so there was no way sharpshooters could be utilized. The British had learned much from previous militia encounters. Cutting off the water supply was also attempted but the the well right outside the fort could be used at night through a covered passage had been built. After the siege had started, the 120 defenders started digging a well inside the fort and struck water on the fourth day of the siege.

The rebels had requested a six-pounder from Greene which would have made quick work of this fort since it had no cannon of its own, but the men bringing the cannon got lost and returned to Greene’s location outside Camden.

The bottom line was that Marion’s men were not prepared for a siege and were not experienced at it. This was not their strong suite. Morale was sinking and Marion was corresponding with various militia’s around the state about some significant issues that distracted Marion from a situation he was not comfortable in:

  1. Militia Capt. Snipes was free-lancing/looting around the state and bad-mouthing Marion suggesting that people should not send supplies to him
  2. “Sumter’s Law”, which paid ten months of service to men with plunder from local Tories (horses, clothing and slaves), was causing many potential militia members to join Sumter instead of Marion’s militia. Marion did not agree with the plunder reward, but was in the minority opinion on this one.
  3. Rumor was out that Marion’s men killed three prisoners in their care according to the Brit commander in Charleston and Marion’s mentor suggested in a letter that he half-believed it.

The siege was taking its toll on the ones facilitating the siege until an innovative spirit emerged in militia leader Lt. Col. Hezekiah Maham. A tower would be built out of range from the Brits in the fort, but tall enough for sharpshooters to do their work. The fort walls were 7 foot on top of a 23 foot mound so the tower would have to be very, very high. Geometry as well as ballistics played a part in this experiment.

By April 22nd it was ready with a perch at the top with openings for the long rifles. The rebels sharpshooters rained down fire into the fort and simultaneously a patriot unit was taking down the stockade section of the fort itself. A surrender request was made and the commander McKay put up the white flag. In his journal it seemed the British inside the fort refused to fight any longer. Generous terms were offered and the British troops made their way to Charleston.

Lee and Marion reaped a bounty of ammunition and public praise was awarded to Maham and his innovation. Lee, whose ego usually precedes himself, actually came to praise Marion publicly and asked to be formally placed under Marion’s leadership “in some degree”. Greene wrote Marion and said praise would travel to General Washington and the world.

With Fort Watson out of the picture, it would be the first of many dominoes to fall for the British in South Carolina as the summer heat started returning to the region.

-SF1