One might figure that with the Battle of Eutaw Springs done, there is little to do at this point of the Revolutionary War or for what was actually the civil war in SC between Whigs and Tories and those who switched sides back and forth. There is also the transition from a British military presence for 12-18 months that displaced civil government as so we see at this time Gov. Rutledge attempting to piece back together something.
Post Eutaw Springs battle, Greene dispatched Lee and Marion to attempt to get in front of Stewart’s British forces as they withdrew towards Charlestown but 400 fresh Brits arrived in Moncks Corners from Charlestown itself to cover the retreat.
On 12SEP1781, Stewart, who was wounded, was temporarily replaced by Col. Paston Gould, who had been Balfour’s position until he was promoted to commandant of the Charleston district for the British.
Gould had stayed put in Charleston until now and was unfamiliar with the territory. He briefly took an expedition out towards Greene but then came back to a point 50 miles outside Charleston while half his men came down with seasonal fever. He returned to Charleston and was replaced by Gen. Alexander Leslie and Steward, having recovered from his wounds, took command of 1,200 troops 7 miles north of Moncks Corners where he proceeded to raid plantations for food (harvest time was getting near), capturing slaves including women and children to return to Charleston where they were put to work strengthening British fortifications there.
At this time Greene felt confident with the British south of the Santee to take his own sickly army to the High Hills of the Santee to recover. Marion camped 50 miles away on the Santee ready to deploy but he himself was hit with the seasonal fever in spite of his vinegar and water concoction.
Between daily correspondence with Greene on intelligence reports and sometimes two letters a day from Gov. Rutledge in getting the right people in the right positions in the new civil government especially justices / judges, it was a different kind of busy for Marion.
Gov. Rutledge offered a Clinton-like proclamation that now allowed Tories to be pardoned and reunite with their families if they serve 6 months in the patriot militia.
Gov. Rutledge’s proclamation states that all Loyalists except those who held commissions from the British government could have:
“a free pardon and permission for their wives and families to return and reoccupy their possessions, on condition that such men appearing at our headquarters, or before a Brigade or the Colonel of any Regiment, and there subscribing an engagement to serve the State faithfully as militia men for six months.”
Those who declined this pardon faced banishment and property loss similar to the Clinton order a few years prior. 27SEP1781 was the day the amnesty proclamation was made official and gave 30 days for men to meet with a brigadier general of SC.
By early October 1781, Marion was able to attend to family matters as he continued to assist his nephews in collages in the north with a shipment of indigo to Philadelphia to supply them with winter clothes, etc.
By early November 1781, with all these distractions, it was learned that on October 19th Cornwallis surrendered ALL his troops at Yorktown.
With this news, Marion actually arranged for a celebration at a local plantation, a ball for his officers and area ladies, yet Marion remained subdued during the festivities. He still had on his mind two patriots that were still in prison, one would die there and the other would remain there until the official end of the war.
NOTE: Unlike what history books claim today, Yorktown was NOT the end of the Revolutionary War !!!
One more domino to fall was when the British evacuated the port of Wilmington, North Carolina on 14NOV1781! This too gives those in South Carolina hope that the evacuation of Charlestown, South Carolina is next!
Stay tuned for more details on the 1781 fall season in South Carolina where the British forces in Charlestown could be resupplied from the sea at any time to renew a push into this rebellious colony that seceded from the British Empire.
-SF1